This November 4, 2016 New York Times Article talks about how Community paramedicine programs are expanding and are increasingly tending to older patients in their homes, solving problems there and eliminating costly ambulance trips. In 2009, when Medstar Mobile Healthcare began enrolling patients in Fort Worth, it was one of four emergency services in the… Read More
This JAMA article discusses the problems of routinely hospitalizing elderly patients which may hasten their disability, independence, and demise In older patients, acute medical illness that requires hospitalization is a sentinel event that often precipitates disability. This results in the subsequent inability to live independently and complete basic activities of daily living (ADLs). This hospitalization-associated… Read More
This is a shocking graph that indicates according to the CDC that middle school kids are more likely to die from suicide then motor vehicle accidents. This is from MMWR Source: QuickStats: Death Rates for Motor Vehicle Traffic Injury, Suicide, and Homicide Among Children and Adolescents aged 10–14 Years — United States, 1999–2014 |… Read More
This is a troubling study that finds an inverse relationship between readmissions and mortality. It states that if you include increased mortality as a quality measure almost 1/3 of hospitals with a favorable readmission rate would be penalized This study attempts to determine how readmission penalties for hospitals in the United States would change if… Read More
This November 3, 2016 JAMA Viewpoint suggests the apparent association between a reduction of psychiatric beds and increasing suicide rates in the United States. The article proposes that the US needs to expand inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities to prevent suicides Currently, the United States has a relatively low 22 psychiatric beds per 100 000 population compared… Read More
St. Luke’s Health System of Kansas City is working on an array of tiny hospitals that will have just eight to 10 beds for overnight stays as well as round-the-clock emergency rooms equipped and staffed like the ERs in their big parent hospitals.The micro trend, gaining traction nationally, provides one more option for patients beside… Read More
This JAMA viewpoint article examines how Medical Boards may look at physicians who recommend marijuana and the inconsistencies between state and federal laws. There are some interesting facts on usage and indications. During the past 2 decades, attitudes and laws have become more tolerant toward marijuana, with the prevalence of adults reportedly using the substance… Read More
There has been tremendous disagreement in healthcare policy as to whether gun laws have any effect. This study looked at Australia which introduced some major gun reforms. In 1996, Australia’s state and federal governments introduced sweeping uniform gun laws that were progressively implemented in all 6 states and 2 territories between June 1996 and August… Read More
Interesting JAMA article by Emergency Physician Esther Choo regarding the likely transition of opiate use/abuse to marjiuana use/abuse. With the current nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse, dependence, and fatalities, clinicians are being asked by federal agencies and professional societies to control their prescribing of narcotic medications for pain. Federal guidelines emphasize tapering, discontinuing, and limiting… Read More
