Practice Management
A recent study in JAMA Health Forum analyzing national data on registered nurses (RNs) revealed a recent recovery in the size of the nursing workforce following the substantial drop recorded during the pandemic. Despite a drastic decline of more than 100,000 RNs in 2021, the workforce saw a resurgence in 2022 and 2023. This recovery indicates a promising trajectory with forecasts indicating that by 2035, the workforce will reach 4.56 million nurses, adding an estimated …
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A California nurse practitioner (NP) with a doctorate degree was fined $20,000 in 2022 for illegally presenting herself as a physician and referring to herself as “doctor” when interacting with patients. The NP, Sarah Erny, was supervised by Anika Moore, MD, who has now been fined $25,000 for unlawful supervision of Erny’s conduct, according to Medscape. An investigation found that Moore—who lived in Massachusetts—never reviewed any medical records for Erny’s patients, and Erny ultimately opened …
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UT Health East Texas has completed the acquisition of 5 QuickVisit Urgent Care clinics plus a separate acquisition of the UT Health East Texas Urgent Care from Premier Health. According to a press release, patients who need follow-up care at these newly added sites will have a fast-track option to see a UT Health East Texas physician or affiliated specialist. It’s a model not uncommon among health systems to encourage loyalty by making it easy …
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Medical buildings can be vulnerable to any number of disruptive accidents that might cause harm to patients or prevent the delivery of care, including motor vehicle incidents. For example, 1 person died and 5 others were injured after a vehicle crashed into the emergency department at the St. David’s North Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, last week, according to news reports. In the St. David’s case, 3 team members received minor injuries from the …
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In 2023, more than 1,200 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 were prescribed semaglutide for obesity, according to an analysis of insurance claims by Komodo Health. Additionally, when data from Medicaid programs in 5 selected states was analyzed by Reuters, more than 460 children were found to be taking the weight management drug. The bottom line seems to indicate that providers are embracing obesity pharmacotherapy for tweens. Of note, it was December 2022 …
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Baptist Memorial Health Care recently announced the opening of 10 new urgent care (UC) centers in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas under the Baptist Urgent Care flag. The UC organization is a joint venture partnership between Baptist Memorial Health Care and the Urgent Team Family of Urgent Care & Walk-In Centers. According to a press release, the centers are accredited by the Urgent Care Association. Urgent Team operates 85 total centers offering urgent care, primary care, occupational, specialty …
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The risk of atherothrombotic events in patients aged 50 and older care more than double in the 14 days following an influenza diagnosis, according to research presented in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. For those with severe cases, the risk of acute myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke increased more than 4-fold and remained high for 2 months following the flu event. Authors examined the link between influenza illness diagnosed in the primary care and hospital settings …
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A study in JAMA Network Open found people who engaged in higher levels of physical activity before the pandemic experienced lower odds of developing COVID-19 and related hospitalizations from May 2020 through May 2022. In studying patients 45 years or older with 5,890 cases of COVID-19 and 626 hospitalizations, researchers found those who achieved at least 7.5 hours per week of physical activity pre pandemic had significantly reduced odds of COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization compared …
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A Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Grand Rapids, Minnesota—a city with a population of 11,000—has been linked to the area’s municipal water system, according to officials. Water samples from 2 buildings in Grand Rapids tested positive for Legionella and matched the bacteria from patient respiratory samples. The public utilities water supply is not chlorinated, and officials say installing a chlorination system to treat the water “is being looked into.” Of the 14 cases associated with the outbreak, all have …
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released what the agency says are the first comprehensive recommendations on laboratory testing for syphilis. The extensive guidance covers laboratory-based tests, point-of-care tests (POC), processing of samples, and reporting of test results. In general, for symptomatic patients, nontreponemal tests are recommended for laboratory screening. Treponemal tests are used to validate nontreponemal results and to diagnose early syphilis infections not detectable by nontreponemal tests. Additionally, CDC notes that treponemal …
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