Increasingly, research and anecdotal reports suggest that many patients don't trust doctors. About one in four patients feel that their physicians sometimes expose them to unnecessary risk, according to data from a Johns Hopkins study. And two other recent studies show that whether patients trust a doctor strongly influences whether they take their medication. The distrust and animosity between doctors and patients has shown up in a variety of places, from books to the Internet.
Daytona Beach, FL-based Halifax Health Medical Center has shown two surgical procedures live over the Internet since April, and it plans to air a third operation in the fall. The center's public-relations manager said the broadcasts help educate people who might undergo the procedures and give patients' family and loved ones a close look at the technology and techniques used at the facility. They also help educate medical students, professors, physicians, and the general public while showcasing the hospital's talents, programs, and technology, officials say.
Indianpolis-based health system Wishard Health Services expects to finish 2008 with a financial surplus, something it has done each year since 2005. System leaders attribute the performance to improvements in efficiency and increased efforts to reach patients before they need to be hospitalized.
The profitability of Michigan HMOs decreased in 2007, despite a cost hike in commercial premiums and an increase in Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, according to a report. The report also found that enrollment in commercial healthcare plans continues to decline in the state, and Medicaid enrollees now make up 37.4% of HMO members, as opposed to 28% in 2000.
Indianapolis-area hospitals have invested more than $1 billion to build new facilities since 2000, as well as invested in new outpatient surgery centers and specialty facilities. The hospitals have also started for-profit arms that rake in millions. The building binge is driving up the revenues of some of the hospitals, but it also is exacerbating differences in the financial health of the region’s four major hospital systems: St. Francis, St. Vincent, Clarian Health and Community Health Network.
Pam Stephenson, CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, produced a letter from the state bar admissions office saying she must have demonstrated in 1994 that she had a law degree, because it licensed her to practice. Stephenson said the letter "confirms what I already knew about myself: Pam Stephenson holds a juris doctorate degree and I worked very hard for that." Questions about Stephenson's academic history surfaced when university registrars said they could not confirm some of the degrees listed on her résumé and a Grady-issued news release.