Congratulations to Nazareth Home, KAHCF Facility of the Year!

Team ProMed congratulates Nazareth Home of Louisville, Kentucky on being named the 2011-'12 Facility of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities (KAHCF)! The facility was honored at KAHCF's annual meeting, which was held November 15-17 in Louisville. Nazareth Home's administrator, Mary Haynes, and her staff accepted the award.

Wanda Meade, KAHCF's Chairman of the Board, noted that "Nazareth Home is an excellent facility with a strong tradition and commitment to providing quality care for its residents and a leader in the community when it comes to addressing aging issues. Our long term care profession salutes Mary and the staff for their professionalism and dedication to delivering quality care."

Congratulations, Nazareth Home! We're proud to be your partner!

Nursing Homes Not Alone in C. diff Battle

Nursing homes aren't the only facilities battling C. diff, according to a new study out of Canada. The infection also lengthens hospital stays by an average of six days.

The researchers also noticed that the patients who contracted C. diff, which can cause severe diarrhea and other complications, were more likely to have other serious illnesses.

To learn more, click here.

Is There Flu Near You? Find Out!

Curious if the flu has infiltrated your neck of the woods? Now you can find out with just a few simple mouse clicks.

Flu Near You is a website that encourages people to register and report on a weekly basis whether they're experiencing any flu symptoms. The goal is to speed up flu monitoring and make it easier to predict when and where the flu will strike next.

Site users can enter their ZIP code, city state or province and see how prominent the flu is in their area. The site also provides a list of local pharmacies and other businesses where the flu shot is available.

To learn more, click here.

Feeling Forgetful? Blame Your Brain.

We've all done it - walked into a room and completely forgotten why we were there. Well, it turns out that you're not having a "senior moment." You have your brain to blame!

According to a study out of the University of Notre Dame, when you move from room to room, your brain identifies each room as a new event and sets a new "memory trace" to capture the new event. As far as your brain is concerned, the doorways between rooms are like chapter markers - ending older memories and beginning new ones. It's harder to remember what you were just doing in a different room because your brain has already filed that memory away!

To learn more, click here.

Are You Too Drowsy to Drive?

We've all heard about the dangers of driving drunk - but what about driving drowsy? According to the CDC, it's pretty darn dangerous as well. Driving drowsy was implicated in about 16 percent of fatal crashes and 13 percent of crashes that resulted in hospitalization. Additionally, 28 percent of respondents in one survey reported falling asleep behind the wheel in the past year.

The CDC recommends making it a priority to get the recommended amount of sleep (for adults, that's seven to nine hours) to avoid getting behind the wheel while drowsy.

To learn more, click here.

More Americans Living to 90 Than Ever Before

Hoping to live to a ripe old age? Your odds are getting better. According to new census figures, the 90-plus population has nearly tripled in size since 1980. By the middle of the century, it's estimated that this age group will reach 9 million, or 2 percent of the U.S. population.

A century ago, fewer than 100,000 people reached the age of 90.

To learn more, click here.

Lipitor Now Available as Generic

As of Wednesday, the world's biggest-selling drug, Lipitor, manufactured by Pfizer, is now available as a generic. At its peak, Lipitor generated sales of $13 billion a year.

Watson Pharmaceuticals will begin offering an "authorized" generic form of Lipitor that is also made by Pfizer. Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories is also ready to sell its generic version of the drug.

Pfizer has reportedly secured deals with some health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers that will allow branded Lipitor to be offered at similar or even lower co-payments than the generic Lipitor. This also means that insurers working with Pfizer will pay no more for branded Lipitor than they do for the generics.

To learn more, click here.