Hospital Medicine News

• Doc-Senator: Don't Rely on DC to Reduce Physician Burden If physicians want to make changes in healthcare, they need to get more involved to make it happen, says Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• ASBMR 2019Do High-Dose Statins Increase the Risk for Osteoporosis? First study of its kind to show that although low doses of statins appear protective of bone health, high doses may increase risk for osteoporosis.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Gender-Affirming Surgery May Lower Use of Mental Health Services Transgender individuals use fewer mental health services after they receive gender-affirming surgery, new research shows.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Being Overweight Wipes 4 Years From Life, New Report Reveals "What we have done is not enough," says influential group as it launches a grim global report showing people are becoming heavier. Policies work, and will generate savings, but implementation is essential.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Virtual Tumor Board Faster and Better Than Real Life A virtual molecular tumor board platform reduced case-review times from 14 days to 4 days. Researchers hope that the cloud-based platform could extend precision medicine to all cancer patients in the US.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• RN Pay Stagnant for 3rd Year; Annual LPN Pay Up $2K This year, the gender gap narrows for salaried RNs. Salaried nurses make significantly more than those paid by the hour.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Alert FDA Allows Marketing of First Rapid Ebola Test The FDA has allowed marketing of the first rapid diagnostic test (RDT) to identify Ebola virus antigens, or proteins, in certain body fluids from living and deceased individuals.
  FDA Approvals, October 2019
• Use of AI in Healthcare Picking Up Momentum, Report Shows A new survey shows that the majority of healthcare organizations have implemented AI strategies; administrative uses are more highly ranked than clinical applications so far.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• PICCs With Magnetized Tip Linked to Serious Allergic Reactions Reactions were much more common in patients with cystic fibrosis and those with previously identified environmental or drug allergies.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• EASD 2019Diabetes App Wild West: EASD/ADA Group Hopes to Spur Change Diabetes 'apps' have enormous potential for improving patient care, but since they are currently unregulated, it is buyer beware, says a joint statement with recommendations from two diabetes societies.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• 'Women on Dialysis Want to Get Pregnant'; Rates Higher Than Thought Women on dialysis are more likely to become pregnant than previously thought, but the rate of live births is low compared with the general population. Preconception counseling is advised.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Texas Physician Convicted for $16M Medicare Scheme The physican conspired with home health agencies to order unnecessary home health services; she was also found guilty of taking kickbacks.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Medicare Proposes Overhaul to 'Kickback' Laws Federal officials seek to ease restrictions that clinicians have said hamper efforts to better coordinate care of patients. A proposed rule would allow for more donations of cybersecurity programs.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Flu Can Be Catastrophic in Older Patients: 5 Things to Know Older adults suffer the most severe health effects from influenza, often leading to catastrophic disability.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Alert FDA Approves Dexcom G6 Pro CGM for Use in Diabetes Dexcom G6 Pro is a single-use, professional CGM that gathers real-time glucose data over 10 days and offers both a blinded and unblinded mode, enabling choice of whether patient sees the data or not.
  FDA Approvals, October 2019
• Antipsychotics in Alzheimer's Tied to Increased Morbidity Community dwelling Alzheimer's patients who take antipsychotics spend more days in the hospital than their counterparts who do not take these agents, new research shows.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• New Analysis Reverses Findings for Post-Discharge COPD Program Researchers found an error that reversed the results of a previously reported trial that found that a post-discharge education and support program for COPD patients reduced subsequent use of acute care.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• EASD 2019DKA at Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes Surges in US Kids SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study finds 2% increase in prevalence per year between 2010 and 2016; experts call for education campaign among physicians and parents.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019
• Class 1 Recall for Sherpa NX Active Guide Catheter The FDA's decision follows a series of letters from Medtronic dating back to March 2019 warning of concerns with the coronary and peripheral guide catheter.
  News Alerts, October 2019
• Much of US Healthcare Spending Wasteful, Researchers Say Addressing waste will continue to present challenges, experts say. These include balancing savings from prior-authorization rules against the administrative burden they create for clinicians.
  Medscape Medical News, October 2019