Being Black and Pregnant in the Deep South Can Be a Dangerous Combination
Being Black has always been dangerous for pregnant women and infants in the South. And researchers say things are continuing to move in the wrong direction.
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Doctors and Patients Try to Shame Insurers Online to Reverse Prior Authorization Denials
Prior authorization is a common tool used by health insurers for many tests, procedures, and prescriptions. Frustrated by the process, patients and doctors have turned to social media to publicly shame insurance companies and elevate their denials for further review.
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New Charleston Museum Nods to Historical Roots of US Health Disparities
The $120 million International African American Museum that opened this week in Charleston, South Carolina, allows visitors to step back in history at Gadsden’s Wharf, where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans arrived in America, the genesis of generations of health disparities.
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Burnout Threatens Primary Care Workforce and Doctors’ Mental Health
Burnout is a widespread problem in the health care industry. Although the pandemic made things worse, burnout among doctors is a long-standing concern that health systems have become more focused on as they try to stop doctors from quitting or retiring early.
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A Striking Gap Between Deaths of Black and White Babies Plagues the South
Infant mortality rates across the South are by far the worst in the U.S. A look at South Carolina — where multimillion-dollar programs aimed at improving rates over the past 10 years have failed to move the needle — drives home the challenge of finding solutions, especially in rural communities.
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How a 2019 Florida Law Catalyzed a Hospital-Building Boom
In Wesley Chapel, Fla., near Tampa, residents will soon have three general hospitals within a five-minute drive. The new construction is part of a hospital-building boom across Florida unleashed almost four years ago, when the state dropped a requirement that companies obtain government approval to open new hospitals.
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Feds Move to Rein In Prior Authorization, a System That Harms and Frustrates Patients
The federal government wants to change the way health insurers use prior authorization — the requirement that patients get permission before undergoing treatment. Designed to prevent doctors from deploying expensive, ineffectual procedures, prior authorization has become a confusing maze that denies or delays care, burdens physicians with paperwork, and perpetuates racial disparities. New rules may not be enough to solve the problems.
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Hospitals’ Use of Volunteer Staff Runs Risk of Skirting Labor Laws, Experts Say
Hospitals using volunteers is commonplace. But some labor experts argue that deploying unpaid workers to do work that benefits the organization’s bottom line lets for-profit hospitals skirt federal labor laws, deprives employees of work, and potentially exploits the volunteers.
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Public Health Agencies Try to Restore Trust as They Fight Misinformation
As public health departments work on improving their message, the skepticism and mistrust often reserved for covid-19 vaccines now threaten other public health priorities, including flu shots and childhood vaccines.
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Mass Shootings Reopen the Debate Over Whether Crime Scene Photos Prompt Change or Trauma
After almost every mass shooting, a debate is renewed over whether to publish the photos of the carnage the guns have inflicted.
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Hurricane Ian Shows That Coastal Hospitals Aren’t Ready for Climate Change
Hundreds of medical centers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts face serious risks from even relatively weak storms as climate change accelerates sea-level rise — not to mention big ones like Category 4 Hurricane Ian.
By Daniel Chang and Lauren Sausser -
Wastewater Surveillance Has Become a Critical Covid Tracking Tool, but Funding Is Inconsistent
Dashboards that rely on positive covid test results reported to local health departments no longer paint a reliable picture of how covid is spreading in an area. Some experts say wastewater surveillance is the most accurate way to measure viral activity. Meanwhile, some wastewater labs face funding shortfalls.
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The $18,000 Breast Biopsy: When Having Insurance Costs You a Bundle
An online calculator told a young woman that a procedure to rule out cancer would cost an uninsured person about $1,400. Instead, the hospital initially charged almost $18,000 and, with her high-deductible health insurance, she owed more than $5,000.
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To Retain Nurses and Other Staffers, Hospitals Are Opening Child Care Centers
More than two years into the pandemic, parents face a child care crisis. That’s why some hospitals are considering starting child care centers to address recruitment and retention troubles.
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A Nearly Century-Old Maternity Home for Teens in the South Makes Plans for Expansion
Homes for pregnant girls may seem like a vestige of the past. But they still exist and, in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on abortion, may become more necessary.
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Trauma Surgeons Detail the Horror of Mass Shootings in the Wake of Uvalde and Call for Reforms
Trauma surgeons say that the weapons used in mass shootings are not new but that more of these especially deadly guns are on the street, causing injuries that are difficult to survive.
By Andy Miller and Lauren Sausser -
Addressing the ‘Trust Factor’: South Carolina Researchers Tackle Health Disparities Using Genetics
A new genetic research project underway in South Carolina aims to reduce health disparities between Black and white residents — such as cancer and cardiovascular disease rates — that have long ranked among the nation’s worst. But researchers face the challenge of recruiting 100,000 participants who reflect the diversity of South Carolina. And history isn’t on their side.
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‘Almost Like Malpractice’: To Shed Bias, Doctors Get Schooled to Look Beyond Obesity
Research has long shown that doctors are less likely to respect patients who are overweight or obese — terms that now apply to nearly three-quarters of adults in the U.S. The Association of American Medical Colleges plans to roll out new diversity, equity, and inclusion standards aimed at teaching doctors, among other things, how to treat patients who are overweight with respect.
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Persistent Problem: High C-Section Rates Plague the South
Some U.S. states have reduced use of the procedure, including by sharing C-section data with doctors and hospitals. But change has proved difficult in the South, where women are generally less healthy heading into their pregnancies and maternal and infant health problems are among the highest in the U.S.
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Profit Strategy: Psychiatric Facilities Prioritize Out-of-State Kids
Nearly all psychiatric residential treatment centers for children in South Carolina operate as for-profit businesses — some backed by private equity — and many prioritize out-of-state kids because it’s better for the bottom line. The scramble to secure treatment for children and teenagers has become so competitive that South Carolina will spend millions more each year as of April 1 to keep out-of-state patients from flooding the state's treatment facilities.
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