A new bill proposed by state Rep. Jesse Topper would allow nurse practitioners to practice without the current requirement of a collaborative agreement with a physician. Nurse practitioners have advanced educations, usually a master's or doctoral degree, and can do many tasks that doctors can do, such as prescribe medication, order lab and diagnostic studies, and sign death certificates. House Bill 765, introduced last week, would grant full practice authority to nurse practitioners and end the business contracts they are required to have with two physicians. Nurse practitioners say the change would rid them of unnecessary bureaucracy and allow them to better reach rural communities.
This week brought news of three more healthcare data breaches, one of which left the personal data of 11 million individuals exposed. The incidents raise more questions about why China-based cyberespionage groups have taken a shine to American healthcare data and what plans they have for it. While shining harsh light on the deep cracks in the healthcare industry's security, the recent events also highlight the potential success of information sharing. Since a China-based advanced persistent threat group breached Community Health Systems (CHS) in April 2014, healthcare and medical insurance providers have been barraged by major data breaches, apparently at the hands of Chinese cyberespionage groups or other highly sophisticated criminal actors capable of creating custom malware.
Doctors may have biases for or against people of different races and social statuses, but those unconscious views don't overtly affect the care they deliver to their patients, a new study finds. When tested with sample scenarios, most doctors showed some unconscious racial or social bias, but those biases largely did not influence their decisions about what care they would give the fictitious patients. The study's lead author told Reuters Health by email that past research has suggested a connection between unconscious biases and how patients are treated, so the new results are not definitive.
Last week, an Amtrak train wrecked in Halifax County and sent more than 50 people to Halifax Regional Medical Center for emergency care. As always, when there is a disaster, North Carolina hospitals are there to treat the injured, support families and bring order to a chaotic situation. Halifax Regional Medical Center, Nash General Hospital and Vidant Medical Center were prepared for this disaster. It is every hospital's mission to always be prepared to respond and react in emergencies. Hospitals respond without any assurance of payment. We budget every day for additional staff, supplies and equipment needed for unexpected emergency situations.
One of the Obama administration's top doctors on Wednesday said that state governments should be doing more to boost vaccination rates to halt the spread of highly contagious diseases like the measles. "I'm totally in agreement that we should be putting pressure on people," Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a health forum hosted by The Atlantic. "It's just got to be at the state level." Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pointed to effective state laws such as requiring vaccination for children entering public school. But he said it shouldn't be in the federal government's power to make that policy nationwide.
While the politics of Obamacare remain as a divisive as ever, the Affordable Care Act has helped usher an entire new health economy that has led to the creation of at least 90 new companies since 2010, centered primarily around consumer-driven innovations, according to a new report. The report, from PwC, lists five key reasons following the ongoing pitched political battle of the ACA that have starkly altered the industry landscape, likely permanently: a shift in risk; emphasis on primary care; new entrants; a rapid change in insurance from wholesale to retail; and the role of states that have or have not embraced the law.