A new diagnosis of dementia is linked to a 40 percent increase in emergency department visits in the year around a diagnosis, with visits peaking shortly before a person is diagnosed, according to a new analysis published in JAMA Network Open.
Healthcare has evolved dramatically in recent years, with technology driving countless new opportunities, just as demographic and societal factors have created new challenges. This trajectory will continue into 2025, as advancements in AI, remote medicine, and biotechnology continue to reshape healthcare planning and delivery.
In the latest sign of mounting strain on medical workers, nearly 300 primary care physicians employed by Mass General Brigham have notified federal authorities that they want to join a union, citing "burnout" and the "corporatization of medicine" at the state's largest health system. The doctors comprise the "vast majority" of primary care physicians employed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, according to Dr. Michael Barnett, a primary care doctor at the Brigham and associate professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Barnett, one of the organizers of the effort, said the physicians signed cards saying they wanted to join the Doctors Council of the SEIU, Local 10MD. The cards were delivered to the National Labor Relations Board along with a petition to hold a union election.
Four-day workweeks, double the salary of some colleagues and no emails at night. If those perks sound like they belong to a few vaunted tech jobs, think again. Dermatologists boast some of medicine's most enviable work lives, and more aspiring doctors are vying for residency spots in the specialty.
The rising escalation of aggressive behavior in healthcare workplaces became evidently clear at Geisinger after two people were killed on the rural Pennsylvania health system's properties in 2022.