Yelp ratings of healthcare facilities may reveal death rate disparities

An effective clinical decision support tool is available at the point of care, is as current as possible, and is accurate, a chief medical information officer says.

Medical knowledge advances rapidly, with a plethora of new studies published daily. Clinical decision support tools can help clinicians stay up to date with the constant changes of information about diagnoses and treatments.

A good clinical decision support tool has three primary characteristics, says Jon Michael Vore, DO, chief medical information officer Southern New Hampshire Health. The Nashua, New Hampshire-based health system features a medical center and a network of more than 400 clinicians.

Radiology is an essential component of modern medicine. It plays an integral role in the prevention, detection, and diagnosis of disease, as well as in treatment delivery and patient care. Moreover, its role is expected to grow in the coming years.

Between 2021 and 2028, the global medical imaging market is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% (Research and Markets, 2021). Trends fueling the growth include more preventive healthcare initiatives, an aging population, and the prevalence of chronic conditions such as cardiac diseases and cancer. Imaging already is a key part of clinical treatment plans; it promises to become only more so.

The problem is that the number of available medical imaging professionals isn’t keeping pace with the rising demands on the field. Not enough people are going into the field to keep up with the growth.

U.S. counties with healthcare facilities with the greatest share of 1-star Yelp reviews had the highest death rates, and a difference of just one point—roughly one star—between counties’ average scores could indicate a mortality rate that is better or worse by dozens of lives, according to researchers at the Penn Medicine Center for Digital Health.

If your hospital is interested in becoming certified in specialty stroke care or expanding its existing certification, start by assessing the care you already provide to determine how much—or how little—work you must do to get to the next level.

Initial or advanced certification is not only good for your patients, but it could also improve your hospital’s financial bottom line. Many states require emergency medical services (EMS) to take stroke patients to the closest hospital with a stroke unit, and depending on the severity of the stroke, the patient may be directed to a facility with a more comprehensive stroke center.

“Without the certification, the hospital will lose that business,” notes Gayle Nash, RN, MPH, president of Nash Healthcare, an accreditation compliance consulting firm headquartered in El Paso, Texas.

The healthcare industry knows it has a workplace violence problem, but it’s had a hard time shifting the cultural perception that this violence is unavoidable. As one paper describing the prevalence, forms, and consequences of healthcare workplace violence proclaimed in its title, “Workplace Violence in Health Care—It’s Not ‘Part of the Job.’ ”

This acceptance may be one reason the U.S. House passed the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, HR 1195, in April 2021. The bill, now with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, would require the Occupational Safety & Health Administration to develop an enforceable healthcare-specific standard around workplace violence prevention. Hospitals, home health agencies, long-term care facilities, and others would be required to develop and implement a comprehensive workplace violence protection plan in compliance with the standard’s requirements.

Glenn Farrant, CEO of the security management solution provider CriticalArc, adds that the acceptance of healthcare’s comparatively higher workplace violence rates may stem from the long-standing difficulty in rapidly responding to incidents. But with today’s technology becoming more advanced, this attitude is no longer appropriate, Farrant says.