The amount that hospitals charge the uninsured for inpatient care grew by 88 percent between 1998 and 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The average charge for an uninsured hospital stay grew from $11,400 in 1998 to $21,400 in 2007 after adjusting for inflation.
When doctors become invested in an outpatient surgery center, they perform on average twice as many surgeries as doctors with no such financial stake, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.
A study of nearly 13,000 rescue workers from the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) shows that the significant proportion who suffered acute lung damage after exposure to World Trade Center (WTC) dust have not recovered normal lung function in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
In addition to her ability to present a dynamic lecture on the science of infection control, Mary Andrus, BA, RN, CIC, has received the 2010 Elaine Larson Lectureship Award "for her breadth of knowledge and experience working to prevent health care-associated infections," said APIC President Cathryn Murphy.
A systematic review of nursing handoff literature has determined that minimal research has been done to identify best practices, despite well-known negative consequences of inadequate nursing handoffs. The article was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).
Being able to stay in their homes and remain independent is a daily struggle for many older adults. As we age we tend to lose our flexibility, our connective tissue tightens, and we have prolonged reaction times. Problems with vision, including depth perception, all increase the likelihood of falling. When a child falls it may result in a few bumps and bruises.
In a nearly 12-year follow-up study, women who walked two or more hours per week had a significantly lower risk of stroke than women who didn’t walk.
"Although it is not possible to give a universal prescription for preventing stress at work, it is possible to offer guidelines on the process of stress prevention in organizations," NIOSH says.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from new research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Overall, sleep apnea more than doubles the risk of stroke in men.
TB continues to be a contagious scourge in developing countries, and with the world shrinking rapidly due to global migration, the World Health Organization considers it a major public health threat in developed nations as well, including the United States.
The company's guilty plea and the proposed resolution would represent the largest criminal penalty ever imposed on a device manufacturer for violating the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, said Commissioner of Food and Drugs Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D.
FDA is evaluating clinical trial data that may suggest that patients taking Stalevo, a Parkinson's disease medication, may be at an increased risk for developing prostate cancer. In this trial, patients taking Stalevo were compared to those taking carbidopa and levodopa (sold as Sinemet), a combination medication also used to treat Parkinson's disease.
More than one in four elderly Americans lacked the capacity to make their own medical care decisions at the end of life, according to a study of 3,746 people to be published April 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
"These students' outstanding work demonstrates that the future of epidemiology holds great promise," said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that will begin implementing a requirement that device manufacturers provide readily available information in certain premarket applications on pediatric patients who suffer from the disease or condition that the device is intended to treat, diagnose, or cure, even if the device is intended for adult use.
Researchers from Columbia University and MixedInk studied the health information content of Twitter updates mentioning antibiotics to determine how people are sharing information and assess the proliferation of misinformation.
Here is the wellness gig in a nutshell. Health care costs really are out of control. How do we win this out-of-control game?
When illnesses strike — such as seasonal flu, H1N1, or MRSA — how do you protect your workers and do your part to stop contagious infections from spreading to unsuspecting workers and crippling the productivity of your organization, with high absenteeism from sick leave or mass panic?
Today's on-site occupational health centers are the fruition of an evolution that began soon after the OSH Act was signed into law 40 years ago, when the chief task involved was treating work-related injuries. Medical surveillance was part of the package, then and now, but nonwork- related acute care and health management are now important components, said Stu Clark, executive vice president of Comprehensive Health Services Inc. (CHS), based in Reston, Va.
Throwing sharps containers, red bags, and spill cleanup materials into the trash sends up a red flag to commercial or municipal trash collectors because they are not allowed to take this waste.