This article examines Peter Pronovost's efforts to improve medical care delivery, specifically, how a simple checklist was able to "transform intensive care."
Thousands of registered nurses at 13 Bay Area hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health plan on striking on December 13 and 14. Hospital officials say patient care will not be impacted because they've hired hundreds of replacement nurses.
Georgia's Emory University may move its hospital, outpatient clinic and some research facilities to the school's satellite campus, a a proposal stunning in scope. Driving the discussion is the University's desire to modernize its medical facilities and make them more accessible for patients.
A recent court decision that determined doctors who own an outpatient-surgery center in North Jersey were in violation of a state law prohibiting self-referrals has lawyers scrambling to protect the alternative to hospital treatment. Lawyers representing the state's 200 ambulatory-surgery centers have asked the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners to clarify its position.
The Massachusetts Public Health Council has delayed a vote until January 2008 on whether to allow medical clinics to operate inside retail stores in the state. CVS Corp. had asked for waivers from existing regulations so the chain could open 20 to 30 MinuteClinics in Boston-area stores in the to treat minor illnesses. Instead, state health officials decided to develop new regulations to address the concept of retail clinics.
The National Federation of Independent Business has warned politicians and policy makers not to impose new health-benefit obligations on small employers. In a statement, the group said that "a healthcare system built on employer mandates or on play-or-pay taxes is unacceptable." The group also called for universal healthcare, with a government safety net to help the neediest obtain coverage.