Quantifying the Health Risks of Being a Family Caregiver
Penn's Karen Lasater Wins AcademyHealth IRGNI New Investigator Award
Meeting the Oral Health Needs of an Aging Population
An important, yet often overlooked aspect of comprehensive health care for a “graying” U.S. population is dental health. In a new commentary, Tim Wang, Mark Wolff, and Neeraj Panchal bring attention to the oral health needs of a growing geriatric population in the U.S., and suggest practical ways to prepare providers to meet the challenge of treating this unique group.
What's Missing in Most Health Care-Related Implementation Science Projects
Tracking a Trend: Nursing Home Specialists
The world of health care is divided into many areas of specialization. At one point or another, we may have seen a podiatrist for a foot problem or a dermatologist for skin issues. Not all of us realize that – in addition to specializing in, say, the lungs – clinicians can devote their practice to providing general care to patients in a specific setting. For example, some physicians, called ‘hospitalists,’ see all or most of their patients in a hospital environment.
CMS Minority Health Office Chief Lauds Penn's Shreya Kangovi
STRUGGLING TO ESCAPE POOR HEALTH: 120 Years of Health Disparities Reports
Linda Aiken Honored by Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons
Assessing First Visits By Physicians To Medicare Patients Discharged To Skilled Nursing Facilities
In this study of postacute care, more than 10% of Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) stays included no visit from
a physician or advanced practitioner. Of stays with visits, about half of initial assessments occurred within a day of
admission, and nearly 80% occurred within four days. Patients who did not receive a visit from a physician or advanced
practitioner were nearly twice as likely to be readmitted to a hospital (28%) or to die (14%) within 30 days of SNF
admission than patients who had an initial visit.
Do Longer Shifts Affect Residents’ Sleep or Patient Safety?
Do residents need more sleep? Two new studies in the New England Journal of Medicine compare the effects of standard versus flexible duty-hours on residents’ sleep and patient safety.
The iCOMPARE trial randomized 63 internal medicine residency programs, consisting of over 5,000 trainees, to standard duty-hour policies or flexible policies. All programs were held to an 80-hour work week, but flexible policies had no limits on shift lengths and did not mandate time off between shifts.
Starting Opioid Use Disorder Treatment in the Emergency Department
Every day, we hear about the staggering toll of the opioid overdose crisis. This is particularly salient in Philadelphia, which has one of the highest overdose death rates among major U.S. cities. Despite effective medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine and methadone, few people receive treatment.
Association of Nurse Engagement and Nurse Staffing on Patient Safety
J. Brooks Carthon, Linda Hatfield, Colin Plover, Andrew Dierkes, Lawrence Davis, Taylor Hedgeland, Anne Sanders, Frank Visco, Sara Holland, Jim Ballinghoff, Mary Del Guidice, Linda Aiken
ABSTRACT [from journal]
Background: Nurse engagement is a modifiable element of the work environment and has shown promise as a potential safety intervention.
Purpose: Our study examined the relationship between the level of engagement, staffing, and assessments of patient safety among nurses working in hospital settings.
Methods: A secondary analysis of linked cross-sectional data was conducted using survey data of 26 960 nurses across 599 hospitals in 4 states. Logistic regression models were used to examine the...
David Shulkin Looks Back on His Tenure as Veterans Affairs Secretary
Improving End of Life Care – Ask the Nurses
Everyone wants a dignified death – yet few actually experience one. Despite preferring to remain at home, most older adults spend their final days in hospitals, where they often undergo medical care that neither improves survival, quality of life, nor satisfaction and is often incongruent with their wishes and goals. A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society describes these problems in end of life care in nearly 500 U.S.
Cost Impact of The Transitional Care Model for Hospitalized Cognitively Impaired Older Adults
Using advanced practice nurses to support high risk patients and their families to transition from hospital to home can reduce postacute care use and costs. A study comparing three evidence-based care management interventions for a population of hospitalized older adults with cognitive impairment found that the Transitional Care Model, which relies on advanced practice nurses to deliver services from hospital to home, was associated with lower postacute care costs when compared to two “hospital only” interventions.