Tag: healthcare

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Resources for Healthcare Research

With its ever-evolving landscape, today’s healthcare industry has grown to encompass much more than just the physicians, clinicians and hospital executives most people think of when they hear the words, “healthcare industry.” Now, with anyone from accountants to web developers able to find work in healthcare, it’s more important than ever to stay in the know about an industry that affects everybody. Here are four resources that can help you stay up-to-date on the latest landscape.

1.       Advisory Board Company (ABC)
Using a combination of research, technology and consulting, ABC is a best practices firm that finds the best new ideas and proven practices from healthcare leaders across the world. get you started, their C-Suite Cheat Sheet Series provides all the basics you need to know about working in healthcare.
Website: www.advisory.com

2.       Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
The AHRQ works within the US Department of Health and Human Sciences to produce evidence to make healthcare safer, higher quality and more accessible, equitable and affordable. The organization’s website is filled with research and data about many different aspects of healthcare, including (but definitely not limited to) children’s health, mental health and primary care.
Website: www.ahrg.gov  

3.       Becker’s Hospital Review
Tailored for hospital executives and C-Suite level employees, this site broadcasts up-to-date health system and hospital news, provides legal guidance and shares best practices. They even have a weekly e-newsletter that provides a summary of the week’s most relevant and popular news.
Website: www.beckershospitalreview.com

4.       Kaiser Health News
Your one-stop shop for all of the latest news involving healthcare politics and policy. Not only does the site publish original articles, it also provides you with daily summaries of major health news topics from other publications.
Website: www.khn.org

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How to Fight Germs

In the healthcare field, we are constantly surrounded by germs and bacteria of patients brought in with illnesses, colds and other sicknesses.

Unfortunately, not every one of us have the time surgeons generally do to “scrub” before administering care. Therefore, we generally turn to the fastest germ killer known to man – hand sanitizer. But is this simple antiseptic causing you more harm than help?

The FDA is investigating this product to see if this product’s healthy guarantees are as safe and effective as advertised. On Friday, the FDA said there are potential hormonal effects and bacterial resistance of ‘active’ ingredients in antiseptics, and they are looking to see if hand sanitizer is even appropriate for use in a healthcare setting.

Since the 70s, healthcare practices have changed greatly. Therefore, our products and their effectiveness must change as well.

The main ingredients in antiseptics are alcohol and iodine. We’re not likely to see a recall of hand sanitizer anytime soon, but the FDA says they will be continuing to see if there is anything else they can add to this product to make it an adequate piece of germ-fighting equipment in the healthcare setting.