Getting Rid of Those Old Style Hospital Gowns

One of Boston's major teaching hospitals is examining how it handles patients’ bodies and supports family members after a death.

*Medical research has done wonders to rid populations of diseases; however, the U.S. health care system has failed to appropriate the right resources to Medicare patients with one or more chronic conditions. Health Quality Partners in Doylstown, PA enrolls Medicare patients with at least one chronic illness and hospitalization and sends a trained nurse to see them on a routine basis, whether they are healthy or sick. As a result, the HQP program has reduced hospitalizations and cut Medicare costs.

Doctors at Stanford University developed per-patient and per-month payment plans to better support patients with complex medical needs. The approach upends the typical per-service payment model. It has radically improved primary care by incentivizing healthcare providers to offer more comprehensive support.

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

Harm reduction is a quickly growing practices that aims to reduce drug-related deaths and the spread of disease often caused by dirty needles. Although public perception is still widely negative, the industry has seen success by using the act of offering clean needles as a first point of contact to offer other health and medical services.

Environments designed with soundscapes and visual art help to reduce anxiety and pain. In London, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has noted a marked improvement in patient experience, including decreased pain and even a reduction in the time women spent in labor, in the presence of artistic installations. Other hospitals in the UK report similar benefits.

To reduce maternal mortality in the Masai region of Tanzania, Catholic nuns with Sisters of Notre Dame are building hospitals and educating local women about the importance of giving birth in a medical setting. Although this goes against the community's use of a "traditional birth attendant," delivering in a hospital allows for emergency situations to be better addressed and is receiving positive feedback from women in the region.

Vermont has opened its first donor milk center which acts as a breast milk bank for mothers that are in need of milk for their newborn babies. The Vermont Donor Milk Center aims to be a "one-stop shop," and also offers lactation consultation, maternal education, and supports for non-lactating partners.

In order to effectively manage the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea, government officials have stepped in by increasing transparency, subsidizing home medical equipment such as face masks, and rapidly distributing testing kits. The efforts have resulted in many more people already being tested than anticipated and behavioral changes taking effect within the population.

Drug Aid Africa sources unused, unaltered drugs from people who don’t need them anymore and distributes them to people who do need them but can’t afford or access them. Drug Aid Africa provides free routine medications for conditions like sickle-cell anemia, as well as antimalarials, antibiotics and frequent visits to communities where they provide healthcare support and supplies. So far, the organization's efforts have helped more than 10,000 people.