With many primary care doctors booking appointments weeks in advance and wait times of several hours at emergency rooms, the demand for urgent care centers across the country is growing. Many insurers are helping drive the expansion by offering patients lower co-pays if they choose an urgent care center over an emergency room.
Clinics that overbook patients could experience improved service and increased efficiency, according to a study. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business developed a computer simulation tool that helps doctors weigh the benefits of seeing more patients and making the best use of healthcare workers and time against potential costs such as increased patient waiting and staff overtime.
Christina M. Fitz-Patrick has been appointed president and CEO of Nazareth Hospital in Philadelphia. Nazareth, in is part of the Conshohocken, PA, Mercy Health System, which is its region's largest Catholic healthcare system.
Officials at the Seattle-based Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center say the hospital is nearly out of room in its current buildings and, to accommodate growth expected in the next two decades, would need to more than double the number of beds and the size of buildings. Neighbors have panned the hospital's initial plan, which included buildings as high as 240 feet, and a subsequent proposal that cut the maximum height to 160 feet.
Two former Amgen, Inc. employees contend that the company required salespeople to gain access to patient medical information in doctors' offices and market drugs directly to patients, many of whom may not have needed the medication. Amgen insists that its sales force plays by the rules.
Three hospitals in Los Angeles County had the highest mortality rates in California for coronary bypass surgery in 2005, according to a statewide analysis. The report rates hospitals using a formula that adjusts for factors that can increase the risk that a patient will die, and is intended to provide guidance to Californians seeking treatment for heart disease.