When new clinical guidelines for preoperative testing rolled out across the health system this year, it was part of a larger effort by a team of clinician leaders at Cedars-Sinai focused on reducing unnecessary care that wastes patients' time and money, and exposes them to needless risk. Led by the Ambulatory High-Value Care Committee, a diverse group of physicians and executive leaders, these efforts have proved so successful that some goals for the current fiscal year are based on the committee's prior work in specialties such as oncology and preoperative testing.
Cedars-Sinai investigators have been able to prevent degeneration of spinal discs in laboratory animals with a new approach that uses stem cell technology. The study was recently published in the journal Theranostics. If confirmed in people, the study's findings could point to a potential way to treat back pain that is related to degenerative disc disease, which occurs when the discs between the vertebrae of the spinal column deteriorate or break down. Lower back pain in particular affects many adults and is a frequent cause of disability
Actress, singer and activist Barbra Streisand has teamed up again with C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center at the Smidt Heart Institute, to warn women and their physicians about how women experience ischemic heart disease differently than men. The duo shared their perspectives with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) podcast, JAMA Author Interviews. Click here to listen to the complete JAMA Podcast.
Torrance Memorial, a Cedars-Sinai affiliate, will open its 38,000-square-foot Donald and Priscilla Hunt Cancer Center in December, 18 months after breaking ground. In the new facility, specialists from Torrance Memorial and Cedars-Sinai will treat more than 60 types of cancer and offer new and innovative clinical trials.
Kimberly Gregory, MD, MPH, vice chair of Women's Healthcare Quality and Performance Improvement in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director and fellowship director of the division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, has been named the second Helping Hand of Los Angeles Miriam Jacobs Chair in Maternal Fetal Medicine.
The holidays are supposed to be a time for celebration and togetherness, but they can be tough on older adults who run a high risk of being socially isolated. Social isolation can be easily overlooked as a health concern even though it can have the same negative impact on an older adult's health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to Sonja Rosen, MD, chief of Geriatric Medicine at Cedars-Sinai.
Employees are often Cedars-Sinai's best advocates, and their voice helps shape how the community, and world, views the medical center. To ensure employees feel empowered and encouraged to talk about Cedars-Sinai online, the digital strategy team updated their existing employee social media policy and created a new social media policy for departments or institutions interested in establishing branded social media accounts.
Beginning Dec. 16, the Core Laboratories within the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine will update the anion gap calculation to include potassium. This calculation normally includes the difference between the major measured cations and anions in blood serum/plasma.
Lifetime, a new feature in CS-Link™, rolled out on Nov. 3. The updated feature allows you to see a visual timeline of a patient's entire medical history at Cedars-Sinai. This useful tool can be used in numerous ways, such as quickly familiarizing yourself with a new patient or seeing a detailed review of a patient's medication history. It is accessible through the Encounters tab in Chart Review and in Synopsis. Look for the Lifetime icon (a green infinity symbol) in the toolbar.
