Hospital

11 recent hospital, health system CEO moves

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Becker’s Hospital Review reported the following hospital and health system CEO moves in the last week.

The executives are listed below, alphabetically.

1. Springfield, Pa.-based Crozer-Keystone Health System named Peter Adamo CEO.

2. Taffy Arias, CEO of Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, N.M., stepped down.

3. Donald Buchanan is the new CEO of Fulton (Mo.) Medical Center.

4. Christine M. Candio, president and CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., is resigning, effective April 1.

5. Gabrielle Finley-Hazle was tapped as president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix and St. Joseph’s Westgate Medical Center in Glendale, Ariz.

 

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Amazon Alexa

Indian Hospital Chain Adds Alexa Skill to Connect With Patients

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Patients can now ask Alexa for an appointment at Apollo Hospitals, a large chain of healthcare centers in India. Apollo patients with access to an Amazon Echo or another Alexa-powered device can use the new Ask Apollo skill to arrange a visit with a specific doctor or find an available specialist.

The Ask Apollo Alexa skill was designed by Apollo and MobiSprint Consulting to speed up the process of making appointments at Apollo’s range of hospitals and clinics. The voice skill extends the Ask Apollo platform the hospital group launched back in 2015. Once the skill is added, users can connect it to their Alexa profile. When the skill is opened, patients can ask about the nearest of the 72 Apollo hospitals in India and make an appointment with one of the more than 5,000 doctors working at those hospitals. They can also use the skill to set a preference for both a hospital and a pharmacy.

“The mass adoption of artificial intelligence in the lives of people has fuelled the shift towards voice applications and the number of IoT devices have given voice assistants more utility in a connected user’s life,” Apollo Hospitals joint managing director Sangita Reddy said in a statement. “With our Alexa skill, Apollo Hospitals has become the first and largest healthcare group in India to power voice-assisted hospital search and appointment booking. We will be adding more features to the skill in the near future.”

 

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Group of Doctors

Doctor Discusses Differences Between Coronavirus and The Flu and More

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As global concerns over the coronavirus outbreak grow, the U.S. is taking steps to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed last week. More than 80,000 people around the world have been infected with the virus, with 53 confirmed cases here in the U.S.

On Tuesday, NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar visited TODAY to answer questions about the coronavirus, which has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization.

Though the coronavirus is “definitely” more contagious than the flu, it’s important to remember that it usually isn’t fatal, said Azar. “For flu, it’s about 0.1% mortality. For coronavirus, it’s about 2%. SARS was 10%,” she explained.

“I think that’s something people need to keep in mind because we are going to be seeing more cases in the U.S.,” she said. “But for the vast majority of people, it’s going to be a mild illness and, of course, the fatality number is not nearly as striking or concerning as some outbreaks we’ve seen in the past.”

 

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White Pills

People’s Pharmacy: Are There Drugs To Take The Edge Off Public Speaking?

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A. Doctors sometimes prescribe a beta blocker such as propranolol or metoprolol for performance anxiety. Such drugs have been Food and Drug Administration-approved for high blood pressure and heart problems but not stage fright.

They work in part by blocking the effects of adrenaline (epinephrine) on the body. When people are under stress, they might experience symptoms such as sweating, tremor, dry mouth, rapid pulse, shallow breathing and a tight throat.

Musicians, athletes, public speakers and test takers have been known to take beta blockers to calm the jitters. Sadly, though, there are not many well-controlled trials to test this class of medicines for stage fright.

Some people might react to beta blockers by developing insomnia, disorientation, asthma and impaired performance.

 

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The Healthcare Standard

Food Network’s Katie Lee reveals pregnancy after infertility struggles

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Food Network star Katie Lee revealed that she and her husband, TV producer and actor Ryan Biegel, are expecting.

Lee, 38, shared the news on Instagram with a photo of herself showing off her stomach as she ate a bowl of pasta.

“Eating for two 🍝 Baby Biegel is on the way!” she wrote in the caption.

This will be the first child for Lee, who has opened up in the past about her struggles with infertility.

In a moving Instagram post last April, the co-host of “The Kitchen” said she had been dealing with hurtful comments about pregnancy and her appearance.

“I get multiple messages a day asking me if I’m pregnant or why I am not pregnant yet. I get comments saying I look like I’ve gained weight, so I must be pregnant. After one said that I looked ‘thick in the waist’ I finally responded that it’s not ok to comment on a woman’s body and you never know what someone is going through,” she wrote.

 

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Coronavirus Warning Sign

New virus has infected 81,000 globally, caused 2,700 deaths

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A bottle of hand sanitizers hangs on a pole on a street for visitors next to notices about precautions against the COVID-19 in front of a market in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020. The number of new virus cases in South Korea jumped again Wednesday and the first U.S. military soldier tested positive, with his infection and many others connected to a southeastern city where the outbreak has clustered. Lee Jin-man AP Photo

A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 81,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.

 

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Health Insurance

Aetna Offers Atlanta Employers Fully-Insured, Self-Insured Plans

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February 26, 2020 – Aetna Whole Health will offer employers access to self-insured and fully-insured plan options that focus on better care coordination through accountable care organizations (ACOs) and incorporating upside risk value-based contracting.

“Over the past two years, we worked diligently to improve both the experience and cost structure for our members in the market. The result is a product that truly acts as a bridge, allowing more coordinated and accessible health care options, designed to lead to better outcomes,” said Frank Ulibarri, Aetna’s president in Georgia.

Aetna Whole Health partners with accountable care organizations—in this case, Emory Healthcare and Northside Hospital System—with the aim of offering low-cost, high-quality, value-based care.

The model is upside risk for the 900 primary doctors, 3500 specialists, 14 hospitals and over 500 outpatient facilities with which Aetna now partners in Atlanta.

 

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Women Doctor

GlobalMed to Unveil Enhanced Virtual Health Platform and New Delivery Systems at HIMSS20

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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — GlobalMed, a leading provider of virtual health solutions, today announced that it will showcase integration enhancements to its virtual health platform eNcounter®, introduce a backpack telehealth exam station, and offer a lighter, more affordable exam camera at HIMSS20, March 9-13 in Orlando, FL.

Enhancements to GlobalMed’s eNcounter platform include:

“Our customers expect to collect actionable virtual care data directly in their EHR,” said Joel E. Barthelemy, founder and CEO of GlobalMed. “We’ve augmented our existing virtual health platform not only to solve the problem of access to quality, useable data but to also dramatically reduce the cost and inefficiency of healthcare integration that is time consuming, expensive and difficult.”

 

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Female Nurse

Help Us Honor An Outstanding Nurse Who Has Made Difference In Your Life

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They care for us, comfort us and advocate for us. Nurses are indeed the heart and the backbone, often the weary backbone, of health care in western Montana.

There are more than 18,000 nurses in Montana and almost 4 million nurses nationwide. It is a profession of long hours with little sleep interrupted by frantic moments of life and death. It is hugging a patient and comforting their family. It is changing dressings and explaining scary procedures.

Nursing requires a special person who will selflessly care for total strangers, often without recognition. Now is your chance to recognize a nurse who has made a difference in your life.

In honor of National Nurses Week, the Missoulian and Ravalli Republic, along with presenting sponsor Blue Cross Blue Shield Montana, title sponsor Providence Health and Services Montana and event sponsor Village Health & Rehabilitation, are holding the second annual Nurses: The Heart of Health Care contest. We ask western Montana residents, health care facilities and health care organizations to nominate outstanding nurses.

 

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Mental Health

Free Classes Help Navigate Mental Illness

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Statistics provided by NAMI — using information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — show the percentage of people in the U.S. who seek treatment for a mental illness in a given year.

Before she become involved with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Klamath Falls resident Becky McNair was struggling to care for a child with a then-undiagnosed mental illness. “I thought for years I was all alone,” McNair said, referring to the isolation she felt caring for a person with mental health issues and not knowing how to help. After discovering the Klamath Falls chapter of NAMI and attending a course it offered, McNair learned that many people were living in a similar situation. A Local NAMI chapter serves as a community to aid people in navigating through the challenging circumstances of mental illness.

The same course that helped McNair — who is now the president of NAMI Klamath Falls — continues being offered today. NAMI Klamath Falls will be offering the free eight-week Family to Family course for relatives, friends and caregivers of people with a diagnosed mental illness. The classes can be taken either Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8:30 p.m., or Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Family to Family is a nationwide educational program of NAMI taught by “trained and knowledgeable family members who can also offer support at all stages of recovery,” according to NAMI.

 

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