Healthcare : Buzz

If you've ever been treated there, you already knew Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital is at the top of the list, once again. U.S. News and World Reports looked at 5,000 hospitals and adult 16 speicialties, with Hopkins ranked no. 1 in five of the specialty areas. 

Here's an excerpt:

"With strong scores in many 2010-11 specialty rankings, Johns Hopkins Hospital was named once again to the Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The 16 adult and 9 pediatric specialties in which the hospital was ranked are shown below."

Read the entire article here.

The economic downturn has hit many industries hard, forcing employers to lay-off employees. The healthcare sector hasn't been immune, but seems to be coming back with Johns Hopkins Hospital hiring some 400 workers and Bravo Healthcare hiring 40.

Here's an excerpt:

"Johns Hopkins Hospital has 400 job openings.

If you can't beat them, join them. That seems to be the philosophy behind a Johns Hopkins study seeking to find a solution to Baltimore's "food deserts." Many Baltimore neighborhoods do not have a local grocery store or supermarket that offer healthy eating alternatives to combat the glut of fast food that is available.

Hee-Jung Song, Ph.D., a researcher in the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, is studying whether Baltimore's ubiquitous corner stores, might just be the solution.

Here's an excerpt:

"In Baltimore, corner storeowners increased their stocking, promotion and sales of healthier foods and customers showed a tendency to buy and prepare more fruits and vegetables through one such program.

"Inner-city Baltimore is a 'food desert" with many fast food restaurants and corner stores, but few supermarkets," said lead author Hee-Jung Song, Ph.D., a researcher in the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. "These food environments result in less availability of and accessibility to healthy food and impact on the kinds of food consumed by low-income residents."

The study appears online in the journal Health Promotion Practice.

The Baltimore Healthy Store program provided monetary incentives or free food to store owners, coordinated education about nutrition and developed guidelines for the owners to follow to help overcome language and cultural barriers. This is important, since most corner storeowners in Baltimore are Korean-American, while the customers largely are African-American."

Read the entire article here.

A new partnership teaming Olympic Gold Medalist Dorothy Hamill with Kennedy Krieger's I-Skate program was featured in the Today Show's "Good News Today" segment.

Watch the video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Part of the Physically Challenged Sports Program at Kennedy Krieger, I-Skate offers children with physical disabilities the unique opportunity to learn how to ice skate�not only improving their health and independence, but providing important social interaction with their peers.

Launched in November 2009, the I-Skate program is open to children ages 5 to 18 with a wide range of physical disabilities that can include cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, limb differences and paralysis. Specially designed adaptive ice skates, walkers, ice sleds and helmets make it possible for these children to participate in weekly skating sessions. The program participants range from children who may eventually become independent skaters to those who may always use a walker for support.

Join Next American City as we present URBANEXUS Baltimore with our co-host, Urbanite Magazine and Bmore Media. Baltimore, home to Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, has long been regarded as a hub for world-class medical research. But many communities in the city continue to struggle with significant health disparities and stubborn public health challenges. What is health care innovation? Can out-of-the-box thinking help translate medical research into healthier communities?

Admission to the event, held at the Anne E. Casey Foundation at 503 N. Charles Street, is free for all attendees.

Find out more here.

A recent study of Baltimore residents reveals that individuals' attitudes about the health care system are a significant determinant of how quickly they seek care. Those who mistrust the system are more likely to postpone care until they are sicker, which drives up the overall cost of treatment.

An excerpt from the article reads:

Researchers surveyed 401 Baltimore residents, the majority of whom were black, about their attitudes toward the health care system, including doctors, hospitals and insurance companies.

The survey found that people who doubted the trustworthiness of the medical care system were more likely to ignore medical advice, neglect to go to follow-up appointments or to fill prescriptions. Patients who were suspicious of the system were also more likely to admit to putting off medical care that doctors told them was necessary.

The study will appear online in Health Services Research.

"Over the last 15 years, the health care system has changed, and increasingly patients' interactions are with the system, not just an individual doctor," study author Thomas LaVeist, director of the Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a release from the news service.

"We found that persons who were more mistrustful of the health-care system were more likely to delay needed care or postpone receiving care, even when they perceived they needed it," LaVeist said.

Read the entire article here.