Older smokers at high risk of lung cancer should receive annual low-dose CT scans, according to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations published earlier this week. The USPSTF concluded that the benefits for a very specific segment of smokers outweigh the risks involved in...
The U.S. Medical Licensing Examination’s (USMLE) Step 1 Committee has decided to raise the minimum passing score of the USMLE Step 1 exam from 188 to 192. The decision followed a review of the Step 1 exam and was based on information from multiple sources, including recommendations from...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than 270 grants totaling $55.5 million in funding to address healthcare workforce needs in nursing, public health, behavioral health, workforce development, and dentistry. The grants are managed by HHS’ Health Resources and...
After holding steady at 19% from 2007 to 2011, the all-cause 30-day hospital readmission rate among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries fell to 18.5% in 2012, and has continued to fall in 2013, according to an entry posted on The CMS Blog website last week. Preliminary claims data shows...
When emergency rooms in rural areas see very sick or badly injured children, bringing in a pediatric critical care specialist by videoconference to help with treatment could prevent errors, a new study suggests. Researchers found rural ER physicians made medication errors—such as giving the...
With the rise in laparoscopic surgery for many common surgical procedures, some in healthcare are concerned that surgeons may eventually lose proficiency for open procedures, writes Sekptical Scalpel in a recent guest blog for Physicians Weekly. Other open operations have been done...
