It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, March 07, 2024
Long-acting opioids may be unnecessary in study of total knee replacement
Replacing long-acting with immediate-release opioids after total knee replacement surgery resulted in comparable pain management but less nausea-medication usage and less need for residential rehabilitation after hospital discharge.
The results of this small study, a Rutgers Nursing doctoral program project for lead author Anoush Kalachian, support a broader trend toward better management of prescription opioids – which directly resulted in the deaths of nearly 17,000 Americans in 2021 and can spur the use of illegal opioids.
Widespread changes in opioid use patterns for knee replacement patients would have a significant impact on total prescription numbers. American surgeons replace roughly 790,000 knees per year, according to the American College of Rheumatology.
“Studies have shown that extended-release or long-acting opioids increase the risk of opioid dependence and possible addiction because of the greater concentration of the drug and the longer time that they remain in the body,” said co-author Judith Barberio, a clinical associate professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing and a co-author of the study. “If you can move from long-acting to immediate-release opioids without increased pain or other adverse effects, that’s a win. This quality improvement project suggests it’s possible to do that when recovering from a total knee replacement.”
The study, which appears in Pain Management Nursing, utilized a surgeon’s change in practice to evaluate pain control and patient outcomes in a small group of patients undergoing total knee replacement. The researchers compared outcomes for 36 of the surgeon’s patients who underwent treatment just before the switch from extended- to immediate-release opioids with 34 comparative patients whose knee replacements took place after the new protocol was implemented.
The average pain score (on a scale of 1 to 10) was statistically identical for the two groups, but patients on long-acting opioids used significantly more medications to combat nausea and vomiting when compared to the patients on short-term opioid protocol.
“Requiring fewer antiemetics may not seem like a major difference, but it greatly enhances patient experience,” said Jill Cox, a clinical professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing. “Feeling nausea to the point that you need medical intervention can be unpleasant and may increase your pain and impact your rehabilitation.”
The differing need for care at discharge was a major difference, too. Patients who received short-acting opioids were more likely to go straight home after their hospital stays. Those in the long-acting opioid group were more likely to go to residential rehab. Long-acting opioids might play a role in hindering immediate post-operative participation in physical therapy as a result of the impact on cognitive function and balance, limiting their ability to quickly return to their usual activities of daily living.
Eliminating Extended-Release Opioids from a Postoperative Pain Protocol for Total Knee Replacement Patients
COI STATEMENT
Anoush Kalachian reports administrative support was provided by Englewood Health. Anoush Kalachian reports writing assistance was provided by Rutgers University Newark.
U$A
JAMA study finds facilities treating poor patients penalized by CMS payment model
Social risk and treatment for end-stage kidney disease
REGENSTRIEF INSTITUTE
INDIANAPOLIS – A new study of more than 2,000 dialysis facilities randomized to a new Medicare payment model aimed to improve outcomes for patients with end-stage kidney disease has found that facilities that disproportionately serve populations with high social risk have lower use of home dialysis and transplant waitlisting and fewer kidney transplants. These facilities thus received reduced performance scores and reimbursement from Medicare.
A high proportion of non-Hispanic Blacks and of those initiating dialysis while uninsured or Medicaid-covered also was found to be an indicator of lower use of home dialysis and transplant waitlisting and fewer kidney transplants.
The goal of the study authors was to identify how this new payment model would help or hurt dialysis facilities treating patients with high social risk. Their analysis raises concerns that sites treating these vulnerable patients may fare poorly under the new payment model and ultimately might not have sufficient funding to remain open and care for patients.
The rate of home dialysis in the U.S. is significantly lower than that of other developed nations. A kidney transplant is considered the best option for most patients with end- stage kidney disease.
The new study explored the first year (2021) of the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model, which was developed to encourage greater use of home dialysis and kidney transplants for Medicare beneficiaries. Individuals of any age with this condition are typically eligible for Medicare coverage.
“We found that, unfortunately, the dialysis facilities that treated patients with higher social risk, including those facilities that serve higher proportions of patients who were non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic and those who were dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare as well as those living in a highly disadvantaged neighborhood, were more likely to be financially penalized under this model,” said study co-author Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, president and CEO of Regenstrief Institute and Leonard Betley Professor of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine.
It is likely that the below average outcomes were a result of the socioeconomic issues faced by these patients, factors that are beyond the control of the facilities that serve them. Recognizing this, CMS had added a risk-stratification component to the payment model for subsequent years. However, analysis presented in the paper suggests that this program modification will not be sufficient to address the problem.
“In the first year, this payment scheme inordinately penalized facilities that serve higher proportions of patients with high social risk," said study first author Kalli Koukounas, MPH, a graduate student at Brown University School of Public Health. “As we've seen other pay-for-performance programs do in the past, this model, in its first year, imposed penalties at a greater rate on facilities that serve high-risk populations.”
“This is an important finding because dialysis facilities are typically considered the medical home for patients, and facilities that disproportionately serve patients with higher social risk factors may need additional resources and care to support patients,” noted Dr. Patzer. “Much of our prior work has identified stark racial and socioeconomic inequities in access to optimal kidney failure care across the United States. We want to ensure that these facilities have more, not fewer, resources to take care of those patients.”
Kidney failure disproportionately impacts socially disadvantaged communities due to upstream social determinants of health over decades. Major causes of kidney disease and end stage kidney failure include diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
Research conducted by this multi-institutional study team was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (PIs: Amal Trivedi, M.D., MPH, and Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH). Dr. Trivedi, of Brown University, is the senior author of the study. Kelsey Drewry, PhD, M.A., of Regenstrief and Indiana University School of Medicine, is a co-author.
The study authors conclude that their “findings, coupled with the escalation of penalties to as much as 10 percent in future years, support monitoring the ETC [End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices] model’s continued impact on dialysis facilities that disproportionately serve patients with social risk factors, as well as its influence on outcomes and disparities in care among patients treated in these sites.”
1 Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island.
2 Providence VA Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island.
3 Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana.
4 Department of Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
5 Department of Health Policy and Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
6 Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH
In addition to her roles as president and CEO and research scientist with Regenstrief Institute, Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, serves as the Leonard Betley Professor of Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine and an adjunct professor at IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. Dr. Patzer is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with a strong focus on healthcare access, quality of healthcare delivery and outcomes. Her research centers on such key areas as disparities, social determinants of health, community-based participatory research, predictive analytics, healthcare quality and health policy evaluations. She has been instrumental in reshaping the national organ transplantation paradigm, advocating for a population health approach to inform quality measures, policies and equitable solutions.
DARIEN, IL – Medical malpractice incidents are more severe during the months of the year when daylight saving time is observed in the U.S., according to a new study that examined three decades of malpractice claims.
Results show that both medical malpractice incident severity and payment decisions were higher during the months of daylight saving time compared with the months of standard time, after controlling for whether states observe daylight saving time. Payment decisions also were higher, but medical incidents were not more severe, during the one week following the spring transition to daylight saving time.
“The spring daylight saving shift has long been connected to sleepiness, cardiovascular events, and driving accidents, but only recently have we begun to recognize that decision-making processes are also affected at the population level by the spring time shift,” said principal investigator Michael Scullin, who has a doctorate in psychological science and is an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. “The current results add to this literature by showing that an area that one would hope would be immune — medical errors and malpractice litigation — is susceptible, too.”
The study was published as an accepted paper March 6 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
According to the AASM, standard time is optimal because it is closely aligned with the position of the sun in the sky, known as “solar time.” This synchrony is important for the body because sunlight is the most powerful external cue for the human circadian rhythm, the internal “body clock” that regulates the timing of alertness, sleepiness, and other biological functions. By artificially shifting clock time an hour forward, daylight saving time causes a misalignment between clock time and solar time, disrupting the circadian rhythm. This disruption can affect sleep, alertness, mood, and performance.
The researchers analyzed 288,432 malpractice claims between January 1990 and September 2018 from the National Practitioner Data Bank, the most extensive database of malpractice incidents in the U.S. To investigate the acute effects of daylight saving time, they compared claims for one week before and after the spring time change. They also assessed chronic effects by comparing claims during the months of daylight saving time with those during the months of standard time. Control states were those that remained on permanent standard time: Arizona, Hawaii, and Indiana (until April 2006).
According to first author Chenlu Gao, the design of the study did not allow for an assessment of causality, but the results suggest that daylight saving time has an impact on health care outcomes and costs.
“In addition to the acute shift to daylight saving time, it is possible that several months of living under daylight saving time leads to accrued circadian misalignment, which then could affect medical errors and legal evaluations,” said Gao, who has a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience and is a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of anesthesia, critical care and pain medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “Our work joins numerous other studies that document the detrimental effects of spring daylight saving time transitions, and the collective evidence should encourage stakeholders and policymakers to reevaluate daylight saving time for the well-being of the general public.”
Scullin and Gao were assisted by Candice Lage, who is a research assistant in the Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory at Baylor. The researchers were supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer’s Association, American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation, BrightFocus Foundation, and National Institute on Aging.
###
About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM has a combined membership of 12,000 accredited sleep centers and individuals, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who care for patients with sleep disorders. As the leader in the sleep field, the AASM sets standards and promotes excellence in sleep medicine, health care, education, and research (aasm.org).
Medical malpractice litigation and daylight saving time
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
6-Mar-2024
COI STATEMENT
M.K.S. was supported by the National Science Foundation (1920730, 1943323) and NIH AG05316. C.G. was supported by the Alzheimer's Association (AARFD-22-928372), the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation (290-FP-22), the BrightFocus Foundation (A2020886S), and the National Institute on Aging (RF1AG059867).
Does stroke risk linked to sleep apnea vary by race?
MINNEAPOLIS – The risk of stroke tied to sleep apnea may vary for Black people and white people, according to a study published in the March 6, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study found that white people diagnosed with sleep apnea, whether or not they used a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP), were at increased risk for stroke. White people who were at high risk for sleep apnea but had not been diagnosed with the condition were also at increased risk for stroke. The study did not find an increased risk of stroke in Black people meeting these same criteria.
The study also found that Black people who used CPAP machines had a reduced risk of stroke compared to Black people with sleep apnea who did not use the machines.
“These results were not what we were expecting to find, since Black people have been shown to have a higher risk of stroke and are more likely to have sleep apnea than white people,” said study author Rebecca Robbins, MMSc, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “More research is needed to understand these differences. Since it has been shown that Black people have more severe sleep apnea than white people and take longer to be screened and treated than white people, it’s possible that using a CPAP machine provides a greater benefit on reducing stroke risk for Black people.”
Robbins said it’s also possible that because Black people have been shown to have a greater burden of other diseases in addition to sleep apnea, those diseases may be increasing the risk for stroke and reducing the impact sleep apnea has on stroke risk.
The study involved 22,192 people with an average age of 64; 38% were Black. None of the participants had a history of stroke at the start of the study. Their risk for sleep apnea was assessed through questions about snoring, daytime sleepiness, blood pressure and weight. They also reported whether they had been diagnosed with sleep apnea and used a CPAP machine. A total of 2,412 people, or 10.9%, had diagnosed sleep apnea at the start of the study.
The participants were then followed for an average of 12 years. During that time, 969 people, or 4.4%, had a stroke.
There were 90 strokes among the 1,475 white people with diagnosed sleep apnea and 42 strokes among the 937 Black people with sleep apnea. When researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect stroke risk, such as age, diabetes and alcohol use, they found that white people were 33% more likely to have a stroke than those without sleep apnea and there was increased risk of stroke among Black people.
White people who were at high risk for sleep apnea were 22% more likely to have a stroke than those at low risk for the condition.
Among 701 Black people with sleep apnea and information on whether or not they used a CPAP, CPAP use was associated with a 64% reduced risk of stroke compared to people with sleep apnea who did not use a machine. There was not a significant reduction in stroke risk for CPAP use in the 1,160 white individuals.
“These results were also surprising,” said study author Virginia J. Howard, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and member of the American Academy of Neurology. “One possible explanation for these results is that we did not have information on CPAP adherence. Research shows that those who do not use their CPAP machine as directed are at higher risk of stroke and other problems. We also didn’t have information on the severity of sleep apnea. It’s possible that those using a CPAP machine had a more severe case and were further along the road to stroke when they were diagnosed.”
The study found no increased risk of stroke among people who snored but had no other sleep apnea symptoms.
The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging.
Learn more about stroke at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.
The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
LOS ANGELES (March 6, 2024)—Children with sickle cell anemia are vulnerable to serious infections and stroke, but many do not receive the preventative care that could help them stay healthier for longer, a Children’s Hospital Los Angeles study found.
To assess the quality of preventative care received by children with sickle cell anemia, a team of investigators led by CHLA researchers examined how many children met two nationally endorsed quality standards. The researchers measured how many young children with sickle cell anemia received adequate preventative antibiotics to prevent infection and if children and adolescents with sickle cell anemia received annual brain ultrasounds to assess their stroke risk.
“What we found, unfortunately, was not what we’d hoped for,” says Ashaunta Anderson, MD, MPH, MSHS, Pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, who led the study. When the CHLA researchers and their collaborators compared Medicaid claims data from California and Georgia from 2010 to 2019, they found that only about 20% of children from 3 months to 5 years old with sickle cell anemia received preventative antibiotics in a given year, while about half of children and adolescents between the ages of 2 to 15 received an annual transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Twice-daily doses of antibiotics, given consistently, can protect young children with sickle cell anemia from developing serious infections. Children and adolescents with abnormal ultrasounds have a higher-than-normal risk of stroke, but once identified, their risk can be significantly reduced by receiving regular blood transfusions. The research was published in the journal Pediatrics.
Sickle cell anemia: a chronic, inherited disease
About 100,000 people in the United States have sickle cell anemia, including approximately 1 out of every 400 African-Americans and about 1 in 19,000 Latinos. This chronic, genetic disease distorts the doughnut-shaped red blood cells that carry oxygen in blood into sickle shapes, leading them to clump in vessels and block blood flow to organs. These acutely painful episodes in children can lead to complications, including joint pain, infections, organ damage and stroke.
“We have a long history of treating patients in our Sickle Cell Disease Program at CHLA,” says Thomas Coates, MD, Section Head, Hematology and study co-author. “We provide specialist care and access to clinical trials. We focus on developing innovations in safer care, such as stroke prevention. We also provide practical support for patients’ families, such as help with transportation to appointments to make it easier for them to get their children consistent care.”
Investigating who gets care
Children with private insurance generally meet the standards for preventative care, but because of health care disparities, the quality of care received by children from low-income families insured by Medicaid varies by state and can depend on whether the child’s family lives in an urban or a rural area. Children with sickle cell anemia were more likely to receive antibiotics if they lived in rural Georgia than if they lived in a city. Trends in the data also suggested that patients had a greater chance of receiving preventative antibiotics if their provider was a specialist—a pediatric hematologist—instead of their general pediatrician.
As patients got older, they were less likely to receive their annual scan for stroke risk. However, the percentage of children getting scanned for stroke overall increased during the years of the study, which Dr. Anderson credits to growing data collection efforts by states leading to more awareness.
Why quality standards not met
“A reason why these quality standards are not being met could be lack of information,” says Dr. Anderson. “Providers may be unfamiliar with the guidelines. Patients and families may not know the importance of twice-daily antibiotics and getting annual scans for stroke risk up to age 16.” Patients may lack access to hospitals and clinics that can perform and interpret this kind of ultrasound. Refilling the penicillin prescription every two weeks can be challenging if a family lacks transportation or money.
“We are encouraged that these kinds of measurements can be tracked in every state in the country,” Dr. Anderson says. “We can start to do quality improvement programs in every clinic and every hospital, starting with these two measures, in order to deliver better care for children with sickle cell anemia.”
The study was funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (grant UL1TR001855). Sickle Cell Data Collection team contributions from California and Georgia were supported by a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-RFA-DD20-2003, Sickle Cell Data Collection Program).
Other contributors included: Wendy J. Mack, PhD, of the Keck School of Medicine of USC; Sophia S. Horiuchi, PhD, and Susan Paulukonis, MA, MPH, of Tracking California; Mei Zhou, MS, and Angela B. Snyder, PhD, MPH, of Georgia State University; Jason N. Doctor, PhD, of USC; Michele Kipke, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; and Gary Freed, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan Medical School.
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Founded in 1901, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is at the forefront of pediatric medicine and is the largest provider of hospital care for children in California. Children’s Hospital is home to renowned experts who work together across disciplines to deliver inclusive and compassionate care, and drive advances that set pediatric standards across the nation and around the globe.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides a level of care to its diverse population of children that is among the best in the world. The hospital is consistently ranked in the top 10 in the nation on U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals, including No. 1 in California and No. 1 in the Pacific U.S. region. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles embraces its mission to create hope and build healthier futures. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is among the top 10 children’s hospitals for National Institutes of Health funding. The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles supports the full continuum of research, allowing physicians and scientists to translate discoveries into treatments and bring answers to families faster. The pediatric academic medical center also is home to one of the largest training programs for pediatricians in the United States. And the hospital’s commitment to building strong communities is evident in CHLA’s efforts to fight food insecurity, enhance health education and literacy, and introduce more people to careers in health care. To learn more, follow CHLA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), and visit CHLA.org/blog.
Only some children with sickle cell anemia who could benefit from basic preventative care to prevent infections and strokes receive it, a Children's Hospital Los Angeles research team found.
MINNEAPOLIS – Genetic testing has become a more common way to diagnose and manage many neurologic conditions including dementia, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, but a new study has found not everyone may have the same level of access to these tests. Black people were half as likely as white people to be evaluated for genetic testing, according to a study published in the March 6, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Genetic testing is crucial for identifying neurologic conditions and has potential to impact treatment and management of symptoms,” said study author Colin A. Ellis, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and member of the American Academy of Neurology. “This testing is something that everyone, regardless of race or ethnic background, can benefit from. However, our study found that being evaluated for this testing was unequal among Black people. This indicates disparities in the accessibility of this potentially life-changing process.”
Genetic testing looks at a person’s DNA for variations in genes associated with a disease. This can be helpful for diagnosis and management of a disease, as well as family planning.
Researchers looked at 128,440 people in the Philadelphia area who visited neurology clinics during a seven-year time frame. Of those, 2,540 people were evaluated to receive genetic testing.
Researchers looked at three steps of the genetic testing process: attending an evaluation, completing genetic testing and receiving a diagnosis. They looked at people with seven neurologic diseases: ALS, ataxia, dementia, epilepsy, myopathy, neuropathy and Parkinson’s disease.
Among all participants, 73% were white and 20% were Black. However, among participants evaluated for genetic testing, 81% were white and 11% were Black.
After adjusting for ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and insurance status, Black people were 51% less likely than white people to be evaluated for genetic testing.
Among those who were evaluated for genetic testing, Black people had more neurology office visits before their evaluation, with 16 visits, than white people, with 14 visits. Ellis noted this may suggest a bias in how people are referred to this testing.
“While we found disparities in receiving a genetic evaluation, once people were evaluated, everyone benefited similarly from genetic testing when prescribed,” Ellis said. “More work is needed to address these health care disparities, such asproviding culturally sensitive genetic counseling services in multiple languages. Policies that focus on making genetic testing more affordable as well as expanding insurance coverage could also reduce disparities.”
A limitation of the study was the small number of participants of other races and ethnicities. Also, the study was conducted at one medical center, so the results may not apply to other centers or settings.
The study was supported by the University of Pennsylvania.
Ellis’s research was also supported by the Susan S. Spencer, MD Clinical Research Training Scholarship in Epilepsy, which is funded by the American Epilepsy Society, Epilepsy Foundation and American Brain Foundation in collaboration with the American Academy of Neurology.
Learn more about brain health at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology’s free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life® on Facebook, X and Instagram.
When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the hashtags #Neurology and #AANscience.
The American Academy of Neurology is the world’s largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 40,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.
NEW ORLEANS, La – Ochsner Health, a national leader in employee retention and satisfaction, proudly announces its recognition as one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women 2024 by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group. This recognition underscores Ochsner’s unwavering commitment to fostering an inclusive environment that values diversity, equity, and inclusion and promotes career advancement for women.
In a survey conducted by Newsweek that included more than 142,000 women across more than 848,000 American companies, Ochsner Health, classified as a large company on the list, earned 5 out of 5 stars.
“We are immensely proud that Ochsner’s dedication to creating an environment where our female employees can thrive has been recognized. Women are the core of our organization, accounting for 79.9% of the workforce across our system at Ochsner Health. Through empowerment, respect and equal opportunity, we strive to equip each employee with the tools for both professional and personal growth. We firmly believe that excellence is an ongoing journey, and together, we can accomplish great things,” said Tracey Schiro, executive vice president and chief people and culture officer, Ochsner Health.
At Ochsner, numerous programs have been implemented to support its female employees. Ochsner’s Career Development Program offers free regional and systemwide courses leading to career opportunities within the organization and the Ochsner Learning Institute serves as a resource for professional development available to all within the organization. Employees have access to an array of digital and in-person educational courses, podcasts and books designed to support professional well-being and growth. Furthermore, a career center is available to assist employees as they explore career advancement opportunities.
Comprehensive and unique benefits, such as lifestyle benefits, education assistance, and family-building benefits, are also available, ensuring that the well-being of our employees remains a priority both at work and at home. The Women Empowering Women (WoW) group is open to all employees and supports women of diverse ages and backgrounds through professional development, community outreach, wellness resources and more.
This recognition marks the second time in 2024 that Ochsner has been honored by Newsweek. Earlier this year, Ochsner was named one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity for the second consecutive year. Known for high-quality compassionate care, Ochsner extends the same level of care and respect to its workforce.
“Despite advancements in workplace equality, women still encounter significant barriers in terms of leadership opportunities, fair compensation and other forms of discrimination. Recognizing and addressing these challenges are crucial for progress,” said Newsweek Global Editor in Chief Nancy Cooper. "It is important to highlight companies that are leading the way in fostering a culture of equality and respect. To that end, Newsweek and Plant-A Insights are proud to introduce America's Greatest Workplaces 2024 For Women."
For more information about Ochsner Health including career opportunities, visit www.ochsner.org.
Ochsner Health is an integrated healthcare system with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate. Celebrating more than 80 years of service, it leads nationally in cancer care, cardiology, neurosciences, liver and kidney transplants and pediatrics, among other areas. Ochsner is consistently named both the top hospital and top children’s hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report. The not-for-profit organization is inspiring healthier lives and stronger communities through its Healthy State initiative, a bold and collaborative plan to realize a healthier Louisiana. Its focus is on preventing diseases and providing patient-centered care that is accessible, affordable, convenient and effective. Ochsner Health pioneers new treatments, deploys emerging technologies and performs groundbreaking research, including 4,000 patients enrolled in 685 clinical studies in 2022. It has more than 38,000 employees and over 4,700 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties. It operates 46 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Gulf South; and its cutting-edge Connected Health digital medicine program is caring for patients beyond its walls. In 2022, Ochsner Health treated more than 1.4 million people from every state and 62 countries. As Louisiana’s top healthcare educator of physicians, Ochsner Health and its partners educate thousands of healthcare professionals annually. To learn more, visit https://www.ochsner.org/.
.jpg)