Search results for: responding

Overview

• Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based hospital chain pledged to slash the number of opioid pills prescribed for patients with acute pain at its facilities by 40 percent by the end of 2018. Intermountain said it believed it is the first American health system “to formally announce such a significant and specific amount of reduction as a target.”
• Officials announced Cal State Los Angeles was awarded $16.6 million to bring dental care to underserved communities in the Greater Los Angeles area. The grant has been billed as the largest in the university’s history.
• California state regulators have been asked to investigate ‘deceptive’ claims made by Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop lifestyle company that there are health benefits to dozens of products promoted on its website, including the assertion that jade vagina eggs can improve sexual energy, restore hormonal balance and prevent uterine prolapse.

Overview

• According to a new poll, there has been an increase in the use of connected care technologies in UK healthcare in the last twelve months. Nearly half of those in the UK who were surveyed or interviewed for The Future Health Index 2017, which was commissioned by Philips, said they had seen greater use of such technologies by primary care doctors in the past year.
• The number of patients in Wales waiting more than a year for surgery has gone up by 400% in just 4 years.The Royal College of Surgeons asked every health board in Wales how many people had been on the waiting list for longer than 52 weeks.
• Officials have announced that all child deaths will be recorded onto a new national database in a bid to share information aimed at saving young lives.

Overview:
• A small number of children with drug-resistant epilepsy will soon be able to access a new cannabis-based drug, “Epidolex,” in New South Wales which is showing promise in relieving the symptoms.

• When the doctor told Stuart Matchett he had a rare cancer he did not hear much else afterwards. It is this dilemma faced by so many cancer patients that Rare Cancers Australia is trying to solve. The charity has just released a new free mobile phone app called “Can.Recall.”

• The Mater Private Hospital in Brisbane has confirmed a patient has tested positive for Legionella bacteria infection. The Mater said it was unknown if the infection was acquired at the hospital and it was working with independent agencies to determine the source of the deadly infection.

• Research has found a high-salt diet reduced levels of Lactobacillus bacteria in mice and increased production of immune cells linked to high blood pressure. A German study has found that excessive salt intake wipes out levels of good bacteria in the gut and this can cause blood pressure to rise.  The findings have raised hope a simple probiotic could be used as a tool to help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke caused by hypertension.
• The Australian Capital Territory government is reviewing barriers women may be facing when trying to access abortion services in Canberra. It’s part of a wider review into sexual and reproductive health services the government expects to be completed by mid-2018. Health minister Meegan Fitzharris is hoping ACT Health and the Women’s Centre for Health Matters (WCHM) will be able to provide a clearer picture of barriers Canberra women  face when accessing abortion services.
• Abandon the idea of continuous general practitioner care and throw away your fax machine – a new Microsoft report has told Australian healthcare it needs to undergo a dramatic change in mindset and get with the digital revolution. The ‘GP for thirty years’ care delivery model will disappear with patients already seeking primary care from five different clinics and eleven doctors in their lifetime.