Paul Govern

Diarrhea has many causes, and when there are prolonged or severe symptoms clinicians sometimes consider lab testing to help guide treatment. But sometimes they stray from published guidelines in the direction of overtesting.

Since 2014 the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, has assisted lower- and moderate-income people who buy insurance on their own on the individual market, providing premium subsidies and discounts on out-of-pocket expenses. Under the law, people who don’t carry compliant insurance face a penalty, the so-called individual mandate. Large employers who don’t offer insurance are also penalized.

A smartphone application called mUzima, developed for healthcare workers by Vanderbilt’s Martin Were, MD, MS, and his team, is catching on in eastern Africa.

When chronic disease patients let their care lapse and fail to show for clinic appointments, it may behoove clinics to reach out and encourage a return to care.

Last week Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) switched to a new computer system for electronic health records, ordering of tests and drugs, supporting inpatient and outpatient care delivery, billing and other hospital and clinic operations.

Kelly McQueen, M.D., MPH, professor of Anesthesiology and Surgery and director of Vanderbilt Anesthesia Global Health and Development, has received the 2017 Nicholas M. Greene, M.D., Outstanding Humanitarian Contribution Award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).