Latest KFF Health News Stories
An Overlooked Epidemic: Older Americans Taking Too Many Unneeded Drugs
Researchers estimate that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions. But some doctors are trying to teach others about “deprescribing” or systematically discontinuing medicines that are inappropriate, duplicative or unnecessary.
Stopping Opioid Addiction At One Key Source: The Hospital
Based on research conducted at the University of Michigan’s medical center, a group of surgeons developed a strategy to help post-surgical patients from misusing or abusing their prescription painkillers.
Doctors Make Big Money Testing Urine For Drugs, Then Ignore Abnormal Results
Medicare and insurers struggle to oversee a booming business in testing urine samples. In some cases, pain doctors’ lack of follow-through can turn fatal.
Consejos para enfrentar la mala atención en hospitales
El paciente tiene derecho a reclamar si cree que no está recibiendo una atención adecuada. Y el hospital debe resolver el problema rápidamente.
Problems With Your Hospital Care? Speak Up!
If you’re in the hospital and aren’t happy with how they are treating you, here are some simple steps to improve your situation.
Taking A Page From Pharma’s Playbook To Fight The Opioid Crisis
Doctors and pharmacists in Northern California are emulating drug company sales reps with a fresh purpose in mind: They visit medical offices in the hardest-hit counties to change their peers’ prescribing habits and curtail the use of painkillers.
Red solidaria de médicos envía suministros a Puerto Rico
Casi de manera espontánea, se unieron gracias a las redes sociales y al “de boca en boca”. Hasta ahora han enviado 40 toneladas de suministros para ayudar a las víctimas del huracán María.
Grass-Roots Network Of Doctors Delivers Supplies To Puerto Rico
Borrowing a plane is part of these doctors’ duties.
Training New Doctors Right Where They’re Needed
Eight teaching centers in California aim to train and retain doctors in medically underserved areas such as California’s Central Valley. They are among 57 such institutions across the country that may soon receive a boost in funding from Congress.
Entrenando a nuevos médicos justo en donde se los necesita
En el Valle Central de California, no hay una escuela de medicina, y los nuevos médicos a menudo evitan el área en favor de los centros urbanos más ricos, donde pueden ganar más dinero.
Reporter’s Notebook: In Health Care, A Good Price (Or Any Price) Is Hard To Find
Not only are health prices hidden, industry players are contractually obligated to keep them secret. That’s why answering a simple question — how much does it cost to have a baby in Mountain View, Calif.? — became a journalistic quest.
Guess Who Pays The Price When Hospital Giants Hire Your Private Practitioner?
Gobbling up doctors’ independent practices is lucrative for hospital systems — but not necessarily a good deal for the physicians or consumers, critics say. Northern California is a case in point.
How Below-The-Radar Mergers Fuel Health Care Monopolies
Most acquisitions by hospitals of physician practices are too small to trigger antitrust attention, study says. But a buying spree of “onesies and twosies” doctor practices has driven competition down and prices up.
Another Way For Anti-Vaxxers To Skip Shots For Schoolkids: A Doctor’s Note
No longer able to get exemptions for personal beliefs in California, parents opposed to inoculations seem to be obtaining medical exemptions for their children, according to a new study.
Más médicos apoyan un sistema de salud universal
Una nueva encuesta revela que cada vez más los profesionales de la salud se inclinan a un sistema con un pagador único que se haga cargo de las cuentas médicas.
Doctors Warm To Single-Payer Health Care
Growing numbers of physicians say they support a single-payer health care system, a 180-degree turn in opinion over a decade.
Medicare ayuda a 575,000 personas a hacer planes para el final de la vida
En 2016, el Medicare comenzó a pagar por las sesiones en las que pacientes, médicos y familiares discuten sobre las decisiones a tomar cuando se acerca el final de la vida.
End-Of-Life Advice: More Than 500,000 Chat On Medicare’s Dime
In the first year of payments for advance-care planning sessions, once decried as ”death panels,“ use is higher than expected, new data show.
Calif. Hits Nerve By Singling Out Cardiac Surgeons With Higher Patient Death Rates
The controversial practice — done by just a few other states — recently cast a spotlight on some prominent doctors. Supporters say it improves performance; detractors warn it discourages taking on complex cases.
California Sued For Allegedly Substandard Medi-Cal Care
The lawsuit is a civil rights case on behalf of Latinos, who comprise nearly half of the program’s enrollees. But the advocates who filed it also hope to get class action certification for all Medi-Cal enrollees.
