Brigham Researchers Find Security Calls More Likely For Black Patients
The researchers at the Boston hospital analyzed 423 security reports filed between Sept. 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2019, and found 2.8% of Black patients had calls placed for them, compared with 1.6% of white patients. In other news, a study finds rising infection rates in central line catheters that doctors use in major veins to deliver medicine, and experts call for updating language in patient records.
The Boston Globe:
Internal Analysis Shows Black Patients At Brigham Faced More Security Calls
Black patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital were nearly twice as likely as white patients to have security called on them, according to a new study led by researchers at the hospital. The findings, published May 13 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, will propel efforts within the Brigham to address the problem, executives and researchers said. Dr. Yannis Valtis, lead author of the study and senior resident in the Division of General Internal Medicine & Primary Care, said residents began looking at how race played into the use of security after George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police officers two years ago. (Bartlett, 5/23)
In other health industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
As Central-Line Infections Rise, Providers Look For Best Practices
As health systems grappled with staffing and supply challenges during the pandemic, they also saw a surge in central-line associated bloodstream infections. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed a 28% jump in the standardized infection ratio for central-line-associated bloodstream infections between the second quarters of 2019 and 2020. From 2015 to 2019, a 31% decline occurred in the standardized infection ratio for central-line infections. The analysis of CDC data calculated the number of observed central-line associated bloodstream infections over the number of predicted infections at 936 facilities and more than 13,000 inpatient units. (Devereaux, 5/23)
Axios:
Language In Medical Records May Be Due For An Update
The push for more transparency in health care is fueling a reevaluation of the words doctors and nurses use in medical records. Medical lingo helps shape the care and treatment patients get. But the language health professional commonly use can belittle or cast doubts on patients and their complaints and is due for an update, an analysis published in the BMJ argues. Common phrases like "presenting complaint" or "the patient denies" can sound judgmental or doubtful of patients, researchers from The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute (THIS) in the U.K. said. (Reed, 5/23)
Crain's Detroit Business:
Henry Ford Health Expanding Metro Detroit Urgent Care Centers
Urgent care centers have long existed as loss leaders for health systems — staffing highly-paid nurses and doctors around the clock to treat sprains and wounds is expensive. For the last decade, many have amputated those operations as a cost savings measure and instead invested [in] higher-margin outpatient surgical centers and other specialty services. But Henry Ford Health is bucking the trend, planning to open 15 urgent care centers across metro Detroit this year alone. The Detroit system opened the fifth of the planned centers Monday in Clinton Township alongside joint venture partner Chicago-based GoHealth. (Walsh, 5/23)
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Helmsley Trust Gives $4.2M Grant To Nevada Health Centers For Equipment
The Helmsley Charitable Trust has granted $4.2 million to Nevada health centers to purchase ultrasound equipment and support-related training, it announced Monday. The national philanthropic organization largely focused on health initiatives and grants and founded by the late businesswoman Leona Helmsley awarded the grants to 18 health centers and clinics and two mobile care units across Nevada — most located in rural locations, but also eight in the Las Vegas Valley. “Our hospitals and health centers need to stay current with rapidly advancing technology so they can continue to provide top-notch healthcare close to home,” Walter Panzirer, a trustee and Helmsley’s grandson, said in a news release. “These grants help ensure that facilities across Nevada have the latest and greatest ultrasound equipment.” (Ross, 5/23)
Health News Florida:
A Simulated Mass Shooting Scenario Puts Tallahassee Memorial's Trauma Center To The Test
Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's trauma center was the scene of a realistic mass shooting response exercise on Friday. Scores of badly "wounded" patients tried to push the facility and its staff to the limit. As the first of many ambulances arrived, trauma team members raced to get the imaginary shooting victim into the nearest triage room. Florida State University students played the part of the victims, several with makeup simulating bullet wounds. (Flanigan, 5/23)
