A group of federal and industry safety leaders have issued an urgent call for healthcare organizations to rebuild the foundations for safe care that deteriorated during the pandemic. 

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the criminialization of abortion will have a systemwide effect on the healthcare industry — a potenital reality health systems must start preparing for now, Lisa Harris, MD, PhD, wrote in a May 11 article for The New England Journal of Medicine.

RaDonda Vaught was sentenced to three years of supervised probation May 13 for a fatal medication error she made in 2017 while working as a nurse at Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

In what researchers are calling the longest follow-up study to date, findings published May 11 in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggest more than half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 still have at least one symptom two years later. 

For many people, rude behavior is no more than an unwelcome nuisance. But for those in healthcare, the consequences can be far more detrimental. 

Twenty-five percent of Medicare enrollees experienced harm during hospital stays in October 2018, according to a May 12 report from the HHS Office of the Inspector General. 

Reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections was the most challenging compliance standard for hospitals in 2021, according to The Joint Commission. 

Interest in intrauterine devices and other forms of contraception has spiked in the wake of a leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court may strike down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established safe and legal access to abortion as a constitiutional right, The Washington Post reported May 10. 

The cognitive impairment caused by severe COVID-19 is equivalent to 20 years of aging or the loss of 10 IQ points, according to a small study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London. 

Medical groups reacted with condemnation after a May 3 report from Politico uncovered a draft opinion from the Supreme Court indicating it is poised to strike down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established safe and legal access to abortion as a constitiutional right. 

A new report from the CDC provides the most detailed insights yet into the nation's earliest confirmed pediatric acute hepatitis cases potentially linked to an adenovirus.

RaDonda Vaught's conviction for a fatal medication error is drawing newfound attention to the technological vulnerabilities of electronic medication cabinets, Kaiser Health News reported April 29.

Physicians are increasingly prescribing a free, effective therapy for patients with various conditions: more time in nature, Time reported April 27.

The CDC is reminding clinicians that corticosteroids and antibiotics are usually not recommended for outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19.

The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum selected Prime Healthcare Services and Kaiser Permanente Northern California as recipients of their John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards in two categories. 

A study involving physician surveys and Medicare claims data found no consistent relationship between burnout and patient outcomes, according to findings published in the April edition of Health Affairs.

Vaccinated people with a history of certain psychiatric conditions may have a higher chance of contracting breakthrough COVID-19, according to a study published April 14 in JAMA Network Open.

Health officials have not observed a change in severity among people infected with the omicron "sister variants" BA.4 and BA.5, Maria Van Kerkhove, PhD, COVID-19 technical lead for the World Health Organization, said during an April 13 media briefing.

CMS will roll out a new "birthing-friendly" designation for hospitals in fall 2023 as part of a larger effort to improve maternal health outcomes, the agency said April 13. 

Mother's Day is fast approaching, a time when our focus turns to showing love to our moms with candy and flowers.