News

With social media no longer in its infancy, healthcare organizations are learning to embrace this dynamic way to reach the patients in the communities they serve. A recent study of 1,229 U.S. hospitals by Healthcare IT News found that 814 had Twitter accounts and 1,068 had Facebook pages.

Just 20 percent of people infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) begin the recommended treatment regimen and less than 5 percent go on to successfully overcome the virus, according to a new review in General Hospital Psychiatry. This is despite the availability of highly effective anti-viral drugs that clear hepatitis C virus in about 80 percent of patients participating in clinical trials. Major barriers to recommended care are substance abuse and depression in HCV patients.

Hospitals taking part in a national project funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently reported some exciting results: Rates of potentially deadly central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) had dropped by 40 percent.