Is 2015 Shaping Up to be Our Worst Flu Season?

This year’s flu season is being hyped to be the worst yet, according to numerous reports distributed throughout medical and public media.

Melanoma Immunotherapy gains PBS Support

Melanoma drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab) will be available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme from September this year, according to an announcement from the Commonwealth Government over the weekend.

Egg-Freezing Not the Answer for Young Women's Fertility Insurance

Women have been encouraged to freeze their eggs (or cryptopreservation) for a variety of reasons for some time now: as a pre-cursor to fertility-ending treatments, for assistance during long and drawn out fertility treatments, and even for social reasons centred around family planning.

Towards Self-Care in Healthcare

Pharmacies across Australia have been working on the Health Destination Pharmacy model, an initiative the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia says promoted a ‘stronger focus on patient self-care, increased delivery of evidence-based professional services (particularly focusing on assisting patients with minor ailments), leading to greater patient loyalty and increased sales.’

A Man Walks Into a Bar … and Picks up a Superbug

The NPS MedicineWise short film competition #SaveTheScript run in conjunction with Tropfest was held in Sydney last night, with the winners announced. Participants were briefed to make a 45-second film about the threat of antibiotic resistance, and the winning film by OneWay Pictures entitled The Pick Up is an amusing and sexy take on a serious situation.

A Patient Perspective of Diagnostic Imaging: Challenges for Patients

Indexation and the Patient Gap The freeze on diagnostic imaging Medicare rebates has had a significant impact on the affordability of diagnostic imaging for patients. Currently in its 17th year, the freeze on indexation has resulted in the real value of diagnostic imaging Medicare rebates falling, in some cases, by almost 50 per cent. This has resulted in patients paying consistently higher gaps each year, making diagnostic imaging service costs increasingly prohibitive.  Figure 4 reveals the rise in patient gaps for each modality, with the average patient gap rising by over 50% in the last six years.

Hospital Spending in Australia

Recurrent hospital expenditure in Australia for public and private hospitals combined topped $55 billion in 2013–14, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

A Patient Perspective of Diagnostic Imaging: The Right to Access

Diagnostic imaging has changed the face of medicine in the field of diagnosis and treatment. What began with the humble X-Ray has expanded to include modalities such as Ultrasound, Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and most recently nuclear medicine examinations such as the Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan. Millions of Australian patients access diagnostic imaging services each year for a whole myriad conditions, ranging from a broken bone to cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring. It is therefore no surprise that diagnostic imaging is at the forefront of early diagnosis and early treatment of many conditions which if left undetected would not be treatable.

Medical Community Tackles Domestic Violence

Emergency departments personnel, general practitioners and community nurses are often the first to see signs of abuse, and so the Australian medical profession is committing its resources to addressing domestic violence in the community.

Understanding Restrictions on Access to Medicare-Funded Diagnostic Imaging

Wellness at Work: Time to be Selfish

Just because you are looking after the wellbeing of patients and their families doesn’t mean you can ignore your own health. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can ignore your patient mid-seizure to have a coffee break but it does mean taking the time to prioritise your own wellbeing in order to bring your best to everything you do. We have recruited the help of a careers coach Christopher Paterson from ALCHEMY Career Management to pass on some advice for finding and retaining wellness in everything you do.

More is not always better

Managing Anxiety: Smartphone Apps

Anxiety has a tendency to take over our thoughts when we most need to be focusing on other things. Whether it's giving a patient or their family our full attention, performing our tasks or enjoying time with family and friends, worry and stress has a way of making life so much more difficult than it needs to be.

The Conversation: Three Ethical Ways to Increase Organ Donation in Australia

Australia’s organ donation levels are low by international standards. At least twenty countries achieve better donation rates than Australia’s 16.1 donors per million population (DPMP), including Belgium (29.9 DPMP), the United States (25.9), France (25.5) and the United Kingdom (20.8).

Suicide Prevention Training for Emergency Department Staff

Queensland Emergency Department staff in public hospitals will be receiving patient suicide prevention training as part of a new tailored package rolling out over the next 12 months. It will provide welcomed improvements on the current training which requires full or half-day attendance and is generally targeted at mental health professionals.