For the Love

Angie SzumlinskiLegal, News

“As businesses worked to get PPE into the hands of those most in need of it, Christopher Dobbins chose to hack his former employer and maliciously interrupt that process,” said U.S. Attorney Nyung J. “BJay” Pak, in an article published by the U.S. Department of Justice. “His actions caused delays in the delivery of desperately needed equipment in the midst …

Post-Mortem Specimen Collection – COVID-19

Angie SzumlinskiCompliance, Featured

On November 2, 2020, the CDC posted recent changes to the collection and submission of post-mortem specimens from deceased persons with known or suspected COVID-19. Medical examiners, coroners, and pathologists should immediately notify their local or state health department in the event of the identification of a deceased person with known or suspected COVID-19. Per the CDC, the following recommendations …

Clinical Suspicion – Symptoms and Mortality

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

In a recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association, residents in nursing homes were evaluated to describe symptomatology, mortality, and risk factors for mortality related to COVID-19. Data was collected from residents with clinically-suspected COVID-19, via electronic health records and registration was performed on diagnostic status (confirmed COVID-19+/ruled out COVID-19-) and symptomatology (typical and atypical symptoms). …

Asymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 on Flights

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

On March 31, 2020, there was a study of 310 passengers who boarded an evacuation flight from Milan, Italy, to South Korea. This evacuation flight was conducted under strict infection control procedures by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), based on the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). When the passengers arrived at the Milan airport, …

Seroprevalence of SARS – Front Line Personnel

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Health, Studies

Health care personnel (HCP) caring for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) might be at high risk for contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Understanding the prevalence of factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among frontline HCP who care for COVID-19 patients is important for protecting both HCP and their patients. In the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report posted …

Spotlight on HealthCap Heroes: Magnolia Manor

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured

Heroism often comes with personal sacrifice, and we are endlessly thankful for those that have stepped up during this pandemic and willingly made that decision for the good of their facility. While many frontline workers have had to face this challenge head-on as a part of their normal job duties, today’s HealthCap Hero made the choice to step out of …

Saving Lives – Electronically

Angie SzumlinskiFeatured, Health

The Advance Alert Monitor is a sophisticated system that analyzes electronic data about hospital patients, identifies those at risk of deteriorating, and issues an alert to a centralized team of specially trained nurses resulted in a lower mortality rate, Kaiser Permanente Researchers found. The evaluation of the Advance Alert Monitor, or AAM, used in 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals …

Yes – Another Mask Study

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

In a study published in Nature Medicine, the researchers delimited three possible future scenarios of the course of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States at the state level: mandate-easing, plausible reference, and universal mask-use scenarios. These help frame and inform a national discussion on what actions could be taken during the fall of 2020 and the public health, economic …

All Eggs in One Basket? Not So Fast!

Angie SzumlinskiStudies

The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has been theorized to provide protection against coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This theory was introduced in March 2020 by a group of researchers after observing that recent, large-scale MMR vaccination campaigns were associated with countries with the fewest COVID-19 deaths. Vaccines induce a variety of different antibodies to protect against a virus, since each part of an …

One Death Too Many

Angie SzumlinskiHealth, News

At least 1,500 nurses across the globe have died from the coronavirus, though the figure is almost certainly underestimated, the leader of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) said in a Medscape article. “The fact that as many nurses have died during this pandemic as died during World War I is shocking,” said Howard Catton, CEO of the nurse’s organization. …