News

Consortium Celebrates Year of the Healthy Nurse with Sold-out Caring for the Caregiver Conference.

The Nursing Consortium of South Florida observed 2017 as the Year of the Healthy Nurse with a Spring conference at the Signature Grand on April 28, 2017. "Caring for the Caregiver; Creating Healthy Work Environments for You and Your Team" explored a range of topics including The Leader as Healer, Building a Healthier You, and Addressing Generational Challenges. Kim Richards, RN, NC-BC, Founder and Owner of the Self-Care Academy™and author of the ANA Publication Self-Care and YOU: Caring for the Caregiver, brought the audience to their feet with a high energy keynote address. Tatiana Schrader, MSEd, Manager Leadership and Talent Development at Baptist Health South Florida, Rose Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, the Florida Atlantic University Program Director for Nursing Administration and Financial Leadership, and Ashwin Mehta, MD, MPH, Medical Director of Integrative Medicine and of Physician Wellness at the Memorial Healthcare System also addressed the more than 150 conference attendees. To view the final conference brochure, please click here. The Memorial Healthcare System was the conference presenting sponsor. Additional sponsors included Baptist Health South Florida, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, and VITAS Healthcare.

RWJF 2017 Call for Proposals

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is inviting applications for its Forward Promise: Empowerment Projects. Organizations with existing programs that provide culturally relevant and evidence-supported services to young men of color that promote both individual healing and take a structural approach to change policies and practices that are causes of trauma for this population groups are encouraged to apply before the application deadline on May 02, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. ET. There will be an optional web conference for prospective applicants on April 20, 2017 (3 p.m. ET). Registration is required. Please visit forwardpromise.org for program details.

National Minority Health Month

April is National Minority Health Month, dedicated to raising awareness about the health disparities that continue to affect minority populations. During the month there will be a number of activities led by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, including a Twitter Town Hall on April 12 at 1:00 p.m. and a Twitter Chat on April 25 at 2:00 p.m.

Free AHA webinar April 26 on hospital-led effort to combat violence

The Hospitals Against Violence initiative by the American Hospital Association will host a webinar on April 26 on a hospital-led effort to prevent violence in Chicago. Rebecca Levin, strategic director of the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, will share lessons learned from the Strengthening Chicago’s Youth collaborative and how health care organizations can work with their communities to prevent violence. To register for the 3:00 p.m. ET webinar, please click here.

Pediatric hospitalizations for certain conditions higher where incomes vary widely

Children living in areas with large differences in income have higher hospitalization rates for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions, according to a study published online by JAMA Pediatrics. These are conditions for which timely and effective outpatient care might avoid hospitalization, such as asthma and bacterial pneumonia. “Consideration of income inequality, in addition to income level, may provide a better understanding of the complex relationship between socioeconomic status and pediatric health outcomes for ACSCs,” the authors said. “Efforts aimed at reducing rates of hospitalization for ACSCs should consider focusing on areas with high income inequality.”

Hospitals can preview overall star ratings, other quality data

Hospitals participating in the inpatient, outpatient and prospective payment system-exempt cancer hospital quality reporting programs can preview their overall hospital quality star rating and other quality data to be added to the Hospital Compare website now through May 5. The data will be published in July. The inpatient preview reports, hospital-specific reports and overall hospital quality star ratings will not include Patient Safety Indicator results for fiscal year 2018 due to a PSI software issue, CMS said. As a result, the overall hospital quality star rating for July will be updated using fiscal year 2017 PSI results. CMS anticipates that updated FY 2018 PSI results will be available for the October preview period, and incorporated into the October 2017 public release of star ratings. To access the hospital-specific overall star rating and inpatient and outpatient preview reports, please visit the QualityNet Secure Portal.

Congress passes bill extending Veterans Choice Program

The House of Representatives has approved legislation (S. 544) extending the Veterans Choice Program. The program was set to expire Aug. 7. The bill, approved by the Senate Monday, now goes to the president for his signature. Among other provisions, the legislation allows the program to access nearly $1 billion remaining from its initial emergency appropriation, makes the Department of Veterans Affairs the primary payer under the program and allows the agency to share certain medical records with community providers.

NIH Zika vaccine candidate advances to larger human trial

The National Institutes of Health has announced that an experimental DNA vaccine to protect against disease caused by Zika infection has advanced to a larger study in humans, which will further evaluate the vaccine’s safety and immune response as well as optimal dosing. Initial findings from an ongoing smaller trial in humans indicate the candidate vaccine is safe and able to induce a neutralizing antibody response, the agency said. The new two-part trial aims to enroll at least 2,490 healthy participants in areas of confirmed or potential active mosquito-transmitted Zika infection, including Houston, Miami, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. Most of the participants will be followed for nearly two years.

Organ donation alliance launches new resource for hospital leaders

The Organ Donation and Transplantation Alliance has launched a new informational series focused on organ, eye and tissue donation topics relevant to senior health care leaders. To view the first resource in the Hospital C-Suite Snapshot Series, please click here. The Alliance connects organ procurement organizations, transplant centers and hospitals to education and best practice resources.

AAMC updates physician shortage projections

The nation faces a shortage of between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030, according to updated projections released by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The projected shortfalls range between 7,300 and 43,100 for primary care, and between 33,500 and 61,800 for non-primary care specialties.

AHA launches new governance resource for hospitals and health systems

Trustee Insights, a new quarterly update for hospital leaders and boards by the American Hospital Association, offers briefs on some of the hottest topics in health care and webinar and video content that can be used for boardroom education and discussion. To subscribe, please visit http://trustees.aha.org.

CDC reports birth defects in 1 in 10 pregnant women with confirmed Zika

Birth defects were reported in 10% of the 250 completed pregnancies with laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection reported to the U.S. Zika Pregnancy Registry in 2016, according to a Vital Signs report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more than 30 times higher than the baseline prevalence in pre-Zika years, the agency said. Infants or fetuses whose mothers were infected in the first trimester had the highest rate of birth defects (15%). The registry includes data from all U.S. states and territories except Puerto Rico. A total of 44 states reported pregnant women with evidence of Zika in 2016, most of whom were infected during travel to an area where the virus was present. Only one in four infants with possible congenital Zika infection were reported to have received brain imaging after birth. CDC recommends postnatal neuroimaging for all infants born to women with laboratory evidence of Zika virus infection. For the latest CDC guidance and resources on Zika, please click here. 

Report: Overall cancer deaths continue to decline

Overall cancer death rates continue to decrease in men, women and children for all major racial and ethnic groups, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. Cancer death rates decreased an average 1.8% per year in men, 1.4% per year in women and 1.6% per year in children between 2010 and 2014. Death rates decreased for lung, prostate and colorectal cancers in men and for lung, breast and colorectal cancers in women, and increased for liver, pancreas and brain cancers in men and for uterine and liver cancer in women, among other changes. The annual report is produced by the American Cancer Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute, and North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.


News ©