Providers Remain Empty-Handed While Change Recovers From Cyberattack

Providers Remain Empty-Handed While Change Recovers From Cyberattack

On March 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a letter to the entire healthcare industry regarding the massive cyberattack on UnitedHealth Group’s (UHG) Change Healthcare unit, which started on February 21. Change processes 15 billion healthcare transactions annually and has a connection to 1 in every 3 patient records, according to HHS. Its system is a clearing house for a number of critical services, such as revenue cycle, pharmacy, and clinical …

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Rapid Viral Tests Best When They Inform Treatment Decisions

Rapid Viral Tests Best When They Inform Treatment Decisions

A recent review suggests that the routine application of rapid respiratory viral tests in emergency departments (EDs) offers limited benefits for antimicrobial stewardship. Presented in JAMA Internal Medicine, the review examined 11 randomized clinical trials involving patients with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) seeking care in EDs. It revealed that while rapid viral testing led to increased usage of influenza antivirals among positive cases (absolute risk difference 1%), it did not significantly impact overall antibiotic use, …

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Fresh Investment Adds to Growth for American Family Care

Fresh Investment Adds to Growth for American Family Care

American Family Care, operator of urgent care, primary care, and occupational medicine clinics, announced the closing of an equity investment by Lorient Capital, a firm that has a number of healthcare investments in its portfolio. Lorient Capital officials said in a press release that American Family Care has dozens of new locations in the pipeline across the United States, and its financial backing and experience will support ongoing growth strategies. Founded in 1982, American Family …

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Couple Locked in Urgent Care Center in Texas

Couple Locked in Urgent Care Center in Texas

A couple in Texas spent more than an hour locked in an urgent care center after the staff left for the day. According to local news reports, Austin Jennings and his partner, Christina Tirado, went to the Mont Belvieu Urgent Care for treatment for Jennings’ flu symptoms. They arrived for a 6PM appointment and were directed to an exam room at 6:30PM where Jennings started a breathing treatment. When he opened the exam room door 20 minutes later, a …

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Free COVID-19 Antiviral No Longer Free

Free COVID-19 Antiviral No Longer Free

In December 2023, drug manufacturer Pfizer changed its strategic sales approach for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) by shifting to commercial sales in lieu of providing the COVID-19 antiviral drug at no-cost to patients exclusively through the federal government, according to Kaiser Health News. Some patients, such as those who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, may qualify for free prescription fills, but they need to work through an application process. What’s concerning is that nirmatrelvir/ritonavir has …

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Patients, Clinicians Have Similar Accuracy With Interpreting At-Home COVID Tests

Patients, Clinicians Have Similar Accuracy With Interpreting At-Home COVID Tests

When patients use at-home tests to check for COVID-19, their results are similar to results from clinicians using the same tests, according to a study in Microbiology Spectrum. Researchers compared the sensitivity and specificity of Abbott’s BinaxNOW patient-administered rapid antigen test (RAT) against RATs administered by a healthcare provider and against reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Of the 953 patients, 34.1% had at least 1 COVID-19 symptom. Hospital staff administered a RAT and an RT-PCR …

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Could the US Lose Its Measles Elimination Status?

Could the US Lose Its Measles Elimination Status?

Rising measles outbreaks in the United States have raised concerns about whether the country is losing its status of having “eliminated” the disease, according to the Hill. As of March 7, 2024, 45 measles cases were reported across 17 states. Florida has reported 10 cases in 2 counties, prompting the Florida Surgeon General to recommend unvaccinated children should stay home for 3 weeks, aligning with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, but it …

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Smartwatches Show Promise in Detecting Arrhythmia in Kids

Smartwatches Show Promise in Detecting Arrhythmia in Kids

According to a retrospective study, smartwatches can detect arrhythmia events in children, including events that are not generally captured with ambulatory monitors. The study presented in Communications Medicine examined medical records for 145 patients under 18 years old and documented potential arrhythmias that were identified by an Apple Watch. Recordings were captured when the patients believed that their heart rhythm was abnormal. Scott Ceresnak, MD, director, of the Pediatric Electrophysiology Program, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, …

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CDC Relaxes COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines

CDC Relaxes COVID-19 Isolation Guidelines

Patients who test positive for COVID-19 or believe they are infected no longer need to stay home and isolate for 5 days, as per new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines adopted last week. The CDC reworked its prevailing guidance, saying that COVID-19 “is no longer the emergency that it once was,” and people who with COVID-19 can return to everyday activities if their symptoms are mild, have been improving, and it’s been …

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Dynamics Between Pharmacists and AMA Heat Up

Dynamics Between Pharmacists and AMA Heat Up

The American Medical Association (AMA) has been consistently outspoken against proposed legislation looking to authorize pharmacists to leverage test results to directly diagnose patients. AMA warns that such “scope creep” is detrimental to patient health because an isolated lab test depicts only a snapshot of overall health, which is not enough to determine treatment. AMA stresses that pharmacists are not trained to diagnose patients, and it has defeated pharmacist-prescribing proposals in Alabama and Louisiana. Pushing …

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