Prescriptions written via telehealth are subject to new restrictions announced by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Driven by the pandemic, telehealth services have become mainstream. Many medical practitioners offer remote medical care, which has proved timely and essential for those in rural health and other settings. The rapid advancement of remote medical care … Continued

As the world moves beyond the intense days of the COVID-19 pandemic, research suggests the necessity of long-term medical monitoring for those who suffer infection with COVID-19—whether or not a patient was hospitalized. The term “novel coronavirus” made little sense to many people as panic and protocols swept the world in 2020.  What’s so novel … Continued

High blood pressure during pregnancy is a well-known danger to mom and baby. A new study emphasizes the continuing neurological danger of preeclampsia for mom in later life. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can occur at any time during life or it can be chronic.  Both women and men suffer from hypertension with men slightly … Continued

A common medical device, a duodenoscope, remains a vector for harm and injury for unsuspecting patients. A duodenoscope is a specialized form of endoscope.  An endoscope is a commonly used medical device with a flexible tube, light, and camera that is used to investigate various regions of the body.  Endoscopes can also be used to … Continued

Criticism of a major review of Emergency Department (ED) diagnostic errors began almost as soon as the study was published. The research, spearheaded by Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center, made headlines. Titles like “More than 7 million incorrect diagnoses made in US emergency rooms every year, government report finds,” grabbed attention and quickly polarized … Continued

Medical scribes document and transcribe physician interaction with patients during clinical appointments.  Does it matter if the scribe is human? In recent years, the number of human medical scribes has grown throughout the healthcare industry.  Scribes accompany providers as they note patient history, features of a physical examination, lab results, create orders or prescriptions, and … Continued

The Joint Commission created the first Sentinel Event policy in 1996.  Since that time, the organization has collected and maintained information on sentinel events.  The latest Sentinel Event Annual Review was recently released by the Joint Commission, offering the 2022 update. The Joint Commission is a non-profit organization based in the US that provides accreditation … Continued

Two studies reviewed Never Events to identify factors and consequences associated with preventable medical errors. Never Events are egregious medical errors that should never occur.  There are seven categories of Never Events that include surgical, device, patient protection, radiologic, environment, criminal and care management events. Recently two published studies took a deeper look into the … Continued

Home infusion therapy is an important avenue for the delivery of needed medication outside a healthcare setting.  But how safe is it? A recent study published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) suggests home infusion therapy (HIT) personnel lack critical training in identifying factors which can contribute to bloodstream infection through central-line catheters. … Continued