Virtual Doctor Visits Are Getting More Popular, But Questions Remain About Who Pays

Provisions within the federal budget law Congress passed this year expands the use of telemedicine, which could go mainstream within 5 to 10 years. Read more

Study: More Practices Employing Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants 

According to a study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, more practices are employing nurse practitioners or physician assistants. Read more

It's the time of snow and ice, trees and tinsel, naughty and nice. Yes, the holiday season has arrived, and with it, a unique set of accidents and hospital visits. The most recent revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) was recently released by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The updated lists holds more than 14,000 codes, 16,000 with optional sub-classifications, of diseases, symptoms, complaints and external causes of injury or disease. But we have narrowed this down to the top ten potential codes that our clinicians may need to know during the holiday and winter months.

ICD-10 One Year Later: The Terror is Over, the Rewards Yet to Materialize

It's been a year since the big lift of converting the entire claim stream for the healthcare industry to the larger and more granular ICD-10 family of diagnostic and procedural codes. Read More   

Hospitals Add Nearly 7,000 Jobs in September

Employment at the nation's hospitals rose by 0.1% in September to a seasonally adjusted 5,110,200 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Read More  

With fall upon us and Halloween fast approaching, we need to be aware of the potential for a number of unique accidents that can require a quick trip to the ER. Yes, it's that time of year when all of the spooks and spirits come out to play. And sometimes they get hurt.

Luckily, in 2015, the most recent revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) was released by the World Health Organization (WHO). The updated lists holds more than 14,000 codes, and 16,000 with optional sub-classifications of diseases, symptoms, complaints and external causes of injury or disease.

We have narrowed this down to the top eight potential codes that our clinicians may need to know during the month of October, particularly on the 31st.

For infection control nurses, the little things make a difference - from the microscopic germs seeking to wreak havoc to the incremental steps taken to prevent or contain them.

That's why Anna Lagahit, a nurse and Infection Control Practitioner at Kindred Hospital Santa Ana, goes out of her way to recognize hospital staff for doing the little things to prevent hospital-acquired infections. Staff might receive a "you made a difference today" card from Anna for something as routine as wiping a patient's table or IV machine, keeping catheter lines off the floor or ensuring the cleanliness of everything from the patient to the bed to the area between the bed and bathroom.

"I am a resource to remind nurses and staff that they are protecting not only the patients but themselves and their families when they go home," she said.

Hospice Care Improves Patient Experience

A new study adds to evidence that hospice care during the last six months of life is associated with better overall experiences for patients and a lower likelihood of dying in a hospital. Read More   

Study Finds Benefits When Seniors Call Shots to Help Them

A federally funded project that researchers say has potential to promote aging in place began by asking low-income seniors with disabilities how their lives at home could be better, according to a study released Wednesday. Read More  

David and his wife, Linducia, were visiting a friend in Las Vegas. When they returned to their hotel she noticed his breathing didn't seem right. This is his story.

"It wasn't long after we got back to our hotel that David began having trouble breathing. I called the front desk and the paramedics arrived very quickly" Linducia said. "He was rushed to the hospital and we later found out it was only a matter of minutes before he would have died from a heart attack. He had emergency heart surgery and had three stents put in. During the surgery he also suffered from three strokes and his doctors had to induce a coma."

After surgery his outlook was very poor. David also began suffering from massive kidney failure and had to have dialysis. "His condition actually worsened" Linducia recalled. "He was on every kind of medication imaginable, completely unconscious and immobile. None of the doctors thought he would survive. Then four weeks into this ordeal I asked his doctors to run an MRI brain scan as he had said that if he was ever brain dead he wouldn't want to 'live' hooked up to a machine."

As clinicians, we go to work every day to provide quality medical care to our patients. And while medical care will always be our number one concern, hospitality is now the second-most important standard in healthcare. The world is evolving, and with it, our hospitals. Many medical facilities are beginning to resemble hotels in varying degrees.

On the surface, and from a business standpoint, it seems simple. Hotel-like amenities can improve health outcomes by reducing stress and cutting down on the transfer of diseases by using private rooms. This patient-centered environment helps patients focus on getting better, which leads to decreased lengths-of-stay and readmissions. 

With Room Service and More, Hospitals Borrow From Hotels

At the Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital outside Detroit, patients arrive to uniformed valets and professional greeters. Read More   

Remote Heart Monitoring Can Help Detect Emergencies

Instead of having heart monitors with noisy alarms near patients' beds in the hospital, it might be better to have off-site technicians do the heart monitoring remotely, a recent study suggests. Read More  

She was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis - a degenerative and deadly lung disease - when she was only three months old, but that never stopped Tara and she always lived her life to the fullest. She finally received a double-lung transplant on New Year's Day - and although the road to recovery has been incredibly challenging, she has never wavered in her determination to get her life back. This is her story.

"I've been incredibly fortunate to have been able to do so much during my life, even with the burden of CF (cystic fibrosis)" Tara shared. "I did all the normal kid things, grew up, played soccer in college, got a BS in Math, and oh yeah! I met my husband on the UC Davis double-decker bus - he was the driver and I was the conductor. We saw each other in the mirror, went on a date and well, the rest is history as they say!"