Leadership Updates for State Healthcare Facilities – Wyoming Department of Health
Leadership Updates for State Healthcare Facilities January 4, 2024 A permanent administrator has been named for the Wyoming State Hospital (WSH) in Evanston, while interim leadership is also planned for the Veterans’ Home of Wyoming (VHW) in Buffalo. Both facilities are operated by the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH). Kristi Barker has been chosen to […]
Sharp Uptick in Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy Visits After ACA’s Passage
Healthcare visits for transgender-related diagnoses and gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) have been rising, researchers reported, suggesting it as an opportunity for HIV prevention. Within a commercial health plan database, the proportion of adults with a transgender-related diagnosis code increased by 30.8% each year from 2014 to 2021 (13.4 to 113.9 per 100,000 enrolled persons) for […]
Five Companies Sign Agreement to Participate in National Health Data-Sharing Network
WASHINGTON — Five healthcare companies took another step toward becoming part of a nationwide network to exchange patient health information on Tuesday. “I feel like we’re watching the Big Bang occur in 2023,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said during an event held at HHS headquarters here. He congratulated “the entities who stepped up early to […]
Health Organizations Making Strides In Health Equity, AMA Leader Says
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Half of healthcare organizations surveyed have eliminated or are working to eliminate race-based clinical algorithms and decision-making tools that incorrectly use race as a proxy for genetic or biological ancestry, a survey by the American Medical Association (AMA) found. “This is critically important,” Aletha Maybank, MD, the AMA’s chief health equity […]
Policymakers Must Balance Innovation With Patient Safety for AI in Healthcare
When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, policymakers must balance innovation with potential harms to patients and healthcare workers, lawmakers and witnesses said during a Senate hearing Wednesday. “I have concerns because when we talk about the promises of AI, we need to also talk about its risks,” chair Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said […]
FDA Outlines Rules for Telling Clinicians About Unapproved Uses of Drugs, Devices
The FDA has released revised draft guidance on communicating with healthcare professionals (HCPs) about unapproved uses of approved drugs and devices. Once it’s finalized, the document will reflect FDA’s stance on how companies can communicate scientific information to clinicians regarding unapproved uses of products already on the market. Comments are open through December 24. “In […]
Opinion | Are Obesity Drugs for Adolescents Cost-Effective?
Hur is a professor of medicine and epidemiology, and a healthcare innovations researcher. Lim is a research analyst. Anti-obesity medications have been making major headlines in the news. From nationwide shortages to publicized usage by celebrities, there is constant buzz about how these medications can lead to weight reduction in a relatively short time frame. […]
Opinion | Violence in Healthcare: Why Are People So Angry?
Ho is an emergency physician. The first time I was assaulted in healthcare, I was a third-year medical student. An incarcerated, agitated patient handcuffed to a gurney rail in the emergency department fought so hard, the entire metal rail separated from the bed. The 6-foot piece of heavy steel would’ve gone flying into my skull […]
Opinion | Mandatory Retirement Age for Physicians: Yea or Nay?
In this video, healthcare marketing consultant Ron Harman King, JD, MS, discusses the ongoing debate on whether physicians could be legally forced to retire at a certain age like other professionals –- judges, FBI agents, commercial pilots, military officers, and others. Following is a transcript of his remarks: Is it just me, or are you […]
Masking Approaches in Healthcare Should Be Reconsidered, Experts Say
Healthcare facilities should reconsider their approaches to masking, a group of public health experts argued. “As health care systems navigate this next phase of the pandemic, different approaches could be considered that place patient safety first and integrate masking as part of routine health care policies,” wrote Eric Chow, MD, MPH, of the University of […]