U.S. health regulators on Thursday announced strict new recommendations for preventing the transmission of infections from reusable medical devices such at those that have spread "superbug" infections at several hospitals. A key change is that when manufacturers submit instructions for disinfecting the devices between uses, the Food and Drug Administration will not take the company's word that the instructions work, but will demand proof. The FDA action followed reports last month that hundreds of patients may have been exposed to pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant "superbugs," after flexible tubes called duodenoscopes were not properly disinfected between patients. Two patients at the University of California-Los Angeles died.
Consumers like having options, but sometimes too many choices can make shopping a nightmare. That can be especially true when shopping for something as complex and personal as health insurance. In the most recent open enrollment period for the Massachusetts Health Connector, 11 health insurers offered a staggering number of plans: 126 in all, each with different premiums, out-of-pocket payments, and benefits. One insurer had more than 30 health plans available. For the next round, the Connector plans to reduce the options by about a third. The Connector is the state agency that serves people who don't get health insurance through an employer.
An internal review uncovered "an apparent culture of fear" and unusual medication practices at a VA hospital nicknamed "Candyland" by some because of a surge in pain-killer prescriptions. The Department of Veterans Affairs looked into allegations that psychiatric patients at its medical center in Tomah, Wisconsin, had been overprescribed powerful narcotic medications and concluded there were grounds for a more in-depth investigation, according to a VA memo released this week. The findings come almost two months after the Center for Investigative Reporting revealed that the number of opiates doled out at the Tomah hospital nearly quadrupled in eight years — and two weeks after NBC News
The patient was dying and she knew it. In her mid-50s, she had been battling breast cancer for years, but it had spread to her bones, causing unrelenting pain that required hospitalization. Jeremy Force, a first-year oncology fellow at Duke University Medical Center who had never met the woman, was assigned to stop by her room last November to discuss her decision to enter hospice. Employing the skills he had just learned in a day-long course, Force sat at the end of her bed and listened intently. The woman wept, telling him she was exhausted and worried about the impact her death would have on her two daughters.
Increasingly, health-care providers are turning to telehealth — physician services provided over a video or telephone connection — to save dollars and deliver care to remote areas or to patients who may have difficulty getting to medical facilities. The American Medical Association endorsed the use of remote monitoring and delivery of services at its annual meeting in June 2014. At the same time, the organization noted that the market for telemedicine is expected to grow from approximately $1 billion in 2016 to $6 billion by 2020. In Washington state, for example, Premera Blue Cross, the state's largest insurer, began offering its telemedicine services this year.
KentuckyOne Health Inc., which cut about 500 workers last year in the wake of financial problems, appears to have gone too deep with some of its staff cuts. KentuckyOne is the operator of Jewish Hospital and University of Louisville Hospital, as well as several others in Kentucky. Earlier this week, I checked in with KentuckyOne senior manager of media relation Barbara Mackovic about tips we've received about formerly laid-off employees returning to the organization. She confirmed that the company is hiring again. But she wouldn't tell me how many positions are being added.