Latest News On Emergency Medicine

Latest KFF Health News Stories

‘An Arm and a Leg’: Tips for Fighting Medical Bills from ProPublica’s Marshall Allen

KFF Health News Original

Veteran health journalist Marshall Allen has been exposing health care grifters for years. Now he’s written a book about how to fight them. Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Allen about some of the best tips from “Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win.”

A Hospital Charged $722.50 to Push Medicine Through an IV. Twice.

KFF Health News Original

A college student never got an answer for what caused her intense pain, but she did get a bill that totaled $18,736 for an ER visit. She and her mom, a nurse practitioner, fought to understand all the charges.

No Vacancy: How a Shortage of Mental Health Beds Keeps Kids Trapped Inside ERs

KFF Health News Original

What’s known as emergency room boarding of psychiatric patients has risen between 200% and 400% monthly in Massachusetts during the pandemic — and the problem is widespread. The CDC says emergency room visits after suicide attempts among teen girls were up 51% earlier this year as compared with 2019.

Colorado Will Pay Hospitals to Close Expensive Free-Standing ERs

KFF Health News Original

The state, concerned about the high cost of care at these stand-alone facilities, is offering hospitals more Medicaid money if they convert them to other uses, such as primary care or mental health centers.

In Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives to Stroke Care

KFF Health News Original

Across Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, where death rates from stroke are above the national average, routing patients from rural areas to the right level of care can be an intricate jigsaw puzzle. The closest hospital might not offer the full scope of stroke treatments, but hospitals with more advanced care could be hours away.

En los Apalaches y el delta del Mississippi, millones deben viajar lejos para recibir atención por accidentes cerebrovasculares

KFF Health News Original

A lo largo de los Apalaches y del delta del Mississippi, donde las tasas de muertes por ataques cerebrales está por encima del promedio nacional, dirigir a los pacientes de áreas rurales al nivel adecuado de atención puede ser un rompecabezas intrincado. El hospital más cercano puede no ofrecer un espectro completo de tratamientos, y los centros de atención de avanzada pueden estar a horas de distancia.

‘Into the Covid ICU’: A New Doctor Bears Witness to the Isolation, Inequities of Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez graduated from medical school during the pandemic. We follow the rookie doctor for her first months working at a hospital in Fresno, California, as she grapples with isolation, anti-mask rallies and an overwhelming number of deaths.

Is Your Covid Vaccine Venue Prepared to Handle Rare, Life-Threatening Reactions?

KFF Health News Original

More than two dozen people who have received the new covid vaccines in U.S. hospitals and health centers suffered anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal allergic reaction. While such severe reactions are rare, experts warn that the drugstores and drive-thru clinics considered integral to the vaccine rollout must be prepared.

What Happened When the Only ER Doctor in a Rural Town Got COVID

KFF Health News Original

Hospitals across the country are struggling as staffers get infected with the coronavirus. It’s especially tough for small, rural hospitals, where even one doctor out sick can upend patient capacity.

After Kid’s Minor Bike Accident, Major Bill Sets Legal Wheels in Motion

KFF Health News Original

It was a surprise even in a family of lawyers. The process called “subrogation” began with one Nevada family’s health insurer denying their claim for an emergency room visit after 9-year-old fell off his bike.

Need a COVID-19 Nurse? That’ll Be $8,000 a Week

KFF Health News Original

A shortage of nurses has turned hospital staffing into a sort of national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to secure the nurses they need. That threatens to shift the supply of nurses toward more affluent areas.

Parents Complain That Pediatricians, Wary of COVID, Shift Sick Kids to Urgent Care

KFF Health News Original

Referrals of children to urgent care clinics or emergency rooms have become so prevalent that the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with interim guidance on how practices can safely continue to see patients. The academy recommended that pediatricians strive “to provide care for the same variety of visits that they provided prior to the public health emergency.”