Ridesharing as an Alternative to Ambulance Transport for Voluntary Psychiatric Patients in the Emergency Department

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) crowding is a growing problem. Psychiatric patients have long ED lengths of stay awaiting placement and transportation to a psychiatric facility after disposition.Methods: Retrospective analysis of length of ED stay after disposition for voluntary psychiatric patients before and after the use of Lyft ridesharing services for inter-facility transport.Results: Using Lyft transport to an outside crisis center shortens time to discharge both statistically and clinically from 113 minutes to 91 minutes (p = 0.028) for voluntary psychiatric patients. Discharge time also decreased for involuntary patients from 146 minutes to 127 minutes (p = 0.0053).Conclusion: Ridesharing services may be a useful alternative to medical transportation for voluntary psychiatric patients

“Fake news,” misinformation, and political bias: Teaching news literacy in the 21st century

In an era where claims of “fake news” abound and more people turn to social media for their daily updates, knowing how to find and critically appraise information is more important than ever. The workshop discussed in this article aims to provide college students with the news literacy needed to make educated decisions about the information they find online

Rethinking the Future of News Literacy Education: Results from a Mixed Methods Study

In an era where most people rely on social media for their news and claims of fake news are rampant, news literacy is seen as increasingly important. In recent years, there has been a surge in initiatives to enhance news literacy among news consumers. However, our understanding of the effectiveness of these initiatives is limited. This study presents the findings from a mixed methods examination of the effectiveness of an online, asynchronous news literacy program offered to adults across the United States. While quantitative findings show that the program made little difference in participants’ already high levels of news literacy, the qualitative findings reveal that participating in the program provided people with a more nuanced, reflective, and less normative understanding of the news. Findings also point to the affective nature of news consumers’ interaction with news content, and a need to rethink news literacy education and assessment from a more learner-centered perspective

Coverage of obesity treatment: A state-by-state analysis of Medicaid and state insurance laws

Objectives. We determined whether state Medicaid programs cover recommended treatments for adult and pediatric obesity and to what extent states regulate the treatment and coverage of obesity by private insurers. Methods. We conducted a state-by-state document review of Medicaid manuals and private insurance laws and regulations. Results. Eight state Medicaid programs appear to cover all recommended obesity treatment modalities for adults. Only 10 states appear to reimburse for obesity-related treatment in children. In the small-group insurance market, 35 states expressly allow obesity to be used for rate adjustments, while 10 states do so in the individual market. Two states expressly allow obesity to be used in eligibility decisions in the individual market. Five states provide for coverage of one or more treatments for obesity in both small-group and individual markets. Conclusions. Very few states ensure coverage of recommended treatments for adult and pediatric obesity through Medicaid or private insurance. Most states allow obesity to be used to adjust rates in the small-group and individual markets and to deny coverage in the individual market

Teaching News Literacy During a Pandemic:: Adapting to the Virtual Learning Environment

This lesson plan is based on a collaborative teaching project between the co-authors that was implemented for an online community, over the course of a week in the fall of 2020, in response to the specific teaching and learning challenges presented by the pandemic. The online news literacy program was adapted and expanded from previous iterations of a one-day, in-person workshop, integrating specific pedagogical and engagement strategies for a much broader and more diverse learning community. The authors detail their approach to news literacy from a critical media and information literacy (CMIL) framework and how the program's content and activities were distributed and scaffolded across five days of online engagement

Teaching News Literacy During a Pandemic: Adapting to the Virtual Learning Environment

In the fall of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered universities and sent much of higher education online, a team of media and information literacy experts at the University of Maine sought meaningful ways to collaboratively teach news literacy from a distance. The result of their efforts was a weeklong virtual program, Friend, Enemy, or Frenemy? A News Literacy Challenge, open to anyone with an internet connection and an email address. This approach to remote learning scaffolded multiple literacies (critical media, news, and information) into five days, as participants examined different aspects of news production and consumption. The overall objective of the challenge was to render participants more aware of how the news is constructed and, subsequently, more critical of the news they consume and share

Liability Protections for Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners and Entities

Twenty-four states and D.C. have statutes that extend some level of immunity to groups and/or organizations providing charitable, emergency, or disaster relief services, although these laws varied greatly among states

The Legality of Collecting and Disclosing Patient Race and Ethnicity Data

This policy brief weighs whether the collection of patient data by race or ethnicity, as part of a program of quality improvement, violates the law