DETROIT – As hospitals look for ways to improve patient satisfaction and boost their Medicare reimbursement, a Henry Ford Hospital study found that an inpatient pharmacist-directed anticoagulation service (PDAS) might be an unexpected opportunity.
In a survey of 689 patients who received inpatient anticoagulant therapy, patient satisfaction increased significantly using the PDAS compared to patients' reviews of their care in a previous pharmacy model. Key findings:
A paper out today says that private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled an extra $282.6 billion since 1985, most of it over the past eight years. They claim that in 2012 alone, private insurers were overpaid $34.1 billion.
That wasted money that should have been spent on improving patient care, shoring up Medicare's trust fund or funding the White House tours that had to be canceled due to the sequester.
Chicago (May 10, 2013): Ambient background noise—whether it is the sound of loud surgical equipment, talkative team members, or music—is a patient and surgical safety factor that can affect auditory processing among surgeons and the members of their team in the operating room (OR), according to a new study that appears in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The findings are the first to demonstrate that a surgeon's ability to understand spoken words in the OR is directly affected by noise in the environment.
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 10, 2013) – A new "alternative model" included in the upcoming Fifth Edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5, lines up well with the current approach to diagnosis of personality disorder, according to a study in the May Journal of Psychiatric Practice.
WACO, Texas (May 9, 2013) -- A recent Baylor University research study has shed new light on the diet and food acquisition strategies of some the earliest human ancestors in Africa.
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 10, 2013) – Exercise has been shown to be an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), both when used alone and in combination with other treatments. There's now sufficient research data to provide specific guidance on how to prescribe exercise for depressed patients, according to a report in the May Journal of Psychiatric Practice®.
Sunless tanning — whether with lotions, bronzers or tanning pills — has been promoted as an effective substitute to dodge the health risks of ultraviolet rays, but if the products don't provide the perfect tan, young women likely will not use them, according to a Baylor University researcher.
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who also have allergic disease have higher levels of respiratory symptoms and are at higher risk for COPD exacerbations, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Death in hospital remains very common for cancer patients in developed countries.
Although hospital surveys show that death was highly expected, patients dying in hospital have a high probability of unrelieved and poorly treated physical suffering, and emotional, spiritual and social distress.
Having a pet might lower your risk of heart disease, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement.
The statement is published online in the association's journal Circulation.
"Pet ownership, particularly dog ownership, is probably associated with a decreased risk of heart disease" said Glenn N. Levine, M.D., professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and chair of the committee that wrote the statement after reviewing previous studies of the influence of pets.
Research shows that:
With simple and innovative measures, public agencies at state and local levels can play a significant role in promoting healthier eating habits — steps that could make a difference in curbing the nation's obesity epidemic.
Women who engage in "fat talk" — the self-disparaging remarks girls and women make in relation to eating, exercise or their bodies — are less liked by their peers, a new survey has found.
Alexandra Corning, associate professor of psychology and director of Notre Dame's Body Image and Eating Disorder Lab, presented the survey results recently at the Midwestern Psychological Association annual conference.
The era is long gone when a romantic breakup meant ripped-up photos and burned love letters and moving on. Digital photos and emails can be quickly deleted but the proliferation of social media in an Internet where 'nothing is really deleted' has made forgetting a bigger chore.
What about the ubiquitous digital records of a once beloved that lurk on Facebook, tumblr, and flicker?
Doctors should not have the right or responsibility to force-feed their patients with genomic information about their future health risks, according to bioethicists writing on May 9 in Trends in Biotechnology, a Cell Press publication. They write in response to controversial recommendations from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) on the reporting of incidental findings in clinical genome sequencing.
DENVER, May 9, 2013 – A new Canadian study shows that operating without interrupting warfarin treatment at the time of cardiac device surgery is safe and markedly reduces the incidence of clinically significant hematomas compared to the current standard of care. The new findings were released today at Heart Rhythm 2013, the Heart Rhythm Society's 34th Annual Scientific Sessions, and will be published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).