The latest in an investigation into nine deaths at Marion Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Illinois shows that the management failed to look into questions about the credentialing of Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, the surgeon at the center of the investigation.
Pomerado Hospital in California is testing out a new system in which patients and doctors communicate even when they're not in the same. The virtual visit technology is expected to help doctors provide better care and enhance patients' quality hospital experience.
The year-old Sharklet organization has developed an anti-microbial surface on shark skin that they believe could help prevent hospital-acquired infections. The new surface disrupts microbes' ability to reproduce and form bacterial films, and can prevent bacterial growth for up to 21 days.
Hospital-acquired infection was once viewed as an unavoidable risk. Now, it has been determined that nearly all hospital infections are avoidable when physicians and staff practice proper hygiene measures. Many say this has prompted a new wave of class-action lawsuits.
A growing number of Minnesota doctors are trying to reassert their independence by breaking away from the larger groups and starting their own practices. Some of these physicians are offering "concierge care," where a limited number of patients pay a membership fee for 24-hour access to a physician. These experiments speak to a hankering for the personal relationship that is sometimes lost between doctor and patient, according to this article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
In 2007, 56% of American adults sought information about a personal health concern, up from 38% in 2001, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. Use of all information sources rose substantially, with Internet information seeking doubling to 32% during the six-year period. Consumers across all categories of age, education, income, race/ethnicity and health status increased their information seeking significantly, but education level remained the key factor in explaining how likely people are to seek health information, according to the study.