A New Test Could Identify COVID-19 Patients Who Are at Risk for Severe Illness

A novel study in AACC’s Clinical Chemistry journal shows that a new test for SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins known as antigens could determine which COVID-19 patients are most likely to become critically ill. This test could help improve management of COVID-19 by enabling hospitals to ensure that these patients have access to intensive care.

Outside Looking In: Study Shows Variation in Hospital Visitor & ICU Communication Policies Due to COVID-19

A new study documents how 49 hospitals in a state hit hard by COVID-19 changed their visitor policies and communications with families of intensive care unit patients in the first months of the pandemic — and how those efforts varied. Virtually all hospitals put in place a “no visitors” blanket policy, but 59% of them did allow some exceptions to this rule.

Blood Test May Point to Patients at Higher Risk for COVID-19 Deterioration, Death

George Washington University researchers found five biomarkers associated with higher odds of clinical deterioration and death in COVID-19 patients. Published in Future Medicine, these findings will help physicians better predict outcomes for COVID-19 patients in the U.S.

UTHealth joins study of blood pressure medication’s effect on improving COVID-19 outcomes

An interventional therapy aimed at improving survival chances and reducing the need for critical care treatment due to COVID-19 is being investigated by physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The clinical trial is underway at Memorial Hermann and Harris Health System’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.

General Electric Healthcare Chooses UH to Clinically Evaluate First-of-its-kind Imaging System

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center physicians completed evaluation for the GE Healthcare Critical Care Suite, and the technology is now in daily clinical practice – flagging between seven to 15 collapsed lungs per day within the hospital. No one on the team could have predicted the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this technology and future research with GEHC may enhance the capability to improve care for COVID-19 patients in the ICU. Critical Care Suite is now assisting in COVID and non-COVID patient care as the AMX 240 travels to intensive care units within the hospital.

Researchers develop low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients

A team of engineers and physicians at the University of California San Diego has developed a low-cost, easy-to-use emergency ventilator for COVID-19 patients that is built around a ventilator bag usually found in ambulances.

The team built an automated system around the bag and brought down the cost of an emergency ventilator to just $500 per unit–by comparison, state of the art ventilators currently cost at least $10,000. The device’s components can be rapidly fabricated and the ventilator can be assembled in just 15 minutes.

Communication should be a vital sign, researchers argue

In an editorial published June 19 in the journal Critical Care Medicine, Lance Patak, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and two faculty partners with The Ohio State University College of Nursing suggest that patient communications should be as standard and routine as any other vital sign

Shorter Rotations in Intensive Care Units Mitigate Burnout Among Physicians

Penn Medicine pilot finds increased job fulfillment, decreased burnout for critical care physicians working seven- versus 14-day rotations PHILADELPHIA – Shortening the length of rotations in a medical intensive care unit (MICU) from the traditional 14-consecutive day schedule to only…