Critical Care News and Research

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Longer looks: Who is influencing health care?; Planned Parenthood's battle in the states; Oregon's new experiment

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh once vowed to flee to Costa Rica if President Barack Obama's health care reforms took effect. Limbaugh might have overlooked a couple of critical details: Costa Rica's respected universal healthcare system is highly socialized. It's also on the verge of going broke. ... Costa Rica's broad coverage ranked better than most of the Americas, including the United States, in a 2000 World Health Organization index.

26 Aug 2011

Saudi Arabian medical products distributor enters agreement with NMI

Nano Mask, Inc. (NMI), a healthcare product development and distribution company focused on emergency and critical care as well as infection control markets, has announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with a Saudi Arabia-based medical products distributor which will represent NMI's product line on an exclusive basis to: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco, Oman, Algeria, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Sudan, Yemen Lebanon, Yemen and Tunisia.

26 Aug 2011

Temporary ER staff poses increased safety risk to patients

Temporary staff members working in a hospital’s fast-paced emergency department are twice as likely as permanent employees to be involved in medication errors that harm patients, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

25 Aug 2011

New benchmarks may highlight opportunities for care improvement in the ICUs

New nationwide benchmarks representing current critical care practices for ICUs may highlight opportunities for care improvement.

25 Aug 2011

Azithromycin can effectively reduce acute COPD exacerbations

A common antibiotic added to the usual treatment plan for some patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can reduce acute exacerbations — sudden onsets of worsened cough, wheezing and labored breathing — and improve quality of life, according to findings from the COPD Clinical Research Network reported in the Aug. 25, 2011, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

25 Aug 2011

IARS launches $750,000 anesthesia research grant

The International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) launched a $750,000 research grant today - the largest single grant offered by the Society in its 90 year history. The Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award, created in 1995, has traditionally been a $500,000 grant.

24 Aug 2011

Quality improvement program for preventing infections helps hospitals save lives and money

A quality improvement program that saves lives by dramatically reducing potentially lethal bloodstream infections in hospital intensive-care units across the state of Michigan also saves those hospitals an average of $1.1 million a year, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

24 Aug 2011

Trauma patients reunite at Loyola's Big Save Barbecue

Alejandro Arroyo, 41, of Cicero, was pushing his stalled truck when he was hit by a car going 45 miles per hour. "I was wedged into the side of my SUV and flattened like a cartoon character," he said. Arroyo was treated at Loyola University Medical Center's Level 1 Trauma Center for a crushed pelvis and multiple injuries in 2009. "I told my wife my life was not over and we needed to celebrate," he said.

24 Aug 2011

Cambridge Memorial Hospital installs Toshiba's CT and ultrasound system

Since quick and accurate diagnosis is critical in an acute setting, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, a critical care hospital in Nebraska operating as part of the integrated Tri Valley Health System, has installed the Aquilion 64 CT system and the Aplio XG ultrasound system from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.

23 Aug 2011

HRS, KGH reduce bed rental expenditures by 83%

Leveraging their membership with Amerinet affiliate Health Resource Services (HRS), Kennewick General Hospital (KGH), a 101-bed acute care facility in southeastern Washington state, decreased its bed rental expenditures by 83 percent, and positively impacted quality patient care through the economical acquisition of Hill-Rom critical care and bariatric beds.

23 Aug 2011

No effective treatment yet for acute lung injury

Patients can essentially drown in their own fluids when trauma and infection prompt blood vessels to leak, flooding millions of air sacs in their lungs.

22 Aug 2011

CPAP withdrawal leads to return of obstructive sleep apnea

The benefits of continuous positive airway pressure machines (CPAP) for patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are quickly reversed when the therapy is withdrawn, according to Swiss research.

12 Aug 2011

A diet of flaxseed shows protective effects against radiation in mice

Flax has been part of human history for well over 30,000 years, used for weaving cloth, feeding people and animals, and even making paint. Now, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that it might have a new use for the 21st century: protecting healthy tissues and organs from the harmful effects of radiation.

10 Aug 2011

Researchers identify molecular pathway behind inflammation, mucus production in asthma

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a molecular pathway that helps explain how an enzyme elevated in asthma patients can lead to increased mucus production and inflammation that is characteristic of the lung condition.

9 Aug 2011

Aultman Hospital selects ProVation Order Sets

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that Aultman Hospital has selected ProVation® Order Sets, powered by UpToDate® Decision Support, as the hospital's electronic order set solution.

8 Aug 2011