Despite the "tripledemic" and continued high employee turnover, non-profit hospitals' staffing crunch is showing signs of lifting, Fitch Ratings concludes.
Why it matters: A shortage of health care workers could temporarily increase the need for contract labor and eat into cost improvements that health systems have made over the past few months, analysts say.
Only 1 in 7 cancers in the U.S. are diagnosed after the patient had a recommended screening test, while most cases are discovered when symptoms arise or through other medical care, according to new research from NORC at the University of Chicago.
Why it matters: Survival rates are four times higher when cancer is detected in earlier stages, compared with late-stage detection.
Democrats are moving to protect access to fertility treatments in anticipation of a raft of bills bestowing legal rights on fetuses that are expected to be introduced in state legislatures next year.
Driving the news: Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) are introducing legislation in the Senate later today to outline a federal right to fertility treatments, in the belief restrictions on abortion could otherwise apply to assisted reproductive technologies, Axios has learned.
Americans' out-of-pocket health spending rose 10.4% in 2021, a growth rate not seen since 1985 that was driven in part by demand for dental services, eyeglasses and medical supplies, according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' annual National Health Expenditures report.
The big picture: Overall health spending grew by only 2.7%, a much smaller rate than the 10.3% bump seen in 2020. But the decline of special pandemic and public health-related federal funding is a huge factor in the 2021 results and masks a sharper spike in other areas.
Editor's note: Read here the latest information on this program.
The White House is relaunching its COVID-19 home testing program on Thursday as part of preparations for a wintertime surge of cases.
The big picture: The administration suspended the program in September after distributing more than 600 million tests, in order to ensure there would be enough tests to meet future needs.
The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision to end the constitutional right to abortion has been "devastating" to maternal health and widened gaps in care as the U.S. grapples with the highest maternal mortality rate among developed nations, Biden administration officials said Tuesday.
Driving the news: Maternal death rates in 2020 were 62% higher instates that ban or restrict abortion than in states where the procedure is still accessible, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund released on Wednesday.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Tuesday recommended prescribing medications that prevent HIV to adolescents and adults who are at increased risk for acquiring the virus.
Driving the news: A draft document to give pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, the task force's highest recommendation for an "A" grade comes as compulsory coverage for the treatment, as well as the task force's very existence, are both being challenged in federal court.
Almost every school administrator believes the mental health challengestheir students face are moderate to severe, with more than half saying conditions either worsened or haven't improved in the last year.
Driving the news: The findings came from a survey released Wednesday by Effective School Solutions — which provides mental health services for schools — that polled 200 administrators and 1,000 parents with children in K-12.
The Biden administration is moving to make permanent the pandemic rules that allowed take-home drugs to help fight opioid addiction.
Why it matters: The proposed rule from HHS would make it easier for patients with opioid use disorder to access drugs like methadone for home use and for providers to prescribe them via telehealth for patients with opioid use disorder.
Your hectic job, difficult marriage, rebellious children and dwindling bank account? They're probably not raising your blood pressure in a medically meaningful way, according to the latest research.
The big picture: Rather than everyday stressors, the real culprits are genetics and poor habits that are often linked to stress, like overeating, smoking and hitting the bottle.
Long COVID was cited in the death certificates of at least 3,544 people in the U.S. in the first 2.5 years of the pandemic, according to a study published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The big picture: While this represents 0.3% of the more than 1 million people to have died of COVID-19 in the U.S., CDC health scientist Farida Ahmad told the Washington Post the findings underscore that while long COVID is "associated with long-term illness, it "can be a cause of death."
This article originally appeared in Axios Finish Line, our nightly newsletter on life, leadership and wellness.Sign up here.
Even just 10 minutes to ourselves to recharge and relax can change the day.
Why it matters: We underestimate the effect of small and intentional breaks on our well-being.
What's happening: When we've been working at something for a while, our minds start to wander. That's when a well-timed and well-planned break can get us back on track — and actually boost productivity.
In one study, researchers at the University of Illinois asked participants to perform a 50-minute task on computers.
One group had to work without stopping, and another group got two short breaks. Sure enough, the group that worked nonstop saw performance decline by the end, while the group that paused did not.
Here are the top tips for planning breaks, based on research:
1. Make sure it's a real break. The most effective breaks are unrelated to work, per a recent analysis published in the journal PLOS ONE. That means pausing work to catch up on a few emails doesn't have the same benefit as stopping to take a short walk and get some air.
2. Time yourself. Microbreaks — lasting 10 minutes at most — work best when it comes to refocusing yourself on the task at hand. Go much longer and you'll lose momentum.
Bigger breaks — 15 or 20 minutes — are also important to fully refresh after a longer work session or between larger tasks.
3. Pay better attention. Short breaks are especially helpful when you're doing something repetitive or tedious, researchers have found. Creative work doesn't benefit as much from pauses.
The bottom line: Use breaks to boost your mental and physical health no matter what you're doing.
And if you're a manager, encourage your employees to take smart breaks! In the long run, they'll be more engaged and more creative.
