1. COVID
A new report from the CDC found that over a third of adults recovering from covid have had problems lasting a month to a year after being infected. The CDC estimates that about 1 in 5 adults have a long-term condition from their previous covid illness. Meanwhile, Pfizer is submitting data to the FDA regarding their vaccine for younger children. It was found that three doses performed similarly in young children as in adults- roughly 8-0% effective at preventing covid infections when Omicron was circulating.
2. Practice Management
Patients often feel an anxiety-induced burden by paying for their healthcare. Hospitals need to improve and modernize their billing and payment systems. This will improve the payments hospitals receive and give their patients peace of mind when paying medical bills.
3. IT Updates
A new report found that employees were responsible for 39% of healthcare breaches last year. This makes up the most significant proportion of breaches where employees were responsible across all industries.
4. Staffing Shortages
The Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, urges hospitals and health systems to address provider burnout. Burnout is one of the major contributors to ongoing staffing shortages. With over a third of nurses planning on quitting their jobs by 2023, action needs to be taken before strikes, and more health care providers leave their jobs.