[img_assist|nid=216|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=82]PAC recently participated in the Change Foundation’s Meeting of the Minds 2010 event: Rethinking Health Services with Patients Top of Mind, a forum for frank, informed and focused discussion among Ontario’s senior health-care executives, patient and caregiver leaders, and international leaders in patient-centred health systems and services.
[img_assist|nid=213|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=357]Computer technology targets underserved populations in health care
CHICAGO --- Multimedia talking touchscreens, housed in computer kiosks at clinics and hospitals, are helping researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and clinicians at local health care centers enhance patient-centered care for patients with diverse language, literacy and computer skills.
The easy-to-use touchscreens read questionnaires, provide patient education material and collect patient data. Each piece of text on the screen has sound attached to it, and users record answers by pressing buttons.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In 20 years, approximately 72 million older adults will reside in the United States, almost double the current number, according to the U.S. Administration on Aging. Potential issues are compounded by the projected shortage of health care workers needed to provide elder care. As part of the solution, an interdisciplinary team of University of Missouri researchers is refining electronic health record (EHR) technology to more efficiently meet increasing health care demands.
The MU researchers are developing an EHR system that encompasses standard health assessments and those obtained through new technologies. The goal is to increase efficiency and accuracy, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs for long-term care.
[img_assist|nid=209|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=440|height=298]Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) recover from exacerbations equally well if they are treated at home or in a hospital, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. Furthermore, longer treatment with antibiotics does not appear to offer any additional benefit over shorter courses.
The study was published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"We undertook this research owing to the lack of clinical information of best practices in treating CF exacerbations available to physicians," said J. Michael Collaco, M.D., assistant professor at Johns Hopkins.
Boston, MA - Caregivers who participated in a program where attendees discuss medical cases that were complex for psychosocial and emotional reasons were more likely to be attentive to the psychosocial and emotional aspects of patient care. The program also enhanced their beliefs about the importance of empathy.
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Doctors have highlighted potential problems with the breathing system filters used in anaesthesia, including intensive care units, after demonstrating that they don't provide protection from harmful bacteria and yeast when they become wet.
Research in the July issue of Anaesthesia has shown that when they were wet, six commonly available filters allowed substantial passage of Candida albicans (a yeast infection linked to a range of chronic illnesses) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (a common hospital-acquired bacterial infection).
The Canadian health care system barely measures up to international standards according to a new study by The Commonwealth Fund. Why do we have such a low health care ranking compared to other industrialized nations? The fact that many Canadians do not have a primary care doctor, and our "slow adoption of integrated information technology systems for patient records." Giuseppe Valiante from Canwest News Service June 25, 2010 reports:
The Commonwealth Fund studied the health-care systems of Canada, the U.S., Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.K., and found that only the American system ranks lower than Canada's.