Becker's Hospital Review

73 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY This Wound Dressing Changes Color When Bacterial Infections Present By Mackenzie Bean R esearchers from the University of Victoria in Canada developed a smart bandage that can detect the first signs of a wound infection, according to research published in Advanced Healthcare Materials. GelDerm is a pH-sensitive wound dressing that changes color in the pres- ence of bacteria. Once applied to the wound, the bandage automatical- ly releases antibiotics to sterilize the area. Researchers hope to create a more advanced version of GelDerm that only administers antibiotics after bacteria are detected to limit risk of antibiotic resistance. Mohsen Akbari, PhD, the study's lead investigator and a bioengineer at the University of Victoria, hopes the bandage will allow for quicker treatment of wound infections, since GelDerm pairs with a mobile app to quickly analyze and transmit results of a patient's wound. "What medical staff usually do is they remove the dressing, and they take swab samples. [The samples] go to the lab, and it takes a few days to de- tect that the wound is infected," he told CBC News. "The entire process is pretty time-consuming, and it's also pretty painful for the patient." Dr. Akbari and his team are working with researchers from Boston-based Harvard Medical School and the University of British Columbia in Vancou- ver, Canada, to commercialize GelDerm. He estimates the bandage is at least five years away from hitting the market. n New York Medicaid Expansion Worsened Racial Disparities in Surgical Cancer Care Access By Brian Zimmerman A fter New York expanded Medicaid in 2001, racial disparities in res- idents' access to surgical cancer care widened in the state, accord- ing to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. For the study, researchers examined clinical care data on 67,685 nonel- derly adult cancer surgery patients compiled in the state's inpatient da- tabase. Fifteen percent of patients were either Medicaid beneficiaries or uninsured. Twenty-one months after Medicaid was expanded in the state, racial dis- parities between blacks and whites regarding access to care at hospitals with the highest volume of cancer surgeries increased by 18 percent. Ad- ditionally, racial disparities at hospitals with low rates of patient mortality increased by 10 percent. Researchers did not attribute the increases in care disparities to insurance status since Medicaid beneficiaries experi- enced an overall increase in access to care at both hospital types. "Pre-ACA Medicaid expansion reduced the disparity in access to surgical cancer care at high-volume hospitals by payer," wrote the study's authors. "However, it was associated with increased racial disparity in access to high-quality hospitals. Addressing racial barriers in access to high-quality hospitals should be prioritized." n 28% of Physicians Can't Keep Up With Patient Schedules By Alyssa Rege R oughly 28 percent of physicians said they fall behind on their appointment sched- ules daily, according to a report from Medscape. For the report, titled "Practice Workflow Report: Physicians' Bottlenecks, Challenges, and Time," researchers surveyed more than 1,150 U.S. phy- sicians across more than 25 specialties. Here are five report findings. 1. Slightly under half (40 percent) of physicians surveyed said they see 11 to 20 patients per day, while 36 percent of physicians said they see any- where from 21 to 30 patients daily. 2. Roughly 72 percent of physicians said 10 per- cent or less of their patients don't show up for their scheduled appointment during a typical week. 3. If they do fall behind schedule, 45 percent of respondents said they fall behind by approxi- mately 16 minutes to 30 minutes. 4. More than three quarters (79 percent) of re- spondents said the main reason they fall behind on their appointment schedule is because they want to spend a sufficient amount of time with each patient. Other factors that contribute to time challenges include: • Patients arriving late and not completing the required paperwork (66 percent) • Recording patient notes in-between ap- pointments (49 percent) • Appointments booked too close together (47 percent) • Overbooking patient appointments (31 percent) • Tending to patient emergencies or surgeries (26 percent) 5. Approximately 40 percent of respondents identified as being "somewhat satisfied" with their practice's efficiency, while 23 percent iden- tified as being "somewhat dissatisfied." n

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