Editor's Note A new study finds that both primary care physicians (PCPs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) inappropriately prescribe medications to older patients at the same rate, the Annals of Internal Medicine October 24 reports. The research is titled "Inappropriate Prescribing to Older Patients by Nurse Practitioners and Primary Care Physicians." …

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Editor's Note Scientists from UC Davis used dynamic total-body positron emission tomography (PET) to show the body's immune response to COVID-19 in recovering patients, Science Advances October 12 reports. The research article, titled "First-in-human immunoPET imaging of COVID-19 convalescent patients using dynamic total-body PET and a CD8-targeted minibody," was published…

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Editor's Note Forbes Advisor released a ranking of the best and worst states for healthcare based on 24 metrics and four key categories: healthcare access, outcomes, cost, and quality of hospital care, Forbes October 13 reports. The article also noted that as many as 70% of Americans are unsatisfied with…

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Editor's Note In this investigative study done by the Boston Medical Center (BMC), patients were shown more likely to agree to participate in clinical studies when approached by research staff of the same race or ethnicity as them. The findings were published in JAMA Ophthalmology on October 19.  The study…

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Editor's Note High-performance intensive care units (ICUs) may have better patient outcomes during health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new findings published by the journal CHEST. The study, titled "The association between pre-pandemic ICU performance and mortality variation in COVID-19: A multicenter cohort study of 35,619 critically…

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Editor's Note The Million Hearts Model program—an initiative to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes within 5 years—reduced the probability of a first-time myocardial infarction or stroke without significant changes in Medicare spending. The findings were published by JAMA Network on October 12. The Million Hearts Model paid healthcare…

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Editor's Note A new study in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery finds that long-term survival rates are extremely promising for patients who receive low-risk isolated surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The study, titled "Survival Following Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients: A Contemporary Trial Benchmark," was published on October…

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Editor's Note Anesthesiologist-administered or -directed sedation leads to higher rates of patient discharges to home rather than a long-term care (LTC) facility, according to a study presented at the Anesthesiology 2023 annual meeting. The study focused on interventional radiology (IR) procedures–specifically 9,682 patients who had sedation in the IR suite…

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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 Researchers from Europe used an epigenetic clock to accurately measure biological aging in a clinical setting, Wiley October 12 reports. The study, titled "Epigenetic clocks indicate that kidney transplantation and not dialysis mitigate the effects of renal ageing," was published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. The researchers…

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