In California we are well aware of this with the recent news with Prime Health Care being challenged on this practice as they have no contracts with the insurers and charge their published rates for out of network care, and the patient is stuck in the middle, but from the other side of the coin, some...
I had a couple friends drag me away from the computer and the blog today to watch a taping of a new talk show series starting this fall. So why is this here on a medical blog, well Bonnie Hunt was an oncology nurse before moving in to the entertainment business. What she learned as a nurse...
Congress had paved the way with relaxed Stark rules and regulations for subsidies to take place from the hospital level, but what's still wrong with this picture? It all comes right back around to money. Hospitals are not in a position to spend the money either, so now where do we go...
How important is the solvency of hospitals in the US? Just last week I commented on a recent situation here in southern California, a sting operation whereby hospitals were caught breaking the law in the search for additional funds from Medicare and Medicaid with using the homeless as reported...
The insurance executives have taken the medical decisions and good medical care out control of clinicians, pretty simple. Have you had a surgical procedure lately? I had one surgeon recently tell me of procedures lined up by the hour, seven knees in seven hours, now does that make sense? ...
This is a tough one as everyone has an angle on it, but there are no worse angles than the surgeon and the patient are experiencing by all means . I had commented on a wrong side surgery that had occurred in Worcester that was in the local paper on July 15th. Someone else had commented about...
In the Worcester area in Massachusetts, the surgeon operated on the wrong knee. The hospital has apologized and the patient was not charged. A time out was conducted and the wrong knee was still operated on. Again, hats off for keeping this a private issue for the patient. All...
One example cited in Hawaii stated there were 524 qualified applications who could not go to school, they did not have the facility to support it. Salaries are par of the problem too as nurse with a master’s degree can make 30k more in clinical practice rather than teaching. Last year...
Two babies have died, the investigation still continues. Bar Coding certainly can help the issue, perhaps along with a little software to perhaps monitor before the medication is given. Just like your computer asks, “are you sure you want to delete this file” if you will, software could also...
This is a great response and fast too, related to the story from Paul Levy at Beth Israel Medical Center. With as busy as everyone is today with distractions on every corner, in every room, everywhere, reminders and a process with software to me are a warm welcome, as even though I used...