Editor's Note From 2013 to 2020, women neurosurgeons received half the reimbursement dollars from Medicare compared to their male counterparts, JAMA Network October 11 reports. This investigative study, titled "Gender differences in Medicare practice and payments to neurosurgeons," was published by JAMA Surgery. The researchers analyzed data for 6,052 neurosurgeons…

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Editor's Note Using a tube that collects about half the blood of a standard tube will still provide enough blood for a lab test while reducing transfusions for critically ill patients, a new investigative study published by JAMA Network reports. The study, titled "Small-Volume Blood Collection Tubes to Reduce Transfusions…

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Editor's Note A new study in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found that Black patients are more likely to perceive bias from their surgeons compared to White patients. The study, titled "Patient preferences and perceptions of provider diversity in orthopedic surgery," was published on October 6. The study…

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Editor's Note A new nasal vaccine in development by Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics in Australia could provide long-term protection against the deadly bacteria Streptococcus A (Strep A), Griffith University's Griffith News October 5 reports. Strep A causes 700 million human infections each year, and there are more than 500,000…

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Editor's Note Healthcare employment in the US rose by 40,900 from August to September, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on October 6. That is compared to the average monthly gain of 53,000 over the prior 12 months, for a total of 17,055,100 seasonally…

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Editor's Note In a ranking of over 3,000 hospitals done by the Lown Institute, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank in Needham, Massachusetts, researchers found that while inclusion is being prioritized at some hospitals, segregated healthcare markets remain in cities like New Orleans, St. Louis, and Detroit.  The findings were…

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Editor's Note A new study suggests that someone's initial exposure to a specific COVID-19 variant shows some influence to their immune response to subsequent variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, the University of Cambridge October 6 reports. The research, published by Science on October 6 and titled "Mapping…

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Editor's Note This KFF survey from June 2023 found that some six in 10 adults with health insurance have experienced problems when trying to use their insurance, KFF Health News September 29 reports. The problems included denied claims, network adequacy issues, and preauthorization delays and denials.  According to the survey,…

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Editor's Note Early symptoms of type 2 diabetes often go undetected, and late detection can lead to long-term complications, including heart disease, nerve damage, and retinopathy. Screening for type 2 diabetes in the emergency department could reveal thousands of previously undiagnosed cases each year, EurekAlert! October 3 reports.  These findings…

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Editor's Note A new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has been found to be effective against a range of variants, according to an August 2023 Science Translational Medicine research article titled, "The RSVPreF3-AS01 vaccine elicits broad neutralization of contemporary and antigenically distant respiratory syncytial virus strains." This research was…

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