Medical Journal March 2021 Digital Edition
March 16, 20211 min
Post Views: 3,205
Balancing employment law compliance with COVID-19 vaccine incentive programs
March 16, 202112 min
By Mauro Ramirez, Partner, Fisher Phillips The general public has reacted to the COVID-19 vaccine with both enthusiasm and apprehension. Primary concerns relate to the vaccine’s speedy development when compared to prior vaccines and its potential side effects. Even healthcare workers have expressed such concerns. According to data collected by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), as of December 2020, about 29% of healthcare workers said that they probably or definitely would not get...
Humana and the University of Houston announced the launch of a Value-based Care Specialization online program to support providers, academia, and other business and industry professionals and the public in learning about the fundamentals and real-world application of value-based care that has become integral to improving outcomes in health care. Surveys show that there is a varied understanding of the definition of value-based care within the health care industry. As two enterprises focused on equipping...
Sex discrimination and retaliation in residency program allow Title VII and Title IX claims to proceed
March 16, 20219 min
By Beth Anne Jackson and Allison Shelton, Brown & Fortunato, P.C. In its January opinion in Aguiluz v. Univ. of Tex. Health Sci. Ctr. at San Antonio, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, denied the motions of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center – San Antonio (UTHSCSA) to dismiss the retaliation and other claims of Dr. Cesar Aguiluz, a graduate of its surgical residency program. The court’s opinion...
By Quratulanne Jan, MD, and Michael J. Allen, II, MD, Department of Family Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.” ― Hippocrates Modern-day medicine in the 21st century has made great advances towards discovering cures. More recently, there has been an increased focus on prevention and social determinants of health. This recognizes that patients consist of numerous variables including...
Texas’ essential workers would benefit from coverage expansion
March 16, 20216 min
By Ted Shaw, President/CEO, Texas Hospital Association Next to our health care heroes, grocery store employees have been among the most visible of Texas’ frontline workers. They have earned a reputation for supporting the state during its most challenging and darkest days. Amid the pandemic, a statewide stay at home order and the winter storm that rendered the state largely inert—without power and water and roads that were impassable due to snow, ice...
Study finds high tumor mutation burden predicts immunotherapy response in some, but not all, cancers
March 16, 20217 min
A high rate of genetic mutations within a tumor, known as high tumor mutation burden (TMB), was only useful for predicting clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors in a subset of cancer types, according to a new study led by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings suggest that TMB status may not be reliably used as a universal biomarker for predicting immunotherapy response. While TMB status was capable of successfully predicting response to...
Researchers at UTMB find that frustration is an additional factor of addiction based on studies with rats
March 16, 20215 min
A team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) focused on drug addiction research have pioneered a new way to study frustration as a factor in substance use disorders. Traditional addiction research has focused on three aspects of substance use disorders: craving, impulsivity, or habit. Scientists hypothesized that a fourth factor, frustration, could also lead to escalation of drug use and addiction. The Psychopharmacology paper noted that research into the role of...
New teamwork model could improve patient health care
March 16, 20214 min
Open communication and trust are essential for successful teamwork in challenging health care situations, as detailed in “Building effective healthcare team development interventions in uncertain times: Tips for success.” The paper was authored by researchers at Rice University, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and The Group for Organizational Effectiveness. The study outlines a new model, developed at MD Anderson under the guidance of the researchers, with recommendations for health care team effectiveness....