U.S. researchers are designing software that will allow doctors to carry out simulated surgery using the Nintendo Wii console's novel control system. The motion sensors in the wireless "Wiimote" allow game players to direct on-screen action by waving it about and pointing it at the screen. Some experts believe the software could help surgeons improve their skills by practicing at home, and play an important role in the medical education in the developing world where there is less access to expensive virtual training tools.
All 20 anesthesiologists who work at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center in Seattle said they were simply looking for fairness when they went to management and asked for more than $2 million. Instead, the hospital responded by canceling their contract--essentially firing them all. If negotiations do not work, the breakup could mean the hospital would have to scramble to find enough specialists, possibly meaning delays in surgeries.
A California Senate committee has postponed a key vote on the $14 billion overhaul of the state's healthcare system. The decision to delay a vote until came in the wake of a critical report on the plan's potential impact that found the measure could cost the state $1.5 billion a year by 2015.
The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners and Senate President Richard J. Codey are working to extricate the state's outpatient surgical centers from a difficult legal position. A judge ruled last year that doctors who owned a center in North Jersey were violating a heretofore unenforced state law prohibiting self-referral. The board, which regulates the centers, is now proposing an emergency amendment to its regulations that would sidestep the issue of self-referral by broadening the definition of a doctor's medical office.
A growing number of people across Middle Tennessee are seeking care at retail clinics that promise shorter waits and lower fees for treating common illnesses. The fast growth of the concept is drawing concern from doctors about issues such as safety of patients at the clinics staffed mostly by nurse practitioners. The Tennessee Medical Association had planned to propose new rules to the state's Board of Medical Examiners that would have required that a supervising doctor be within 30 miles of a clinic and spend more time there.
Brockton (MA) Hospital's Signature Healthcare program has created a community-based network of doctors on the South Shore of Massachusetts who share patient medical records and databases. The goal of the network is to keep local more patients who might otherwise go to Boston for care, particularly from specialists.