African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but only 4 percent of American physicians are black. But does your doctor's race matter? Research shows it may, especially for black men, who are less likely to get preventive care, and die on average 4.5 years earlier than white men.
Siva Sundaram got his first lesson in addiction before he started medical school, when he worked at a wilderness program for teenagers who suffered from substance use disorders. During his two years there, he came to realize the kids were just like him, struggling with the same problems of identity, peer pressure, and independence — and that people with addiction are no different from those with other illnesses. That insight served him well when he arrived at Harvard Medical School in 2015, just as the ground was shifting in medical education.
Federal programs designed to cut costs and improve health by penalizing doctors and hospitals are failing at an alarming rate. Some of them actually harm patients, and many don’t cut costs. One in particular, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), may have caused thousands of deaths instead of preventing them, and probably hasn’t saved money during its seven years in operation.
During a time when health care is undergoing the most sweeping change ever, health systems, not surprisingly, are struggling to overcome resistance to change. The natural reaction by leaders at all levels charged with implementing change is to fight the resisters. But research and the experiences of some organizations suggest that embracing those who resist change the most — empathizing with them, identifying the sources of their resistance, and helping them see change as positive — is far more effective.
Cook County authorities said Monday they will explore whether child welfare reporting laws were violated after the woman accused of killing Marlen Ochoa-Lopez and cutting her baby from her womb showed up at a hospital last month claiming the child was hers.
While Hurricane Harvey battered Refugio County, Peggy Maley worked to protect the building where she was born and where she’s spent most of her career. Along with her colleagues at the Refugio County Memorial Hospital, Maley worked to stuff towels, blankets and sheets in the cracks under doors, doing anything to keep the water that was gushing through several holes in the hospital’s roof from damaging medical equipment.