On the HCPLive news page, resources on the topics of disease- and specialty-specific medical news and expert insight can be found. Content includes articles, interviews, videos, podcasts, and breaking news on health care research, treatment, and drug development.
Rituximab May Slow Beta Cell Destruction in Type 1 Diabetes Patients
December 11th 2009Researchers at UT Southwestern and 14 other centers worldwide found that injections of the drug used to treat autoimmune disorders slowed beta cell destruction in the pancreas of those newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for at least a year.
Physicians Reluctant to Treat Pain in Children with Sickle Cell Disease
December 11th 2009A majority of providers felt that hydroxyurea was effective for the prevention of pain, but some still did not prescribe the drug to eligible children because of apprehension about future reproductive issues, despite insufficient evidence to support this concern.
Concerns about Pain Guidelines: When Strong Claims Follow from Weak Evidence
The development of clinical medical-practice guidelines is a difficult and arduous process. Experts in various disciplines volunteer many hours of their time for medical research reviews and analyses and meetings with fellow guidelines-panel members, and painstakingly writing and reviewing the final report. However, there are many concerns about the quality of medical research serving as a basis for those guidelines.
Nocturnists: The Night Owls of the Medical World
December 10th 2009A variety of factors are prompting hospitals to expand coverage to provide 24/7 hospitalist care, leading to the creation of a new sub-specialty: the nocturnist. Although many programs, in an effort to recruit nocturnists, promise shorter hours, more flexible scheduling, and better pay, the lifestyle adjustment nighttime coverage requires is not for everyone.
Online Shopping for Medical Information
I overhead two women chatting about symptoms the other day while they were surfing WebMD on their respective iPhones for diagnoses - their discussion was as public and non-chalant as if they were shopping. I mused over this for a minute, unsure if I should be disturbed or not, and then found myself wondering which URLs really are the "go-to" sites for health information. An answer was only a click away via Google search at eBizMBA.com.
Baumann's Call to Arms - Use of Twitter in Healthcare in 2009
December 9th 2009Way back in January, Phil Baumann, RN, provided an empathic answer to the question/concern that was on everyone's mind then: "Yeah Twitter seems great and all, but can you use it for anything useful in healthcare?" We followed up with him to see how 2009 went.
Neurologic Disease and Pregnancy Outcomes
December 8th 2009Some neurologic disorders increase the risk of problematic outcomes of pregnancy. Data on such associations have been scant, but this is beginning to change. For example, with regard to epilepsy, there are a number of pregnancy registries which track outcomes related to antiepileptic drug therapy. However, large trials and population studies are not common.
Do “red flags” signal serious pathology with low back pain?
December 6th 2009When patients present to primary care physicians with acute low back pain (LBP), a serious causative underlying pathology-cancer, fracture, or infection-is seldom identified. Some recommended “red flag” screening questions have high false-positive rates, casting doubt on the value of looking for bigger trouble when none is obvious.
Security Rules Put Providers on Notice
December 4th 2009HITECH says covered entities must be able to monitor and record every time that patient data is accessed, enabling the entity to comply with the new notification requirements should unauthorized access occur. Will the new rules end up restricting the efficient exchange of data that is crucial to providing high-quality healthcare?
The Cleveland Clinic Fails to Recoup its $100 Million Investment
December 3rd 2009For those interested in health information technology, there is now an excellent, new, powerful website about this topic called the Huffington Post Investigative Fund. In their most recent report, "Can Cleveland Clinic Be a Model for Digital Medicine?" they discuss how this hospital system has failed to recoup their $100 million investment to date.
New Diabetes Resource Center Stresses Patient Education at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
December 3rd 2009Education focuses on a range of topics including disease process, nutritional management, and psychological adjustments to preventing diabetic complications, detecting changes, monitoring levels and participating in physical activities.
Outlook Not as Grim for Type 2 Diabetics with Heart Disease, Study Says
December 3rd 2009Individuals with mild to moderate coronary heart disease, treated with intensive medical therapy alone, were no more likely to die from a heart problem after five years than those who also had an angioplasty procedure.