Patient Safety & Outcomes

COVID-19 patients treated in the intensive care unit during peak occupancy periods were nearly twice as likely to die compared to those treated during periods of lower ICU occupancy, according to a JAMA Network Open study published Jan. 19. 

Researchers at St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine developed a one-hour blood test that could help identify which COVID-19 patients are at the greatest risk of severe complications or death. 

State health officials are investigating Kalamazoo (Mich.) Psychiatric Hospital after a patient died at the facility  this month, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services told Becker's Jan. 15.

Many hospitalized COVID-19 patients may experience symptoms for up to six months, according to a study published Jan. 8 in The Lancet.

An academic analysis of 1.8 million hospital births in Florida between 1992 and 2015 found that the Black infant mortality rate was cut in half when Black infants were delivered by Black physicians, reported The Washington Post.

The use of two arthritis drugs may lower the death rate for severely ill COVID-19 patients, according to research published Jan. 7 in the medical preprint server medRXiv.

Many patients preferred to pay more to receive care from a provider with a better quality ranking in a Jan. 5 study published in Health Affairs.

At least 10 people were transported to area hospitals after rioters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol grounds Jan. 6, and five people died, including a woman who was shot by a Capitol police officer, reports NBC Washington.

The implementation of a safety protocol helped to reduce self-harm for high-risk patients in the emergency department, according to findings published in the January issue of The Joint Commision Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 

Researchers have identified more than 200 long-term symptoms that can affect COVID-19 "long haulers," or people who experience prolonged effects from the virus, according to a survey published Dec. 24 in the medical preprint server medRxiv.