Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of a hospital's service quality, but new Johns Hopkins research suggests that it doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the surgical care patients receive.
Culture
Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan report today that they have identified a compound that could be used as a new treatment to prevent relapse in acute myeloid leukemia patients.
In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, they show that this compound reduces the risk of relapse in a mouse model of the human disease. They report that this compound could be most active in patients that carry a mutation lowering their chances of recovery.
Chevy Chase, MD—Reminding primary care doctors to test at-risk patients for osteoporosis can prevent fractures and reduce health care costs, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Chevy Chase, MD––Although the drug zoledronic acid slows bone loss in osteoporosis patients, it also boosts levels of a biomarker that stops bone formation, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).
Osteoporosis weakens bones and increases the risk patients will suffer fractures. The findings suggest combination therapy may be a more effective approach to battling this common condition.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mindfulness exercises that include meditation, stretching, and acceptance of thoughts and emotions might help veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder find relief from their symptoms.
A new collaborative study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System shows that veterans with PTSD who completed an 8-week mindfulness-based group treatment plan showed a significant reduction in symptoms as compared to patients who underwent treatment as normal.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – If you suffer a heart attack while walking down the street and are taken to the hospital quickly, your chances of survival are very good. But if you have a heart attack while already in the hospital for something else, you are 10 times more likely to die.
In psychology, there are competing speculations about bias. Some claim that if people do poorly on a test, it is because they are already perceived as being poor at it; a small white guy may do poorly at basketball, a woman may do poorly on a math test, because they believe their reputations precede them and that performance pressure ironically causes the under-performance.
Philadelphia, PA, April 16, 2013 – Atherosclerosis – sometimes called "hardening of the arteries" – is a leading cause of death and morbidity in Western countries. A cell-permeable peptide containing the NF-ĸB nuclear localization sequence (NLS) shows promise as a potential agent in controlling the development of atherosclerotic disease. This study is published in the May 2013 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.
A new study concludes that approximately half of the prescriptions of Tamiflu during the 2009-10 influenza pandemic went unused in England. The unused medication represents approximately 600,000 courses of Tamiflu at a cost of around £7.8 million to the UK taxpayer. The novel scientific method used in the study could help measure and improve the effectiveness of future pandemic flu strategies.
A new report prepared in collaboration with the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations, is the first to describe in detail the epidemiology, burden, and treatment of osteoporosis in all 27 member states of the European Union (EU27).
Combining CT imaging findings with baseline serum lactate dehydrogenase levels is showing promise as a way to predict survival in patients with metastatic melanoma being treated with anti-angiogenic therapy.
A partnership involving the public and private sector successfully addressed the mental health needs of people in the post-conflict regions of northern Uganda and could be used as a model in other post-conflict settings, according to a Health In Action article by Ugandan and US researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine as part of an ongoing series on Global Mental Health Practice.
A common test that records the heart's electrical activity could predict potentially serious cardiovascular illness, according to a UC San Francisco-led study.
A cardiac condition called left anterior fascicular block (LAFB), in which scarring occurs in a section of the left ventricle, may not be as benign as currently thought and could increase the likelihood of heart failure, sudden cardiac death or atrial fibrillation.
Boston, MA -- Privately insured surgical patients who had a complication provided hospitals with a 330% higher profit margin than those without a complication, according to new research from Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health system innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Boston Consulting Group, Texas Health Resources, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Medicare patients with a complication produced a 190% higher margin.
Findings of an analysis that included nearly 35,000 surgical discharges from a 12-hospital system suggest that the occurrence of postsurgical complications was associated with a higher per-encounter hospital contribution margin for patients covered by Medicare and private insurance but a lower one for patients covered by Medicaid and who self-paid, according to a study in the April 17 issue of JAMA.