US Health Posts
Want a Healthy Hometown? Move Here.
Cities around the US are catching on to the fact that health is shaped by more than just what happens in the doctor’s office. So to make sure that their citizens have opportunities to be healthy in every way, they’re doing some innovative things. If you want a hometown devoted to health in its broadest, most holistic sense, check out the eight Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize winners from 2015.
What Happens When Antibiotics Stop Working?
To help reduce the chances of contracting a life-threatening infection during or after surgery, many patients are given antibiotics. But the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, called “superbugs,” threatens to create a world where preventive antibiotics are far less effective, and even the most common or low-risk procedures are more dangerous.
Nurses on the Frontlines of Care and Innovation
If you’ve ever been a patient in a hospital or visited someone who was, you probably remember the nurse. Why? Because that nurse was there at the bedside day in and day out, making sure you or your loved one was comfortable and being taken care of.
What’s Dental Therapy? A Profession!
It’s official: Dental therapy is a now a recognized profession, with national standards that create a path for training programs at colleges across the country. That’s according to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA), the independent accrediting body for dentistry education programs in the United States.
Can Your Zip Code Determine How Long You Live?
When it comes to health, it’s not just about getting to the doctor and taking medications. Research increasingly shows us that where you live impacts your health.
Vaccinating Against TB: At Home and Abroad
Recently Burness’ hometown of Bethesda, Maryland, became home to a disease most of us don’t associate with this part of the world: tuberculosis. The extensively drug-resistant kind.
Are High Drug Prices Here to Stay?
Last week the FDA approved PCSK9 inhibitors, which promise to help millions of Americans with high cholesterol. But these new drugs come with a projected price tag of about $14,600 a year. The PCSK9 inhibitors are the latest in a series of high-priced prescription drugs reaching the market.
Children’s Health Care Spending Driven by Rising Costs
With child visits to the emergency room declining and the overall use of prescription drugs by children at its lowest in years, it only makes sense that spending on health care for kids would be down. Right? Not quite.
A Win for the Affordable Care Act
There was a great deal of exuberance in the hallways at Burness yesterday when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) subsidies for people living in states with federally run health insurance marketplaces—and I know we weren’t alone.
What Will Stop the Rising Trend of Obesity in America?
Imagine the challenge for the millions of parents who live without access to healthy, affordable foods or in neighborhoods where it’s not safe for their kids to play outside. Consider that U.S. food and beverage companies spend nearly $2 billion each year targeting kids with ads, apps and websites promoting junk foods, sugary drinks and other unhealthy fare. How do we turn the tide?
