Study Presented At APIC Meeting Shows Memorial Hospital Miramar’s Innovative Use Of TheraDoc Clinical Decision Support Tool
The hospital, which used TheraDoc to electronically track the number of interventions and catheters removed, as well as infection rates, is reporting the results in a poster presentation at the 2010 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) annual conference in New Orleans July 11-15. Memorial Hospital Miramar, a 178-bed facility in South Florida, began using the TheraDoc Infection Control Assistant(TM) in 2008 to electronically record requests to remove urinary and central line catheters, and to document catheter-related urinary tract and bloodstream infections. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for 40 percent of the healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) in the United States,(1) and 250,000 to 500,000 catheter-associated bloodstream infections (CABIs) occur in the nation each year. TheraDoc automates the collection and analysis of clinical data from a range of sources within the hospital and alerts caregivers to clinically significant changes in patients’ conditions that need to be addressed. With the patented TheraDoc Expert System Platform (TM) as the engine, the Infection Control Assistant complements several hospital surveillance modules powered by TheraDoc, including the ADE Assistant(TM), Clinical Alerts Assistant(TM), Antibiotic Assistant(TM) and the company’s newest TheraDoc module, the Anticoagulation Assistant(TM).
HIMSS Clinician Leader Named As Fellow For American Academy Of Nursing
Joining the nation’s top nurse researchers, policymakers, scholars, executives and practitioners, HIMSS Vice President, Informatics Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN-BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS has been recognized as a fellow with the American Academy of Nursing, a credential held by more than 1,600 nursing leaders throughout the world. According to the AAN, Fellows are selected by a panel of elected and appointed Fellows with selection based, in part, on how nominees’ nursing careers influence health policies and healthcare delivery for the benefit of all Americans. She also led HIMSS’ involvement with the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel or HITSP, a federal standards harmonization initiative, while also collaborating with AMIA to form the Alliance for Nursing Informatics, an organization of 26 distinct nursing informatics organizations that she now co-chairs. All of us at the Society proudly congratulate Joyce on her leadership and as a new Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing,” says Carla Smith, CNM, FHIMSS, Executive Vice President for HIMSS.
Eastern European Countries Show Increasing New HIV Infections While Some Harm Reduction Programmes Are Decreasing
As most injecting drug users are sexually active-often with non-injecting partners-the existence of a major injection-driven epidemic has also fuelled a growth in heterosexual transmission of HIV in the region. The number of new infections in the country has gone up from 18,963 in 2008 to 19,840 in 2009, and heterosexual transmission has eclipsed injection driven transmission. Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addiction Addison
New HIV Treatment Strategy Could Reduce HIV-Related Deaths By 10M In 15 Years, UNAIDS Says
The agency says the plan could prevent up to 10 million AIDS-related deaths by 2025 and reduce the number of new HIV infections annually by up to one million, if all people in need receive treatment, according to the news service. The survey indicates that among respondents “nearly 30 years into the AIDS epidemic, region by region, countries continue to rank AIDS high on the list of the most important issues facing world” (7/13). While respondents overall ranked AIDS as one of the top health-care issues in the world, “[o]ptimism about the state of the global AIDS epidemic and progress in responding to it varied widely, often along geographical lines,” IRIN/PlusNews writes. The perception that people living with HIV should receive subsidized treatment was strongest in the Caribbean and Asia, but less than half the participants in the USA agreed” (7/14). Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addiction Addison
Increased Risk Of Cardiovascular Problems In Depressed Men With Erectile Dysfunction
A new study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that the presence of depressive symptoms in men with erectile dysfunction constitutes a risk factor for a major cardiovascular event. To investigate clinical correlates further, researchers led by Elisa Bandini of the University of Florence studied approximately 2,000 male patients in a clinic for sexual dysfunction using a structured interview while also scoring for depressive symptoms. Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addiction Addison
Link Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Later Risk Of Heart Disease
The ages of the study subjects may have limited researchers’ ability to detect a stronger link between apnea and coronary heart disease, Gottlieb said. Coronary heart disease risk from sleep apnea may be greatest at a relatively young age, with previous research suggesting increased risk of cardiovascular related death from sleep apnea in individuals ages 30 to 50. Given the evidence that men 40 to 70 years old with obstructive sleep apnea face a higher risk of coronary heart disease, “it’s really time for us to perform clinical trials to assess whether coronary heart disease risk can be reduced in patients with severe sleep apnea by treating the apnea,” he said. Difficile) Clubfoot (Talipes Equinovarus) Cluster Headache Cold Sores Colic Colon Cancer Colorectal Cancer Coma (Comatose) Common Cold Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Concussion Congenital Heart Disease (Congenital Heart Defect) Conjunctivitis (allergic) Conjunctivitis (infective) Constipation COPD & Emphysema Corns / Calluses Coronary Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease) Crabs (Pubic Lice) Crohn’s Disease Croup Cryptorchidism (Undescended Testicle) Cushing’s Syndrome Cystic Fibrosis Cystitis Cysts Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Dandruff Deep Vein Thrombosis Dehydration Dementia Dengue Fever?
News Roundup: NYC Program To Help Poor, Elderly With Insurance Gets Cut; Colo. Promotes Wellness Programs For Small Businesses
Health insurance companies must submit premium increases to the insurance department for review, but the law gives them leeway to charge amounts the market will bear” (Stewart, 7/9). The agency’s revenue for this budget year, which began July 1, also includes $52 million from the health carrier access fee, a new 1 percent fee paid by insurance companies operating in the state” (Bisbee, 7/9). Democratic House leaders defended the vote to repeal the ban, approved just two years ago, saying it has made it harder to attract companies to Massachusetts” (7/8). Priority Health, based in Grand Rapids, a subsidiary of Spectrum Health, and the Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan, a Lansing subsidiary of the Sparrow Health System, submitted bids Wednesday to run the pool. Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addison
Physicians Study Beta-Natriuretic Peptide In Pediatric Trauma
Since CT scans take additional time, are expensive, and expose the patient to radiation, using a blood test to screen patients with head injury would represent a significant advancement in patient care. Chang, MD, also from Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, published the results of their study in the June issue of The Journal of Trauma. Levels of BNP drawn at the time of the emergency room visit did not seem to be a reliable predictor for intracranial hemorrhage in pediatric trauma patients. The Saban Research Institute at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States, with 100 investigators at work on 186 laboratory studies, clinical trials and community-based research and health services. Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addison
Predicting Risk Of Death From Prostate Cancer Via Baseline PSA
Men who have a baseline PSA value of 10 or higher the first time they are tested are up to 11 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than are men with lower initial values, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. Researchers used the Duke Prostate Center database to identify 4,568 men who had PSA tests during the past 20 years and who were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Financial support for the study came from the Department of Defense, an American Urological Association Foundation/Astellas Rising Star in Urology Award and the Committee for Urologic Research, Education and Development at Duke. Conditions Information Abscess (Dental) Acid Reflux Acne Addison
Working Group Advocates For Over-The-Counter Access To Birth Control Pill
Citing growing evidence that nonprescription access does not compromise the safety of the birth control pill, a coalition of women’s health experts is working to gain FDA approval to market an oral contraceptive for nonprescription use, Newsweek reports. The Oral Contraceptive Over-the-Counter Working Group — a clinical and research institution administered by Ibis Reproductive Health and funded by the Hewlett Foundation — believes prescription-only access to birth control patronizes women, restricts contraceptive freedom and does little to curb teen pregnancy rates, Newsweek reports. The group aims to present FDA with a proposal for an OTC birth control pill this year and have the pill on the market within five years, Newsweek reports. Although FDA has never approved a “chronic-use” drug — those taken daily for an indefinite period of time — for OTC sales, FDA representative Shelly Burgess said the agency would consider applications to switch oral contraceptives from prescription to nonprescription status.