Four years ago, Dr. Annie Brewster had a vision. Brewster, a Boston internist, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001, had become frustrated that a crucial element of medicine — the human connection between patients and doctors — seemed to be lost in the modern era of 15-minute appointments and overly burdensome record-keeping. As a patient and a doctor, Brewster yearned for a therapeutic arena in which patients could tell their full health stories and feel they were actually heard, not rushed out the door; and where doctors, as well, could share a little more with patients.
R. Clayton McWhorter, who as a veteran health care pioneer, businessman and philanthropist helped put Nashville on the map as a place for health care success, died Saturday night. He was 82. A giant known in the Nashville health care scene and across the nation in health system circles, Mr. McWhorter was a pivotal figure in establishing Nashville as a center for the health care industry. He joined HCA in 1970 and served in various roles until leading the company as CEO from 1985 to 1987, the same year he co-founded HealthTrust Inc., where he served as CEO until the merger with Columbia/HCA in 1995.
Butte is an old mining town tucked in the southwest corner of Montana with a population of about 34,000. Locals enjoy many things you can't find elsewhere—campgrounds a quick drive from downtown and gorgeous mountain ranges nearby. But in Butte, as in much of rural America, advanced medical care is absent. People in Butte who experience serious trauma or need specialty care rely on flights—air ambulances—to get them the help they need. There were close to 3,000 air ambulance flights in Montana last year. And Amy Thomson of Butte was on one of them.
The superbug that raged through Bill Warner's body after a routine medical scope procedure in early 2013 was so dangerous that his family was warned about entering his room at a time when he needed them most. For more than eight months after the procedure at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., the 55-year-old truck driver suffered. He hallucinated, gripped the sheets in intense pain and withered away, losing 60 pounds before dying on Nov. 24, 2013, according to testimony his wife later gave at a federal hearing. But the hospital never filed a report required when a medical device kills or seriously injures a patient.
Aetna Inc's (AET.N) plan to buy smaller insurer Humana Inc (HUM.N) for $31 billion will mean seniors will pay higher Medicare Advantage premiums, according to a new report by the think tank Center for American Progress (CAP). Aetna's proposed deal for Humana would combine Aetna's 7 percent of the Medicare Advantage market with Humana's 19 percent, and make it the largest provider, according to CAP, which was founded by John Podesta who worked in the White House under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Medicare Advantage is an insurance plan for seniors that is largely paid for by the government but administered by private insurers.