A Doylestown, PA-based nonprofit may have found how to keep the sickest Medicare patients out of the hospital and save taxpayer money in the process. The group, Health Quality Partners, educates patients who have chronic diseases and gives them monthly face-to-face contacts with nurses. The program could inspire those involved in ongoing efforts across the U.S. to find better ways to manage chronic illness.
Visitors to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh could face traffic challenges when the new 10-acre Lawrenceville, PA, campus opens in May, despite years of planning for traffic improvements in the area. However, the new campus will bring increased parking for visitors—an ongoing issue in the already crowded neighborhood that touts narrow streets and limited parking—through construction of a 1,400-space parking garage.
Massachusetts public health officials have begun monitoring heart programs at Massachusetts General Hospital and at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester after discovering that they had high death rates in 2007 among patients who underwent cardiac catheterization procedures. An analysis of mortality data showed that 43 of 1,543 patients died at Mass. General and 16 of 112 patients died at St. Vincent. The death rates were significantly higher than the state average for patients who undergo the procedure to remove blockages in their coronary arteries.
Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital itself is the most likely source of the Legionnaires' disease that has sickened four patients since Jan. 1, but results from water tests inside the hospital will not be ready until February 9. All four patients are responding well to antibiotics, hospital spokeswoman Denise Simpson said.
Susan Lance, MD, a Georgia epidemiologist, said the patients diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease appear to have no ties other than their treatment at Grady. State and federal public health officials are helping Grady Memorial Hospital track down the source of the bacteria.
Patients who got hepatitis from contaminated syringes and medicine vials are joining infection control advocates to warn Americans about the problem. A recent federal study found more than 60,000 people were exposed to hepatitis, and at least 400 people were infected with it in 33 outbreaks linked with blatant safety violations. The report covered the period from 1998 to 2008, and
many of the cases involved reuse of syringes: Health workers likely thought they were being safe by discarding the syringes' used needles and snapping on sterile ones. They were apparently unaware that the plastic barrel part of a syringe can become contaminated, and reusing it even with a fresh needle also can contaminate the medicine vial.
Officials at Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital are investigating a spike in Legionnaires' disease. Four patients who were recently hospitalized at Grady have contracted the bacterial infection in the past month, according to Grady's Web site. In a typical year, the hospital might see two or three cases. Matt Gove, Grady senior vice president, said parts of the 11th and 12th floors have been shut down while the hospital tests water and tries to determine if the disease is originating inside the hospital. About 80 beds out of 953 are closed for now.