Editor's Note This study by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston, on data from 16.7 million insured individuals, shows that 30.1% of total outpatient visits early in the COVID-19 pandemic (March 18-June 16, 2020) were conducted via telemedicine, and weekly telemedicine visits were 23 times higher, compared with the pre-COVID-19…

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Editor's Note The most recent Mental Health Index produced by Total Brain and the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions finds that employee mental health has plummeted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with workers reporting a 48% increased risk of depression in November and December, according to the…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures and social and economic impacts affected the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for patients with mental health, substance abuse, and violence issues.  Total ED visits decreased after…

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Editor's Note On February 11, the federal government will begin distributing 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 6,500 retail pharmacy stores, and this could expand to some 40,000 stores, according to a February 2 statement from the White House. These doses are in addition to the 10.5 million that…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers at IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca (Lucca, Italy) finds that unexpected levels of concerns about pneumonia had been raised for several weeks on Twitter before the first cases of COVID-19 infection were officially announced. The researchers also found that these “whistleblowers” came primarily…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission on February 2 issued the first in a series of special edition Sentinel Event Alerts that addresses concerns received from healthcare workers about the COVID-19 pandemic. “Sentinal Event Alert 62: Health care workers in the midst of crisis” provides examples to help healthcare organizations respond…

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Editor's Note Researchers from 17 healthcare organizations report that COVID-19 hospitalizations and death can be reduced with early outpatient treatments. The researchers designed an algorithm comprising treatments in order of disease severity: Immediately give zinc lozenges 5 times per day or zinc sulphate 220 mg every day for 5 days.…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on January 29, issued a federal Public Health Order requiring all individuals to wear masks on nearly all forms of public transportation, and made refusal to wear a mask a violation of federal law. The Order mandates the use of…

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Editor's Note In this study, US and Canadian researchers find that healthcare workers (HCWs) hospitalized with COVID-19 do not have poorer outcomes than non-HCWs, even though they are at higher risk of acquiring the disease. Included in the analysis were 1,790 patients (127 HCWs and 1,663 non-HCWs). After 3:1 propensity…

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Editor's Note ECRI , on January 28, issued its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2021. First on the list is the complexity of managing devices that have Food & Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorization (EUA) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ECRI experts caution that hospitals need to watch…

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