Boston-based Tufts Medical Center is seeking to become a major trauma center, a plan that could affect where ambulances take some of the city's most seriously injured patients. Tufts treats some trauma cases now, but it is the only major Boston teaching hospital that is not a state-designated adult trauma center. As a result, ambulances carrying trauma patients often bypass that hospital for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, or Massachusetts General Hospital. Tufts has weathered tough economic times in recent years, and wants to join the system. Opponents, however, say Boston already has too many trauma centers.
In 2006, Medicare officials said that they had reduced the number of fraudulent and improper claims paid by the agency. But according to a confidential draft of a federal inspector general's report, those claims of success were misleading. In calculating the agency's rate of improper payments, Medicare officials told outside auditors to ignore government policies that would have accurately measured fraud, according to the report. As a result, Medicare did not detect that more than one-third of spending for medical equipment in its 2006 fiscal year was improper, according to the report. That would account for about $2.8 billion in improper spending.
The residency program at Des Moines, IA-based Broadlawns Medical Center offers a training ground for family doctors as both Iowa and the country faces a critical shortage in family medicine. Participants in Broadlawns' program encounter a diverse population with a wide range of healthcare needs, said Larry Severidt, director of medical education and the family medicine residency program at Broadlawns. The focus is to provide doctors with intense training in a broad base of skills, and if these doctors work in rural areas they'll know how to deliver babies, how to care for critical patients, how to manage an emergency room, and more, Severidt said.
A new law pushed through by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and set to take effect Jan. 1 will require insurers in Illinois to let young adults stay on their parents' policies until the age of 26. The move reflects a growing trend among states and big business. Although providing coverage to the age bracket will cost money, it won't be a huge factor in contributing to rising healthcare costs, say actuarial analysts at some of the world's biggest health benefits consulting firms.
New Port Richey, FL-based Morton Plant North Bay Hospital has started a one-day clinic that focuses on lung cancer, hoping it will cut the diagnosis and testing time for patients. The hospital is starting with lung cancer because of its prevalence and, depending on patient feedback, could eventually start similar one-day clinics for other cancer patients. The clinic works like this: A patient sets up an appointment, either through their primary care physician or through a self-referral. The patient then undergoes a range of tests, such as CT scans and blood tests, that have typically been performed on different days and at different offices.
In the pediatric intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Elizabeth "Betsy" Hunt, PhD, regularly uses simulations to prepare medical students and staff for emergencies, such as cardiac arrests. For Hunt, simulation is all about improving teamwork, communication, and multitasking skills. Her research on resuscitation and critical care medicine led to her appointment as the first director of the hospital's Simulation Center in 2004, when she worked with engineers and architects to design and build the $5 million facility that opened its doors this year.