Antibiotic allergy reporting may lead to resistance, higher costs, decreased safety

Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed medications, but in determining the most appropriate prescription for a patient, doctors and pharmacists often rely on inaccurate records of the patient’s antibiotic allergies. Many records are incomplete, unclear or incorrect. They may have originated with a patient’s previous physician, or incompatible electronic medical record systems may have…

Ashion Analytics receives Medicare coverage for GEM ExTra® assay for cancer patients

PHOENIX, Ariz. — July 14, 2020 — Ashion Analytics LLC announced today that Palmetto GBA, a Medicare administrative contractor for the Molecular Diagnostic Services Program (MolDX), has awarded coverage to its proprietary cancer profiling test, GEM ExTra®, one of the nation’s most comprehensive genomic cancer analysis tests. GEM ExTra, Ashion’s flagship clinical assay, detects tumor-specific…

What encourages–or impedes–primary care team collaboration through case management?

While multiple recent studies have provided evidence of the benefits of case management, primary care teams have struggled to implement and sustain its use in their clinical practices. In this systematic review, researchers examine barriers to case management, as well as factors facilitating its implementation. Researchers conducted a comprehensive literature review of studies that address…

COVID-19 tip sheet: Story ideas from Johns Hopkins

Effectively Communicating with Older Adults Who Have Hearing Loss During COVID-19 Media Contact: Waun’Shae Blount, wblount1@jhmi.edu The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a variety of challenges for older adults with hearing trouble across different health care settings, including the inpatient hospital setting and nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home environments. Research from Johns Hopkins suggests…

Factors maximize impact of yoga, physical therapy on back pain in underserved population

BOSTON – New research shows that people with chronic low back pain (cLBP) have better results from yoga and physical therapy compared to reading evidence-based self-help materials. While this finding was consistent across many patient characteristics, a much larger effect was observed among those already taking pain medication to treat their condition and those who…

Researchers cast doubt on earlier COVID-19 origins study citing dogs as possible hosts

AURORA, Colo. (July 14, 2020) – A study published earlier this year claiming the coronavirus may have jumped from dogs to humans is scientifically flawed, offering no direct evidence to support its conclusions, according to a collaborative group of international researchers, including scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. “During this time of…