Latest Morning Briefing Stories
No Ready-Made Rx For Rising Drug Costs
Lawmakers, insurers and others have floated proposals to combat the spike in prescription drug prices, but will any of them gain traction?
Dueling Recommendations About Need For Pelvic Exams Leaves Women Confused
The nation’s internists urge doctors to quit performing the invasive exam for most women, but gynecologists argue that it is important.
Leslie Michelson’s Checklist For Avoiding Diagnostic Errors – The KHN Conversation
Michelson, who runs a Los Angeles-based company that helps patients research their medical options and has written a book about how to avoid bad care, offers advice on how to navigate the health care system.
Buyer Beware: A Mammogram’s Price Can Vary By Nearly $1,000, Study Finds
Researchers looked at women’s health services around the country and found stark disparities between cities but also within health care markets.
Whistleblower Doctor Warns About Hospitals Hiring Physicians
Orthopedist Michael Reilly believes the surge of doctors going to work for hospitals is not a healthy trend. He had a firsthand view of what can happen.
Express Scripts To Cover Pricey New Cholesterol Drugs
To control costs, the nation’s largest pharmacy benefits manager has in place strict rules on which patients will be eligible.
Telemedicine Expands Despite Uncertain Financial Prospects
Apps and video chats are a part of many people’s days, so many industry leaders see big potential for medicine delivered remotely. But a lot of insurers still aren’t willing to pay for it.
Workplace Wellness Programs: Early Alarm For Workers’ Health Or A Recipe For Over-Testing?
Some experts worry that these programs encourage health screening that doesn’t necessarily comply with medical guidelines and is helping to drive up health care costs.
Hospital Care Unaffected By Quality Payments, GAO Finds
The Government Accountability Office found bonuses and penalties have been small, and hospital performance has been steady.
Pecked By A Chicken? Sucked Into A Jet Engine? There’s a Code For That
Voluminous and sometimes wacky new medical diagnostic codes in “ICD-10” have staffers at hospitals and doctors’ offices reaching for bromides.
Privacy Advocates Urge Stronger Protection Of Employee Health Data
Existing laws designed to control what doctors and hospitals do with your information need to be expanded to employers’ wellness programs, say advocates.
7 Questions To Ask Your Employer About Wellness Privacy
Workplace wellness programs have joined doctors, hospitals and your mother in the campaign to get you healthy. Will they treat your data carefully?
Workplace Wellness Programs Put Employee Privacy At Risk
A large variety of information may be collected by wellness programs and shared with others, including businesses eager to make a buck off of it.
Clinton Seeks To Build On Health Law, But Does She Have The Rx For Rising Health Costs?
The Democratic president candidate’s proposals to save consumers money are questioned by experts and health industry officials.
IOM: Teamwork Key To Reducing Medical Diagnostic Errors
A report by an Institute of Medicine blue ribbon panel notes that taking steps to address this patient safety issue will involve efforts from across the health system.
Tech Options Helping Patients Wrest Control From Doctors
Dr. Eric Topol says smartphones and other technology allow patients to monitor and control their chronic health issues.
Attention Shoppers: New Calif. Website Details Costs, Quality of Medical Procedures
Seeking to create smarter consumers, the California insurance department unveils a website showing wide variation in costs and quality of medical services across the state.
Study Finds Improvements In Pay, But Not Equity, For Women Anesthesiologists
RAND Corp. researchers find that more women are going into anesthesiology and getting paid better, but they still trail their male counterparts.
Under Pressure, Hospitals Push Physicians To Improve Their Bedside Manners
Motivated by financial incentives and consumer demands, medical centers are creating programs to infuse more compassion and understanding into the doctor-patient relationship.
The Gender Gap Persists In Academic Medicine, Studies Find
Research in JAMA concludes that even after accounting for factors such as experience, age and research, women do not get promoted as often to full professor jobs in academic medical centers.
