Iowa news
Black Iowans can become organ donors, even if they don’t trust the medical system
Nationwide, more Black people need to register to become organ donors to increase the odds of Black people on the organ waiting list getting an organ. “Unfortunately, here in Iowa we don’t have statistics on who is registered by race,” said Heather Butterfield, director of strategic communications for Iowa Donor Network, an organ procurement organization. “That’s not information that we receive, but we just know generally nationwide, while there’s a greater need among people of color, they don’t register at as high as a rate.” Butterfield agreed that distrust of the medical system is one thing that stops Black Americans, like me, from becoming organ donors. (The Des Moines Register)
Drake University plans to discontinue its applied behavior analysis master’s program
Drake University will discontinue its applied behavior analysis master’s program. It’s one of a few programs in the state that trains students to become behavior analysts — a job that provides services to children and adults with autism. Advocates say discontinuing the program could affect access, which is something the state already struggles with. (Iowa Public Radio)
Moms need the gift of mental health
On Mother’s Day, mothers everywhere look forward to being treated to breakfast in bed, flowers, a card, or maybe just a big hug from their children. But do you know what the best gift for any mom really is? The gift of mental health.Why is maternal mental health so important? According to The Blue Dot Project and the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance: Maternal mental health conditions are the most-common complications of pregnancy and childbirth, up to half of women living in poverty experience these issues, 75% of women coping with pregnancy/postpartum mood challenges will go untreated, suicide and overdose are leading causes of death during the postpartum year and public health research has estimated that untreated maternal mental health conditions cost $32,000 per mother-child dyad ($14 billion nationally). (The Gazette)
National news
Nearly 1 in 4 physicians experience workplace mistreatment
Nearly 24% of physicians experienced workplace mistreatment in the past year, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers from Boston Medical Center and Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine surveyed 1,505 physicians on the clinical faculty at Stanford University School of Medicine in September and October 2020 to assess the frequency and sources of mistreatment among physicians. Patients and visitors were the most common source of mistreatment, reported by 16.6% of polled physicians. Women were more than twice as likely as men to experience mistreatment. On a scale of 0 to 10, mistreatment was associated with a 1.13 point increase in burnout, a 0.99 point decrease in professional fulfillment and 129% higher odds of moderate or greater intent to leave. (Becker’s Hospital Review)
Hospitals look to raise treatment costs as nurses’ salaries increase
Some hospitals grappling with rising nurse salaries are seeking to raise prices by up to 15%, touching off contract fights with health insurers and businesses and threatening higher premiums. HCA Healthcare Inc. and Universal Health Services Inc. are among the hospitals asking health plans to pay them more for care to offset mounting nurse costs. Neither of the chains would specify the price increases they are requesting, but people familiar with negotiations say some hospitals are asking to increase their prices by 7.5% to 15%. The requests are more than the 4% to 6% price increases that hospitals typically seek, according to employers and insurers. The hospitals usually won an average 3% price increase in recent years, according to Altarum, a nonprofit that does health care research. (Wall Street Journal)
COVID-19 admissions jumped 16.6% last week: 9 CDC findings
The U.S. reported double-digit increases in both COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations last week, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published May 5. As of May 4, the nation’s seven-day case average was 64,781, a 21.4% increase from the previous week’s average. The seven-day hospitalization average for April 27 to May 3 was 2,219, a 16.6% increase from the previous week’s average. This marks the third consecutive week hospitalizations have increased. The seven-day death average is 334, down 2.5% from the previous week’s average. Some historical deaths have been excluded from these counts. (Becker’s Hospital Review)