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Time is money when an employee is injured and cant return to work. Besides the financial burden for the employer in temporary disability payments, medical costs, and extra staffing, rehabilitation actually can suffer as employees stay idle at home.
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An innovative grant program by the state of Ohios Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) is encouraging employers to initiate proactive return-to-work programs, which can help injured employees get back on the job more quickly. In many cases, the program is even helping workers whose injuries did not occur on the job.
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For years, many employers have remained skeptical of wellness programming, insisting that there was little evidence such programming could be cost-effective. However, with the convergence of crushing health care costs and a growing body of evidence that wellness can save money, more and more employers are coming on-board, according to occupational health experts.
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The use of computer simulation modeling at Overlook Hospital was really a very simple application of a simulation model, asserts Dan Krupka, PhD, managing principal of Sherborn, MA-based Twin Peaks Group LLC. In fact, he says, the more complex the process, the greater the need for computer simulation.
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As government agencies begin to crack down on providers who are not honoring patient choices, hospital case managers should be more diligent than ever when referring patients for post-acute services.
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The following is a summary of selected abstracts on fungal diseases from 3 meetings. The 43rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) met in Chicago September 14-17, 2003. The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) met in San Diego October 9-12, 2003. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene met in Philadelphia December 3-7, 2003.
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Receipt of vancomycin antedated isolation of MRSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in 25 patients. Fortunately, there are several alternatives to vancomycin for many of these isolates. There are, in addition, a large number of antibiotics in the pipeline with activity against Gram-positive organisms.
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A formulary switch from levofloxacin to gatifloxacin as the preferred quinolone in a long-term care facility was associated with a significant increase in the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). A case-control study showed that duration of gatifloxacin was independently associated with illness. Switching back to levofloxacin was followed by a decrease in incidence of CDAD to prior levels.
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An antibiotic preparation meant for addition to animal feed was found to be contaminated with antibiotic resistance genes. Fortunately, the genes being used generally encode for resistance mechanisms that are already highly prevalent in gastrointestinal bacteria.
