Author: Elizabeth B

New Zealand’s project to build a national health information platform has been put on hold due to cuts to its digital health budget. In a statement to Healthcare IT News, Te Whatu Ora (New Zealand Ministry of Health) director of digital channels Michael Dreyer confirmed that the Hira project had been suspended. “After completing the first phase of Gila and building a solid foundation for the project, we are pausing the project to consider future plans.” He said Hira would form part of Te Whātu Ora’s 10-year infrastructure investment plan, which is currently being developed and could reportedly be published…

A new study examining health data from 18 million people found that unvaccinated people had higher rates of mental illness for up to a year after developing severe COVID-19. Vaccination appears to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on mental illness. A University of Bristol-led study published in JAMA Psychiatry on August 21, 2024, investigated the association between COVID-19 and mental illness depending on time since diagnosis and vaccination status. COVID-19 has been shown to be associated with psychiatric disorders in both hospital and population studies, but to date there is limited evidence of an association between psychiatric disorders and…

Dr. Candida Rebello of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center wants to learn more about the connection between blood sugar levels and a diet high in soy. This connection is the main focus of her new study, “Lifestyle Interventions for Metabolism and Motivation Improvement,” or MOTIVATE for short, which looks at how certain diets affect blood sugar levels and how they can improve mood and energy levels. When soybean seeds are chopped, they produce an antibacterial compound called glyceollin, which has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and cognition. The chopped soybean seeds are ground into a flour and included in…

OXFORD, Mass. — Health officials in one of four Massachusetts communities facing a significant risk of eastern equine encephalitis held a special meeting Wednesday night to discuss measures to keep residents safe.As of Wednesday, the towns of Oxford, Douglas, Sutton and Webster were considered at significant risk for EEE, according to Massachusetts’ most recent arbovirus risk map.The towns were raised to a high risk level last week after a man in his 80s tested positive for EEE.EEE Risk Map (Massachusetts Department of Public Health)During a Board of Health hearing at 6 p.m., Oxford officials considered measures to ensure public safety,…

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (KCTV) – Forbes magazine has released its list of “Best Employers by State,” and a major Kansas healthcare system has landed at the top of the state list.The University of Kansas Health System was ranked as the No. 1 employer in the Sunflower State among companies with more than 500 employees.Forbes said it leveraged new research from a survey conducted by Statista, which asked more than 160,000 employees across the country about working for large companies. Survey participants were asked to share how likely they were to recommend their employer to others on a scale of 0…

A compass is a device used for navigation.Hoag Compass is a mobile application and physical location at the Hoag On-Demand Care & Innovation Center in Newport Beach that aims to help patients manage their health.The program will launch in 2022, with an improved version announced in May, said Thomas Katavik, Hoag’s director of product and design.He said the first version, called “Compass 1.0” internally, was a choose-your-own-adventure setup, where patients had to decide for themselves what they wanted.”We said with this new version of the product, we need to have more packaging and make it almost like a ready-made product,”…

A new mobile clinic opened on the streets of Costa Mesa this month, becoming the city’s second clinic to provide on-demand medical services to homeless people in Orange County. The CalOptima Health Street Medicine Program provides health and social services to unhoused people in a county where a total of 7,322 people are experiencing homelessness, according to a Point in Time count from May. The program is run out of a van driven by Alec Bradberry, a nurse at Celebrating Life Community Health Center, which is affiliated with CalOptima. “We have a medical team that does physical exams and treats…

Washington state’s only children’s mental health hospital has seen a surge in assaults against staff this year. This is according to data from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for the beginning of 2024. The figures show that assault rates have more than doubled compared to the whole of 2023. Last year, Lakewood’s Child Research and Treatment Center recorded 32.8 assaults per 10,000 “patient days,” which the Department of Social and Health Services defines as the total number of days spent at the center by all patients. From the start of this year through April, the state recorded 84…

There’s nothing more fascinating than the pure athleticism required to compete at the highest level. Athletes appear superhuman, masters of their craft, but in moments like these, it’s hard to see them as real people. The book “Mind Games” explores how the perception that athletes are perfect or invincible impacts an athlete’s mental health. “Mind Games” gives readers insight into the historical and current state of sports psychology. Julie Kriegman, a freelance journalist who has worked for Sports Illustrated and The Ringer, interviewed several famous Olympians, professional athletes, and coaches to find out how athletes get through difficult mental health…

Three health systems invested this week in a New York City-based startup with a mission to transform hospital supply chain operations. Founded in 2020, Clarium closed a $10.5 million funding round on Tuesday, bringing its total funding to date to $16 million. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from three health system venture capital arms: Kaiser Permanente, Yale New Haven Health and the Texas Medical Center. The company’s CEO, Steve Liu, said the startup’s technology aims to increase visibility, collaboration and trust within hospital supply chains. “Healthcare supply chain data is scattered across multiple systems belonging to…