US hospitals are grappling with emergency department boarding, with 40% of admitted patients boarding for over four hours and 6% for more than 24 hours as of January 2022, according to data in the journal Health Affairs. The problem, exacerbated by nursing shortages and limited post-acute care facilities and other factors, leads to increased mortality, longer stays and higher readmission risks. Hospitals are addressing the issue through daily tracking and reporting, cross-department collaboration and transparency, but systemic changes are needed to improve patient flow and care quality.

Smoking, recent substance use and metastatic complications are significant predictors of intensive care unit admission and poor outcomes in individuals who have Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteremia, according to a study presented at IDWeek 2025. The study highlights the protective effect of pneumococcal vaccination, with only 43% of patients up to date on their immunizations.

A study in the journal Pediatrics linked multiple patient factors such as age to pediatric care quality in emergency medical services. For most measures, higher performance was seen with older patient ages. Children with trauma who were from Hispanic, Latino and Black families were less likely to see improvements in pain, researchers found.

A research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics found 48.3% of pediatric hospital charges were covered by Medicaid in 2022, including 54.9% of non-newborn discharges and 44.2% of newborn discharges. Data showed 53.2% of children with multiple complex chronic conditions who were discharged from a hospital had Medicaid coverage, and children in rural areas were more likely to have Medicaid cover their hospital stays.

Shared savings programs can sharpen health care providers' focus on value, but they are not scalable business models for hospital and health systems, says Dr. Patrick Runnels, chief medical officer at University Hospitals in Cleveland. Although University Hospitals earned about $50 million through shared savings last year, the amount was less than 5% of the health system's total revenue, Runnels notes. CMS should increase shared savings percentages, adjust fee-for-service rates and temporarily pay more for reducing low-value services if shared savings models are to be scalable business models, Runnels says.

Researchers have introduced a tool, based on the PREVENT risk calculator, that uses sex- and age-specific percentiles to estimate 30-year cardiovascular risk, aiming to improve communication and motivate early prevention. "When a patient sees they are in the 90th percentile, we hope that this will serve as a wake-up call that risk starts early," said Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University. "We don't want to wait until it is too late, and someone has had an event." Research findings were published in JACC.

Researchers from the University of California have developed a wearable device called A-Heal that uses bioelectronics and artificial intelligence to accelerate wound healing by 25%. Initially funded by the Department of Defense to aid soldiers and civilians with wartime injuries, the device automates the process of wound assessment and treatment, mimicking a physician's actions. The researchers see broader applications, particularly for hard-to-heal wounds, such as those in patients with diabetes.

Premature deaths among adults younger than 65 increased 27% from 2012 to 2022, with Black adults experiencing a higher rate than white adults, according to a study in JAMA Health Forum. The research highlights the health outcome impact of societal factors such as lack of health insurance, rising living costs and a weak social safety net, and notes that chronic diseases are a major cause of these premature deaths.