Medical Journal July 2020 Digital Edition
July 16, 20201 min
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Top 10 Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) by Total Procedure Volume
July 16, 20201 min
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Five ways to “flatten the curve” of the building wave of employment litigation spawned by the COVID crisis
July 16, 202014 min
By A. Kevin Troutman, Partner, Fisher Phillips As the global pandemic continues, a strong new wave of COVID-19 cases has emerged, this time accompanied by a groundswell of employment litigation, as hungry plaintiffs’ lawyers line up a host of claims that are directly or indirectly related to the pandemic. By the end of June, well over 250 such lawsuits had been filed nationwide. California, Florida, New and New Jersey had seen the most cases, but...
By Allison Shelton and Monique Pena, Brown & Fortunato, P.C. In a final rule published on June 19, 2020 (2020 Final Rule), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) significantly reduced requirements placed on health care entities and narrowed OCR’s interpretations on prohibited discrimination. The 2020 Final Rule was adopted under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act which prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of race,...
Emerging technologies can aid with PPE, medicine supply issues
July 16, 20209 min
By Arun Ghosh, Advisory Principal, U.S. Blockchain Leader, and Ketan Patel, Advisory Principal, Healthcare, KPMG Emerging technologies, such as analytics and blockchain, that are helping healthcare providers navigate supply chain issues regarding personal protection equipment (PPE) and medications that have affected Houston and different areas in the country, especially as new cases of COVID-19 spike. As healthcare organizations continue to struggle with coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), questions remain about the growing number of cases and how supplies...
Prioritize and promote mental wellness for front line workers
July 16, 20206 min
By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Hospitals and health care workers prepared for the spread of COVID-19 early on. They consulted and implemented expert infection control procedures. They found ways to safely reuse personal protective equipment when masks where in short supply. They have adjusted patient areas to separate potentially infectious individuals from the general population. Direct care staff have taken the appropriate precautions to protect themselves from contracting COVID-19 so they can continue...
Now is a time for kindness
July 16, 20204 min
By Victor S. Sierpina, MD “Just because you are happy it does not mean that the day is perfect but that you have looked beyond its imperfections.”. -Bob Marley The other day, picking up groceries at the Walmart, I recognized a struggle inside myself, to be more kind, understanding, and compassionate instead of feeling irritated, judgmental, angry. It was just a little thing really, but it became a metaphysical and spiritual breakthrough. Walmart and other...
Combination biomarker predicts response to immune checkpoint therapy in patients with advanced bladder cancer
July 16, 20206 min
In patients with metastatic bladder cancer, a novel combination of biomarkers from baseline tumor tissues was predictive of improved clinical responses and prolonged survival following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, according to researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The study used multi-platform analyses of tumor samples to discover that ARID1A mutations in tumor cells and expression of the immune signaling protein CXCL13 in surrounding immune cells were enriched in patients who...
UTMB researchers have discovered a new antiviral mechanism for dengue therapeutics
July 16, 20204 min
A multidisciplinary team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has uncovered a new mechanism for designing antiviral drugs for dengue virus. Dengue virus is a very important mosquito-transmitted viral pathogen, causing 390 million human infections each year. Dengue is common in more than 100 countries and forty percent of the world’s population is at risk of infection. When someone becomes ill with dengue, symptoms that can range from mild to severe may...
‘Relaxed’ T cells critical to immune response
July 16, 20205 min
Like finding that needle in the haystack every time, your T cells manage what seems like an improbable task: quickly finding a few invaders among the many imposters in your body to trigger its immune response. T cells have to react fast and do so nearly perfectly to protect people from diseases. But first, they need a little “me” time. Rice University researchers suggest that has to do with how T cells “relax” in the...