Healthcare News

Taking Opioids For Pain May Make It Harder To Find Primary Care

Finding a new doctor for health checkups and general care can pose a challenge to anyone. But for people who take prescription opioid pills for their chronic pain, it might be far harder, according to a new study. In fact, 40% of 194 primary care clinics contacted for the study said they wouldn’t accept a new patient who takes Percocet daily for pain from a past injury, no matter what kind of he..(Read More)

Improving Care Quality For Hospitalized Socially At-Risk Patients

Nurses play a pivotal role in caring for hospitalized patients with social risk factors and preparing them for discharge. Now, a new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) illustrates how certain health system constraints present barriers to effective care and impact outcomes for patients with high social risks. “Few studies have explored whether acute care nur..(Read More)

New Technology Improves Atrial Fibrillation Detection After Stroke

A new method of evaluating irregular heartbeats outperformed the approach that’s currently used widely in stroke units to detect instances of atrial fibrillation. The technology, called electrocardiomatrix, goes further than standard cardiac telemetry by examining large amounts of telemetry data in a way that’s so detailed it’s impractical for individual clinicians to attempt. Co-inventor Jimo B..(Read More)

To Reduce Cancer’s Terrible Toll, UVA Reaches Out To Those Often Left Unheard

The UVA Cancer Center is reaching out to the people it serves to identify and overcome barriers to care. With the help of the UVA Center for Survey Research, the Cancer Center is preparing to collect opinions from people in the 94 localities that are home to more than 80% of the Cancer Center’s patients. UVA is placing particular emphasis on reaching people who are often underrepresented in surve..(Read More)

Johns Hopkins Medicine Researchers Identify Health Conditions Likely To Be Misdiagnosed

For a patient, a diagnostic error can mean the difference between life and death. While estimates vary, likely more than 100,000 Americans die or are permanently disabled each year due to medical diagnoses that initially miss conditions or are wrong or delayed. Now a research team, led by a Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality expert, reports it has identified three ma..(Read More)

Study Questions If Tongue-Tie Surgery For Breastfeeding Is Always Needed

New research raises questions as to whether too many infants are getting tongue-tie and lip tether surgery (also called frenulectomy) to help improve breastfeeding, despite limited medical evidence supporting the procedure. In a new study, published July 11in JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, nearly 63% of children who were referred to a pediatric ear nose and throat surgeon for tongue tie ..(Read More)

Adding Immunotherapy After Initial Treatment Can Benefit Metastatic Lung Cancer Patients

Treating metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab after they’ve completed locally ablative therapy – meaning all known sites of their cancer were either treated with surgery, radiation, or other definitive treatments – almost tripled the median progression-free survival (PFS) compared to the historical average. Research from the Abramson Canc..(Read More)