According to the study conducted by researchers at the NYU Langone Medical Center, understanding the biological events that occur during the growth of a fingernail may unlock the door to limb regeneration. Nail regeneration has been a topic of interest among researchers for years as the fingernail is one of the only parts of the human anatomy that continually grows and can regenerate if entirely amputated.

However, key findings from the study show that nail regeneration is not possible if the loss of a nail eliminates too much nail epithelium. When too much nail epithelium is lost, the nerves become damaged and the nail tissue may not regenerate.

Lead researcher Dr. Mayumi Ito explains that the Wnt signaling network, a group of proteins that has been shown to impact hair and tissue cell regeneration, can also be located in the epithelium of the nail. The study’s researchers believe that the Wnt signaling network plays a crucial role in fingernail growth as it stimulates nerve activity in the area.

During the study, researchers observed the effect Wnt proteins had in the regeneration of amputated mouse toe tips. When the Wnt signaling network was blocked, amputated mouse toes did not grow back, suggesting that the Wnt proteins may hold the answer to the regeneration of lost limbs.

With around 1.7 million people in the U.S. living with an amputation, findings from the study shed hope that limb regeneration may become a future possibility. However, further research is needed to determine the impact these findings could have on restoring lost limbs in human amputees.

Related Articles:

Fingernail Research Could Drive Limb Regeneration

Fingernails Reveal Clues to Limb Regeneration

How Nails Regenerate Lost Fingertips

Nailing Regeneration

PEPID, the leading provider of specialty medical software and drug data for nearly 20 years, provides clinical decision support tools for clinicians to keep them up-to-date on today’s constantly changing healthcare trends.

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Image Courtesy of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), Office of Public Relations

Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) may have met their match, according to a one-year Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) study that observed the affect copper had on reducing HAIs.

The study, which spanned from July 2010 to June 2011, found that the placement of copper on high-touch surfaces, such as bed rails or intravenous poles, significantly reduced the amount of HAIs contracted by patients. In fact, infection levels dropped 60 percent over the course of the study, a surprising amount for the study’s researchers who had originally anticipated a drop of only 10 percent.

HAIs remain a serious health problem today as patients who contract HAIs usually require a longer stay in the hospital while racking up greater hospital expenses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 20 patients develops a HAI, resulting in 100,000 deaths and an estimated $35 – $45 billion in medical expenses each year.

The study incorporated copper surfaces in three medical institutions – MUSC, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Patients admitted to the intensive care room of these hospitals were randomly assigned to standard rooms or rooms with copper surfaces. Findings from the study, published in the May edition of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, illustrate that the patients in rooms with copper surfaces had a lower incidence of infections than patients in standard hospital rooms.

“We believe that HAI reduction was due to the continuous antimicrobial effect of copper on environmental pathogens,” study authors wrote. “Because the antimicrobial effect is a continuous property of copper, rapid regrowth of microbes is mitigated. Importantly, in this study, copper surfaces were shown to work in tandem with standard infection prevention practices to significantly reduce burden and HAIs.”

MUSC researchers are looking to further the study, making plans to implement copper stethoscopes and other copper surfaces into the hospital setting as well.

PEPID, the leading provider of specialty medical software and drug data for nearly 20 years, provides clinical decision support tools for clinicians to keep them up-to-date on today’s constantly changing healthcare trends.

Related Articles:

Copper Surfaces Reduce the Rate of Healthcare Acquired Infections in the ICU

Copper Use Found Beneficial

Disarming a Silent Killer: Copper Surfaces Take Out Superbugs

Healthcare-Acquired Infections Reduced by Copper Surfaces

ICU Infections Plunge 60% with Copper Surfaces

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A report recently released by the RAND Corporation notes that the amount of unscheduled visits to the ER increased by 17 percent from 2003 to 2009, while primary care visits declined by 10 percent.

According to the report, patients often visit the ER when they fail in scheduling a timely appointment with a primary care physician (PCP). For some patients seeking immediate care, taking a trip to the ER may be a valid option as the ER is accessible 24/7 and healthcare is provided on a walk-in basis. In fact, the report notes that one of the main reasons patients visit the ER for non-urgent matters is due to their lack of access to primary care.

Additionally, patients who are uninsured or insured by Medicaid are often denied healthcare by PCPs and may turn to ERs to obtain treatment.

“EDs are the only place in the U.S. healthcare system where the poor cannot be turned away,” study authors wrote. “As a result, they are disproportionately used by low-income and uninsured patients who cannot reliably get care in other settings.”

However, while ERs experienced an upsurge in the amount of visits, the study illustrates that they may also be responsible for cutting down on the amount of preventable hospital admissions. According to the study, a greater number of patients suffering from chronic conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, sought treatment in the ER from 2000 to 2009. Rather than admitting these patients to the hospital, emergency physicians are now treating and discharging them in the ER.

“The strongest evidence that ED care may be exerting a moderating effect on potentially preventable admissions may be seen in the declining number and rate of hospital admissions due to heart failure and angina,” the report further notes.

PEPID, the leading provider of electronic medical references for emergency physicians, provides clinical decision support tools to support clinicians in the fast-paced environment of emergency medicine. The PEPID app provides easily accessible drug databases, medical calculators, lab manuals, diagnostic charts and more.

Related articles:

Emergency Departments Now Account for Half of All Hospital Inpatient Admissions

Emergency Rooms Gaining Power in US Healthcare, Study Finds

E.R.’s Account for Half of Hospital Admissions, Study Says

Not a PEPID subscriber? Get started with a complimentary 14-day trial offer!

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As the growing demand for healthcare places more pressure on healthcare professionals, more clinicians are turning to their smartphones for quick access to medical references to help them make medical decisions when on-the-go.

According to a recent study conducted by Kantar Media, the use of mobile devices in the clinical setting has skyrocketed over the past year. In fact, the study found that 31 percent of physicians now use their smartphones to make prescribing decisions, a 10 percent increase since last year alone.

And, the use of mobile technology in the clinical setting does not appear to be decreasing with time. On the contrary, Kantar Media noted a continuous rise over the years in the number of healthcare professionals using their smartphones and tablets at work.

Of the 3,000 physicians surveyed:

• 74% use their smartphone for professional purposes
• 43% use their smartphone to reference drug data
• 39% use their smartphone to perform clinical calculations

As a healthcare professional, how many times do you use your smartphone at work?

No matter what your specialty is, PEPID provides clinical decision support tools for a variety of healthcare professions, including Emergency Medicine, Primary Care, Nursing, Pharmacy and EMS. With the PEPID mobile app, clinicians can receive quick access to reliable, up-to-date information on today’s constantly changing healthcare trends.

Related articles:

How are Physicians Using Smartphones for Professional Purposes?

Survey: 31 Percent of Doctors Make Rx Decisions from Smartphones

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In response to these increasing demands, technology has become a driving force in the patient engagement movement with healthcare providers turning to electronic resources to keep their patients well-informed on today’s constantly changing healthcare trends. Patient engagement is essential to improving the patient experience, allowing patients to become more involved and knowledgeable about health concerns and the benefits to living a healthy lifestyle.

With readily available electronic health resources, patients can now access their own health data and become more proactive in managing their own health outcomes. Self-care is especially important for those patients who are suffering from chronic conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Patient engagement tools allow patients to become an active participant in their own healthcare by having instant access to electronic symptom checkers, drug databases, medical calculators, illustrations and more.

Also important to the patient engagement movement is health literacy, the patient’s ability to understand health information and make important health decisions based on their medical knowledge. Several healthcare organizations are implementing programs to keep patients better informed about pressing health topics, such as the American Academy of Family Physicians’ tobacco awareness programs and the Immune Deficiency Foundation’s Operation Outreach program.

As patients become better educated on medical conditions, risk-factors, current procedures and treatments, healthcare providers are looking for ways to improve the quality of healthcare by developing doctor-patient communication and shared-decision making.

To help healthcare institutions meet their meaningful use objectives and to improve the quality of patient care, PEPID provides electronic patient engagement tools and reference materials. PEPID tools, such as patient education handouts and the new PEPID for Patients, help healthcare providers and their patients remain up-to-date and knowledgeable about today’s continually evolving healthcare system.

Not a subscriber? Get started today with a complimentary 14-day risk-free trial!

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Communication is an important aspect of healthcare, as poor communication often interferes with patient care. According to Institute of Medicine findings between 1995 and 2005, 66 percent of all medical errors occur as a result of poor communication among clinicians and inadequate team collaboration.

HIMSS surveyed more than 500 clinicians to learn how health IT is impacting healthcare and whether communication is deteriorating as a result.

Of those surveyed:

• 83% agree that health IT allows them to provide quality care for their patients
• 80% agree that health IT helps them process data and improves access to medical information
• 70% agree that health IT provides relevant information to help them understand their daily caseload
• 61% agree that health IT helps them to be more problem-focused in their communications with other clinicians

Key findings from the HIMSS health IT survey illustrate that health IT not only affords healthcare providers with a tool to enhance communications with their patients, but also provides clinicians with relevant information to enhance communications among their colleagues as well.

See the HIMSS infographic to view all results.

PEPID is a leading provider of health IT to support all types of healthcare professions, including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics. No matter where they are, clinicians can access PEPID suites 24/7 on any device.

Not a PEPID subscriber? Try a complimentary 14-day risk-free trial and get access to our health IT tools and applications!

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PEPID’s new Infobutton tool integrates resources into workflow to provide point-of-care reference materials for clinicians and patients. Users can now access content-specific information relevant to their inquiries, allowing them to gather the information quickly without disrupting their workflow.

As growing demands are placed on the healthcare industry, physicians are under even more pressure to prescribe effective treatment plans for their patients while keeping in mind a patient’s medical history, allergies and other medications. In a fast-paced medical environment, keeping track of all of this information can be rather challenging.

This latest enhancement to PEPID’s Clinical Decision Support (CDS) provides an instant resource that healthcare professionals can utilize when in need of patient information, drug and disease reference materials, lab manuals and more. Patients will be able to access information about chronic diseases, lab results, procedures, drug references and pill identification.

The Infobutton is HL7 compliant and features content-specific resources to help healthcare professionals meet their meaningful use objectives and improve patient care. PEPID’s Infobutton is standardized using system vocabularies, including: ICD-9, ICD-10, SNOMED, RxNORM, NDC, LOINC, CPC and more.

Stay well-informed with PEPID’s Infobutton, available in all PEPID suites. PEPID is a leading provider of electronic health resources, keeping healthcare professionals up-to-date on the latest medical research for nearly 20 years.

Not a PEPID subscriber? Get started today with a complimentary trial offer!

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In a constantly changing medical world, one objective remains the same: to improve patient care. Or at least, that was the #1 reason physicians gave for subscribing to PEPID Emergency Medicine.

Of those surveyed:

• 97% would recommend PEPID to a friend
• 95% definitely plan to renew their subscription
• 88% use PEPID every day

View the infographic for more results!

PEPID provides instantly accessible resources designed specifically to help healthcare professionals provide faster and more effective healthcare for their patients. The data can be easily integrated into iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, Online or any healthcare information system. If you are new to PEPID, you can get started today with a complimentary 14-day risk free trial!

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Need to find out how long the wait is at your nearest hospital? Are you taking an OTC medicine along with prescription medication and are unsure if there could be a reaction? QR codes and the medical field are teaming up to provide quick and accurate information all through a medium of a two-dimensional bar code.

A QR code or Quick Response Code is a two-dimensional bar code that is scanned by a mobile device and links the user to a designated url. This powerful little square is becoming the norm in the medical field by bridging the gap between patient education and patient information.

First responders in various cities are partnering up with their residents to develop a QR code database of emergency information that any paramedic or first responder might need in case of an emergency. As soon as the code is scanned the onsite paramedic can have access to information that can help them treat the patient if they are nonresponsive or unable to verbalize key information about themselves.

Physicians are utilizing QR codes to house specific patient information to help inform or remind patients of certain information:

• Appointment dates and times
• Practice specific information (address, phone number)
• Referral information
• Current medication list
• Injury/Pain Management Plan
• Chronic Illness Treatment Plan

“We embarked upon this, and as it turned out, we’ve developed this one particular program that allows us to do some pretty amazing stuff from a medical care perspective,” says practice founder Floyd “Tripp” Bradd, MD, FAAFP.

QR codes are a means of quickly accessing accurate information for healthcare providers and first responders via a quick scan.  As technology continues to advance to new methods the medical community is taking notice and is using it to their advantage.

PEPID EMS Plus NAEMSE provides paramedics and EMTs with critical information at the point of care. With a complete medical reference, drug database with a toxicology section, emergency protocols and evidence-based information, PEPID EMS Plus NAEMSE is the only electronic quick reference for emergency medical professionals, designed for use while en route.

PEPID EMS Plus NAEMSE is available on iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile and Online; making everything EMTs and Paramedics need available to support efficient, high-quality care without leaving the patient’s side. Get started today with a complimentary trial offer!

Read More:

http://www.technewsdaily.com/6264-new-qr-codes-tell-paramedics-your-medical-info.html

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=778837

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Healthcare IT News reviewed the data received from their survey and found some interesting findings based on the data received; “What is impressive are the characteristics and values that show up again and again in the profiles of the top IT departments in this special report: teamwork, work-life balance, empowerment, trust, openness, honesty, accountability… the list goes on.” says Mike Moran, Project Editor.

Last year, the most important factors influencing employee satisfaction tend to be more subjective, less pragmatic factors such as feeling like part of a team, gaining a sense of accomplishment from work, feeling respected as a professional and believing that morale is high. Less important are more pragmatic measures such as believing that staffing and budgets are sufficient, having a sense of accountability for work and decisions, and being satisfied with benefits.

From inception, that’s been this project’s goal: To determine what characteristics distinguish the best hospital IT departments from all the rest — and to share these values and best practices with the rest of the industry.

At the end of the day, money matters, but as you’ll read in profile after profile, more than money, employees value a friendly, supportive workplace where they are empowered to do good work. The top hospitals in this year’s “Where to Work: BEST Hospital IT Departments” understand that completely.

PEPID has been a leader in developing applications and a variety of platform suites for healthcare professionals that can be downloaded on smartphone devices that provide ease of use at the point of care – including a differential diagnosis generator, treatment for thousands of diseases and the most extensive drug database on the market. Learn more here!

Read More:

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/best-hospitals-2012/more-10000-employees-completed-2012-best-hospital-it-departments-survey

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