New York's 11 public hospitals are at the forefront of a national movement to standardize color coding of hospital wristbands to designate patient conditions. The goal is to prevent potentially dangerous mistakes, like giving the wrong food to an allergic child, but the nation's leading hospital-accreditation agency, the Joint Commission, has expressed caution about the new system, citing concerns about branding patients by their end-of-life choices, or inadvertently broadcasting those choices to family and friends who have not been consulted.
Several medical associations, such as the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and 13 state attorneys general voiced their opposition to a proposed federal rule that would provide stronger job protections for doctors and other healthcare workers who refuse to participate in abortions because of religious objections. Opponents of the proposal fear the proposal would stretch the definition of abortion and would open the door for hospitals and physicians to deny access to contraception.
Spanish-language versions of many popular American Web sites are nonexistent on the Internet. Often, even for brands where Hispanics and Latinos dominate the buyer or emerging buyer set, Spanish-language content is sparse or even nonexistent.
More and more companies are monitoring social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs for negative customer feedback and then responding directly—sometimes publicly—to the comments within minutes. Southwest Airlines, Boingo wireless, and Edmunds.com are among the companies that are forming informal response teams to deal with unhappy and verbose customers.
While medical device makers increasingly pitch their products directly to consumers, some lawmakers, medical groups, and others are calling for restrictions on such advertisements, claiming they mislead patients. Some experts say that advertising a medical device can have more of an impact on a patient's well-being than a drug, because devices often require surgery to implant and may remain inside the body for years.
Most consumers have become accustomed to ads by pharmaceutical companies in which they try to convince us that we are at risk for one or another disease and therefore should ask our doctors about their medications. Most people find those ads distasteful, and many believe that they result in unnecessary expenditures on healthcare. But it appears hospital advertising may be starting to take a turn down the same path.