Contraceptive Implant Under Microscope Amid Questions of Safety, Altered Trial Data
Essure has generated more than 5,000 complaints of serious side effects.
Some Dementia Can Be Treated, But My Mother Waited 10 Years For A Diagnosis
For many physicians, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, doesn’t come to mind when they see people with cognitive and gait problems, although it is one of the few treatable causes of dementia.
Costly Hepatitis C Treatments Help Drive 12 Percent Drug Spending Jump
Increases are expected to moderate as more brand-name drug patents expire and the impact of the liver disease treatments lessens.
Hospitals Take Cues From The Hospitality Industry
Satisfied patients have better health outcomes and, not incidentally, boost hospitals’ bottom lines under new Medicare reimbursement rules.
Frustrated AMA Pitches ‘Action Plan’ On Digital Records
Saying that electronic health records distract doctors, take time away from care and make physicians less productive, an influential doctors’ group called on vendors and government agencies to work with them to develop better, easier-to-use technology. The American Medical Association asked the Obama administration to abandon its “all or nothing approach” requiring Medicare providers to go digital […]
Maine Rolls Back Health Coverage Even As Many States Expand It
Gov. LePage’s decision to shrink, rather than expand, Medicaid has put strains on health providers as well as the poor.
Wide Variation In Hospital Charges For Blood Tests Called ‘Irrational’
One California hospital charged $10 for a blood cholesterol test, while another hospital that ran the same test charged $10,169 — over 1,000 times more. For another common blood test called a basic metabolic panel, the average hospital charge was $371, but prices ranged from a low of $35 to a high of $7,303, more […]
Study: ER Closures Raise Death Rates At Nearby Hospitals
Emergency patients who are admitted to the hospital are at greater risk of dying if another emergency room at a hospital nearby has closed its doors, a new study of California hospitals has found. The analysis is believed to be the first to examine the impact that emergency department closures have on the quality of […]
Docs Slam Recertification Rules They Call A Waste Of Time
Some say the requirements will push older doctors to retire early, worsening the physician shortage.
Chemo Costs In U.S. Driven Higher By Shift To Hospital Outpatient Facilities
The price of cancer drugs has doubled in the past decade, with the average brand-name cancer drug in the U.S. costing $10,000 for a month’s supply, up from $5,000 in 2003, according to a new report by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a health information, services and technology company. And those are just average prices; […]
Study: Costly Breast Cancer Treatment More Common At For-Profit Hospitals
Older breast cancer patients who received radiation treatment after surgery were more likely to undergo a more expensive and somewhat controversial type of radiation called brachytherapy if they got their care at for-profit rather than nonprofit hospitals, a new study reports. Among the oldest group studied — women in their 80s and early 90s who are […]
15-Minute Visits Take A Toll On The Doctor-Patient Relationship
Patients are more likely to leave frustrated and without the tools they need to take charge of their own health after rushed visits.
Burnt Out Primary Care Docs Are Voting With Their Feet
Tired of seeing patients every 15 minutes, some are going to work for hospitals, reducing their practices or calling it quits.
Doctors Say Obamacare Rule Will Stick Them With Unpaid Bills
If a patient falls behind on premiums, insurers can hold off paying their doctor bills, and deny them altogether if the patient fails to make good.
Injured Who Lived Near Closed Trauma Centers More Likely To Die
Injured patients who had to travel an average 13 minutes longer to reach a hospital trauma center because a facility nearer to home had closed were more likely to die of their injuries in the hospital, according to a new California study. The report found their risk of dying was 21 percent higher than that […]
How Much To Deliver A Baby? Charges Vary Widely by Hospital
Hospital charges for labor and delivery vary so widely from one California medical center to another that some facilities charge women eight to 11 times more than others, according to a new study. Comparing nearly 110,000 uncomplicated births and Caesarean sections, researchers found the lowest charge for a vaginal birth involving an average woman was […]
Doctors Complain They Will Be Paid Less By Exchange Plans
Some worry the lower rates will discourage physicians from participating, potentially making it more difficult for enrollees to get care.
Analysis: N.Y. Insurance Market Is ‘Poster Child’ For Individual Mandate
Insurers offer less expensive premiums, betting the mandate will attract young and healthy consumers into a market long dominated by the sick.
Will Consumers Sign On For Health Law’s Co-Ops?
Created by the health law to boost competition among insurers, co-ops in 24 states emphasize primary care and treating consumers as partners, but can they compete with the big guys?
Health Care’s ‘Dirty Little Secret’: No One May Be Coordinating Care
Breakdowns in hospital communications are common, with sometimes dire consequences for patients.
