While health insurance is intended to safeguard policyholders when severe illnesses arise, a survey of 1,495 of the sickest Americans found even those with insurance can experience financial fallout after a serious diagnosis, according to The New York Times.

The healthcare industry has been trying for years to reduce the burden of implementing quality measurement, clinical decision support (CDS), and clinical pathways to improve the quality of care and lower costs.

The World Health Organization's emergency committee called for heightened response efforts Oct. 17 to prevent the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ebola outbreak from drastically worsening, according to Reuters.

The Arkansas Department of Health on Oct. 16 confirmed the state's first flu death of the 2018-19 season, according to 40/29 News.

More than 600 physicians have stopped prescribing opioids altogether in North Carolina, according to a survey from the North Carolina Medical Board cited by North Carolina Health News. 

San Antonio paramedics now carry whole blood in their ambulances to perform transfusions on trauma patients, and someare reporting better outcomes as a result, according to EMS1.com.

Video monitoring may promote medication adherence among tuberculosis patients and help eliminate the disease, according to a study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Molecules designed to inhibit toxin formation in bacteria could prove an effective alternative to antibiotics, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

Commercial laundering processes using industrial detergent and high disinfecting temperatures do not completely eliminate the presence of Clostridium difficile bacteria on hospital sheets, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Angel Goss, a 38-year-old lupus patient in Ohio, learned she would receive a new kidney the week of Oct. 8-12. However, the plane transporting the organ donation from the Carolinas was grounded when Hurricane Michael hit, according to Fox19 Now.