For the first time in U.S. history, a person is more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash, according to National Safety Council analysis.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the “Health Industry Cybersecurity Practices (HICP): Managing Threats and Protecting Patients” publication to provide voluntary cybersecurity practices to healthcare organizations.
Drug use by the U.S. workforce increased each year -- and by double-digits over two years -- between 2015 and 2017, in five of 16 major U.S. industry sectors analyzed.
Abbott and The Chertoff Group, a security and risk management advisory group, released a white paper that shares key findings from a recent study of 300 physicians and 100 hospital administrators on cybersecurity challenges in the hospital environment. Results found that while physicians and hospital administrators view cybersecurity as a priority, the majority of them feel underprepared to combat cyber risks in the connected hospital.
Violence in America's emergency departments is increasing, causing harm to physicians, staff and patients, according to new research. Nearly half (47 percent) of emergency physicians report having been physically assaulted while at work, with 60 percent saying those assaults occurred in the past year. Nearly 8 in 10 also say that patient care is being affected, with 51 percent of those saying that patients also have been physically harmed.
The Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act would require healthcare employers to create a workplace violence prevention plan to help curtail violence against employees. Healthcare workers face rates of violence on the job up to 12 times higher than other occupations, according to the GAO. If passed, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would oversee the implementation of such prevention plans.
Fentanyl is the most commonly used drug involved in drug overdoses, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
Nearly 40,000 people in the United States died by guns last year, marking the highest number of gun deaths in 38 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database.