October 2020, Volume XXXIV, Number 7
Keeping Politics Out of Science and Public Health
COVID-19 Shines a Light
COVID-19 has magnified the critical problems in our health care system, heightened people’s awareness of its flaws, as well as the need to improve it. One needn’t look further than the fact that the United States accounts for 22 percent of global COVID-19 deaths despite making up 4 percent of the global population.
October 2020, Volume XXXIV, Number 7
Keeping Politics Out of Science and Public Health: COVID-19 Shines a Light
By Penny Wheeler, MD and Emily Barson
COVID-19 has magnified the critical problems in our health care system, heightened people’s awareness of its flaws, as well as the need to improve it. One needn’t look further than the fact that the United States accounts for 22 percent of global COVID-19 deaths despite making up 4 percent of the global population.
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What’s 20% Over the National Norm?: Health Care Costs in St.Cloud
By Julie Anderson, M.D. and Derik Weldon, M.D.
Over the past several months, physicians and other healthcare providers, business representatives, and patients in Central Minnesota have gathered to promote patient-centered, transparent, personalized, cost-effective healthcare in our region. The community-based group, which has organized as “Central Minnesotans for Healthcare Independence” (CMHI), is dedicated to a strong health care infrastructure in Central Minnesota.
Behavioral Health
Improving Patient Outcomes: Tools for promoting healthy behavior
Stephanie A. Hooker, PhD, MPH, Michelle D. Sherman, PhD, ABPP and Andrew H. Slattengren, DO, FAAFP
Evidence suggests that approximately 40% of the variance in health outcomes can be attributed to modifiable health behaviors, such as physical activity, dietary habits, smoking, alcohol use, and insufficient sleep. One of the ways to improve health outcomes is to address these modifiable risks and encourage patients to engage in healthier behaviors.
Treating COVID-19 with corticosteroids: Positive worldwide collaboration
By James W. Leatherman, MD, and John B. Pflugi, DO
Respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (now known as COVID-19) was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan and surrounding Hubei Province in early December 2019. The first U.S. and Minnesota cases were identified on January 20 and March 6, respectively. On March 11 the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized COVID-19 as a global pandemic.
rural health
COVID on the North Shore: Establishing trust to meet the challenge
Kurt Farchmin, MD
As we in medicine face this pandemic of COVID-19, we face a reality where therapeutic medical approaches and public health measures start to become one and the same. In a disease where treatment is largely supportive even in the most advanced tertiary care hospitals, we have been repeatedly humbled and brought to the realization that what answers we have, lay largely outside clinic and hospital walls.
Treating Underserved Aging Patients: Never make presumptions
Laura Pattison, MD and Morgan Weinert, RN, MSN, AGPCNP
It’s a well-known fact that Americans are living longer than they were just a few decades ago. As our ability to identify and manage chronic and acute illnesses has improved, patients might live for many years with common conditions like congestive heart failure, COPD, and diabetes. Even HIV infection, once considered terminal, can now be managed in such a way that people living with the virus can expect to live a full life. Healthcare providers now need to support patients as they face the symptoms and sometimes complex treatments of chronic conditions as they overlap and interact with aging bodies. The work is rewarding but increasingly complex.
Private Duty: An Essential Role During COVID-19
By Aaron Stromley
The world has experienced huge disruptions in this time of COVID-19, and in no arena more so than healthcare delivery. Parts of it, like hospitals, are under strain as they heroically act to meet the pandemic challenge. Others, like private duty home care, are stepping up to fill new needs created by the pandemic. Minnesota is one of the states with the highest number of private duty home care agencies, and these providers are a valuable part of responding to this challenge.
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Advances in diagnosis and treatment
Rachel Bies, M.D., Angela Heitzman, PsyD, LP and Vanessa Slivken, MA, LMFT
The world has experienced huge disruptions in this time of COVID-19, and in no arena more so than healthcare delivery. Parts of it, like hospitals, are under strain as they heroically act to meet the pandemic challenge. Others, like private duty home care, are stepping up to fill new needs created by the pandemic. Minnesota is one of the states with the highest number of private duty home care agencies, and these providers are a valuable part of responding to this challenge.
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