Can Physicians Learn Empathy? At St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, I highly doubt it!

Can Physicians Learn Empathy?

At St. Joseph's Hospital in Nashua, I highly doubt it!

We want competent physicians, but we also want compassionate ones. How do we get them? Is it nature or is it nurture? Is it more important to search out more compassionate students, or should we instill compassion somehow in the ones we start along the training pipeline? I think the answer lies in nurturing what nature has already put there.

Putnam Hospital Center Shrinks Sepsis Mortality

Putnam Hospital Center Shrinks Sepsis Mortality

Sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals. The chance of sepsis mortality increases 8% for every hour that treatment is delayed, but sepsis deaths are preventable with rapid diagnosis and treatment. Aiming to shrink sepsis mortality, a multidisciplinary team at Putnam Hospital Center (PHC) initiated best practices and interventions focusing on education, early recognition, and prompt intervention.

Dstl seeking commercial partners for new sepsis test

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in the UK has developed a new test for sepsis which is now available for commercial licence and has the potential to improve survival rates.

Sepsis claims the lives of six million people each year, and is caused by an immune response triggered by infection. The new test has demonstrated an accuracy of 97% and could improve patient survival rates as it enables diagnosis and treatment to take place before symptoms appear.

Hospital system pays $65M to settle Medicare billing claims

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Prime Healthcare Services, one of the nation's largest hospital systems, agreed Friday to pay $65 million to settle allegations of Medicare overbilling in California.

The company and CEO Prem Reddy agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that 14 of its hospitals unnecessarily admitted patients and also "upcoded" patient diagnoses, exaggerating their illnesses in order to receive more Medicare money.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Researchers Make Breakthrough In Sepsis Identification

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center have made a breakthrough that may help doctors identify patients who are at greater risk of contracting sepsis, a potentially life-threatening infection complication.

Sepsis occurs when the immune system malfunctions during an infection, leading to rapid inflammation that can be fatal.

Sepsis most commonly affects the elderly and people with already weakened immune systems.

Doctor Matthew Hayden, one of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock researchers, says the new findings may help doctors better tailor treatment to individual sepsis patients.

Septic Shock Accounts for Large Share of In-Hospital Mortality for Infectious Disease and Respiratory Patients at Top Michigan Hospitals

Septic Shock Accounts for Large Share of In-Hospital Mortality for Infectious Disease and Respiratory Patients at Top Michigan Hospitals

Severe sepsis kills 15 to 30% of the million Americans affected per year, according to NIH estimates. Septic shock accounts for a large share of those deaths.To pinpoint opportunities for better septic shock care and prevention, Dexur analysts examined in-hospital mortality rates in Medicare-eligible patients in Michigan.

Septic shock struck patients with a wide range of conditions. 17 of the 100 hospitals examined reported at least 11 deaths from septic shock. Index diagnoses included dysfunctions of nearly every organ, with renal and heart conditions particularly common.

See best, worst Upstate NY hospitals for treating deadliest infection, SEPSIS

See best, worst Upstate NY hospitals for treating deadliest infection, SEPSIS

Sepsis is the most common cause of hospital deaths nationwide.

It is a life-threatening medical emergency that happens when an infection sets off a chain reaction throughout the body. 

Without fast treatment, sepsis can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. It kills more than 200,000 people annually in the US.

This month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began publishing sepsis treatment statistics for nearly all U.S. hospitals on its Hospital Compare website.

The statistics show the percentage of patients who got appropriate care for severe sepsis and septic shock.