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The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 regulations mandate changes in how medical
records are managed and how claims are processed. Understanding
HIPAA and how it affects your facility can be an overwhelming
prospect.
Health Management Technology [www.healthmgttech.com]
supplies a guide on what is new in health care information
technology. Much of the site is dedicated to HIPAA updates
and requirements. A free subscription to the print edition
of Health Management Technology is available for those
interested in planning and implementing technology in
a health care setting.
VISICU [www.visicu.com]
offers the resources of a skilled critical care nurse
and a board-certified intensivist, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week, to small hospitals and rural hospitals
that are unable to recruit or retain a board-certified
intensivist.
Through the company's eICU services, patients are monitored
electronically by the VISICU staff of physicians and
nurses through cameras and microphones installed in
patients' rooms. Staff are able to visually observe
patients and access their monitors.
This observation allows the VISICU staff to note changes
in a critically ill patient, alert the hospital staff
and lend additional clinical knowledge and experience.
Bioethics is defined as the study of moral issues in
the fields of medical treatment and research. Bioethics.net
from The American Journal of Bioethics [http://bioethics.net/beginners.php]
provides an introduction to the field of bioethics along
with articles on cloning, genetics, bioethics in the
emergency room, potential ethical issues in pharmacogenetics
and includes a list of U.S. laws and state laws regarding
cloning.
For the latest in stem cell research news and headlines,
visit www.stemcellresearchnews.com.
The International Council of Nurses [www.icn.ch]
represents nurses in more than 120 countries. The council
works to bring nurses together, advance nursing and
influence health policy throughout the world.
Its site provides the nursing profession with fact
sheets that give an international perspective on today's
health and social issues.
Some of the issues addressed include obesity, genetics
in nursing, nurses and overtime, terrorism and bioterroism
and needlesticks. A bulletin board is available for
nurses to exchange ideas and experiences with other
nurses across the globe.
Reports on cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome
are available at the CDC's site [www.cdc.gov/travel/other/acute_resp_syn_multi.htm].
A table of suspected cases of SARS in the United States
is updated weekdays at www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/sars.htm.
General information about the syndrome can be found
at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars.
This includes guidelines and recommendations for clinicians,
case definition, specimen collections and isolation
and infection control.
The CDC provides emergency travel advisory information
about the disease for those who are traveling outside
of the United States.
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