Although doctor or nurse bloggers might think they're anonymous, they sometimes inadvertently end up revealing their identities and, as a result, their patients', according to a study. Researchers reviewed five entries each for 271 blogs written by people who said they were a physician or a nurse, and they found that 114 of the blogs described patients. More than half of the bloggers provided enough information in their text or images to reveal their identities, and 45 of the blogs that described interactions with individual patients included enough information for them to identify their doctors or themselves. Three blogs went so far to show recognizable photos of patients.
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.