Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘Don’t Cut Me!’: Discouraged By Experts, Episiotomies Still Common In Some Hospitals
Overall rates are falling in California and nationally but data point to certain hospitals with extremely high percentages.
Sometimes Tiny Is Just The Right Size: ‘Microhospitals’ Filling Some ER Needs
These facilities are full-service hospitals and offer a full array of emergency services but may have only a handful of beds for admitted patients.
Hospital Finance Measure On California Ballot May Stump Voters
Proposition 52 would permanently enshrine a significant source of funding for hospitals and limit lawmakers’ ability to change it.
Viejos moteles cobran nueva vida ayudando a las personas sin hogar a sanar
El uso de moteles deteriorados para cuidar y albergar temporalmente a personas sin hogar recientemente dadas de alta del hospital ayuda a estabilizarlos de manera económica, previniendo retornos innecesarios y costosos a las salas de emergencia y a los hospitales.
Doctors Get Creative To Distract Tech-Savvy Kids Before Surgery
Anxiety before surgery can be dangerous for kids. Medication can help calm them down. But an anesthesiologist in California has come up with a safer, cheaper and much more entertaining alternative.
Study Finds Doctors Quick To Change Practice For Breast Cancer Patients
Despite the usual view that physicians are slow to alter their routines based on new scientific evidence, researchers found that breast cancer surgeons quickly adopted advice to not remove lymph nodes after a landmark clinical trial in 2011.
If You Want To Spend A Bundle On Your Bundle Of Joy, Go To Northern California
A new study shows that Sacramento and San Francisco are the two most expensive places to give birth among the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas. One possible reason: consolidation of hospitals and doctors.
Ga., Calif. Hospitals Sue Blue Cross Plan For Sending ER Reimbursements To Patients
The lawsuits allege that the practice costs the hospitals money because the patients often spend the funds.
Old Motels Get New Life Helping Homeless Heal
Using run-down motels to care for and temporarily house homeless people recently discharged from the hospital helps stabilize them inexpensively, preventing unnecessary and costly returns to ERs and hospitals.
A pioneering program in southern California provides ongoing care and housing to homeless people who are “super-utilizers” of hospital emergency rooms. The effort is reducing ER visits and saving a lot of money.
In Alameda County, A Big Data Effort To Prevent Frequent ER Visits
Hospitals share patient records of “super-users” to save money and avoid duplicating medical treatment.
Screen Flashes And Pop-Up Reminders: ‘Alert Fatigue’ Spreads Through Medicine
Electronic health records increasingly include automated alert systems pegged to patients’ health information. In some cases, though, the sheer volume of these messages has become unmanageable.
Medicare Releases Draft Proposal For Patient Observation Notice
Although there is widespread agreement on the need to let people know if they haven’t been admitted, the language proposed by federal officials hasn’t satisfied everyone.
As Hospital Chains Grow, So Do Their Prices For Care
The average patient stay costs $4,000 more at Sutter and Dignity hospitals than at other California medical centers, study shows.
Lights Out: Some Children’s Hospitals Take Steps To Ensure A Good Night’s Sleep
Because of the important role sleep plays in healing, a trend is emerging in which children’s hospitals are reorganizing their workflow to help their young patients sleep through the night.
When Adult Children Get Sick, It May Be Hard For Parents To Get Information
Federal law seeks to protect the privacy of patients’ health information, but sometimes leaving parents out of the loop can complicate the patient’s recovery.
Missouri Hospitals Seek To Focus Readmission Penalties On Patient Poverty
The Missouri Hospital Association objects to the formula for setting the federal penalties because it does not factor in the number of patients who are poor or in bad health. It is seeking to generate consumer interest in the penalties.
Inspectors Find Calif. Hospital’s Pharmacy Posed Infection Risk
Thousands of patients at the San Diego-area hospital may have been exposed to infection last year because of unsanitary conditions in the compounding lab where IVs were mixed, officials found.
Critics Of Medicare’s Overall Hospital Star Rating Push For Changes
Federal officials delayed the release of the ratings after the hospital industry and members of Congress objected to the formula, saying it worked against hospitals that take the patients that are the toughest to treat.
Expectant Moms: You Have Nine Months For Delivery Decisions, You Better Shop Around
A nonprofit patient safety group devised nationally standardized measures to help pregnant women gauge hospitals on quality of maternity care.
