After a skiing accident in January left him with a smashed knee, Beck Bailey, a transgender man in Greenfield, Mass., spent 15 days in a Vermont hospital undergoing a handful of surgeries. As part of his normal routine, Mr. Bailey gives himself regular shots of testosterone. But the endocrinologist on duty in Vermont told him that patients should not take testosterone post surgery. Mr. Bailey explained that he couldn't just stop his hormone treatment. But the doctors were so resistant that he finally had them call his primary care physician, who explained he should resume his usual protocol.
Christ Hospital has negotiated a contract with Optum, the data services division of national health insurer UnitedHealth Group, that could make the Cincinnati medical center the preferred destination for some of the nation's largest employers. Those who work for employers with access to Optum's Center of Excellence network now have the option of choosing Christ Hospital's Joint & Spine Center for total hip and knee replacements as well as some kinds of spine surgery – and having the cost of the surgery fully covered. Employers with the program will have their insured workers and dependents guided through the joint- and spine-care process by a nurse navigator, who will help them choose a doctor, provide information about the procedures and offer medical care from diagnosis through recovery.
The Baltimore health system put Robert Peace back together after a car crash shattered his pelvis. Then it nearly killed him, he says. A painful bone infection that developed after surgery and a lack of follow-up care landed him in the operating room five more times, kept him homebound for a year and left him with joint damage and a severe limp. "It's really hard for me to trust what doctors say," Peace said, adding that there was little after-hospital care to try to control the infection. "They didn't do what they were supposed to do."
When Harlan Krumholz, MD, saw a friend rushed to the hospital "with shaking and chills" one day after his colonoscopy a few years ago, he wondered how often this procedure results in such scary, adverse events.
Wide variations in the use, practices, and complications involving peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) were seen across 10 hospitals in a quality-control network in Michigan, researchers reported.
Walt Whitlow was under treatment for cancer when he got an unwelcome surprise. His financial assistance under President Barack Obama's health care law got slashed. That meant his premium quadrupled and his deductible went from $900 to $4,600. Hundreds of thousands of people lose subsidies under the health law, or even their policies, when they get tangled in a web of paperwork problems involving income, citizenship and taxes. Some are dealing with serious illnesses like cancer. Advocates fear the problems, if left unresolved, could undermine the nation's historic gains in health insurance. Ana Granado was scheduled for reconstruction after breast cancer surgery when she was notified that her coverage would be canceled because of questions about her immigration status.