These recent journal articles, selected by our lead researchers, highlight important disaster preparedness, patient safety, and social issues affecting health care.
Disaster Preparedness
- The US Emergency Care System: Meeting Everyday Acute Care Needs While Being Ready For Disasters (subscription only)
During times of disaster, emergency care systems must be able to accommodate a substantial influx of patients with very little notice. This December 2013 Health Affairs article explores which emergency care system redesign policies and strategies effectively meet individual and community needs during a disaster event.
Patient Safety
- The Impact of Aerators on Water Contamination by Emerging Gram-Negative Opportunists in At-Risk Hospital Departments
A study published in the February edition of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found that hospital faucets may be full of bacteria that may increase the risk of infection.
Social Needs
- Housing as Health Care — New York’s Boundary-Crossing Experiment
There are many parallels between homelessness, housing, and health status for individuals. This perspective, published Dec. 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights New York state’s new approach of offering supportive housing to high-risk homeless patients and Medicaid beneficiaries in unstable housing.
