At Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, since mid-July, Dr. George Branovacki, an orthopedic surgeon, has performed more than a dozen knee-replacement operations with the iPod, which he said gives much more precise measurements in making incisions and placing the replacement knee. The result, he said, is less pain and swelling for patients, better range of motion and a longer life for the artificial knee. What he's using at Christ Medical Center is called Dash navigational software. The federal Food and Drug Administration approved the iPod-based technology in 2011, and Christ is the only U.S. hospital using the system, according to the company.
Two University of Miami Hospital employees may have stolen and sold information from thousands of patients who visited the facility over a 22-month period, the medical school announced late Friday afternoon. A press release stated UM learned of the breach from Miami-Dade police on July 18. "The two employees were terminated immediately," the release stated, "and the university has taken steps to help patients who could be affected safeguard their personal information." A UM website said the employees "admitted improper conduct" and that the investigation is continuing.
Northwestern Memorial HealthCare is making a hard push into the northern suburbs, planting its flag firmly in a market dominated by a pair of established competitors before President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul is implemented. Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group, the hospital system's wholly owned primary-care doctors' group, plans to open nine new clinics by spring 2013 from Chicago's North Side to near the Wisconsin border.
Independent Health and 140 primary care doctors rolled out a new program last week that they hope offers a vision for changing the way basic medical care is provided to 72,000 patients in the region. This alliance of Independent Health and the 140 physicians, called the Primary Connection, reflects one of many examples here and nationwide of the healthcare system attempting to reform itself even before major elements of the Affordable Care Act, the federal health reform law, take effect.
Medical helicopters tasked with flying Massachusetts' gravest patients to Hub hospitals have faced multiple mechanical incidents in the past two years, including engine failures, reports of smoke and fire in cabins and, just last month, a door falling from a chopper in mid-flight, the Herald has learned. Boston MedFlight, the Bedford-based nonprofit funded by six of Boston’s top hospitals, transports more than 3,000 people a year to hospitals, including 1,700 by air via four helicopters and a jet, said CEO and medical director Suzanne K. Wedel. A Herald review found that in the past 25 months, MedFlight’s fleet of helicopters—which are flown and maintained by Louisiana-based Era Helicopters LLC—have experienced several issues, often with patients on board
Representatives for the Lakeway Regional Medical Center and the proposed Lakeway Medical Village say plans for the 93-acre campus are moving forward despite a lawsuit recently filed by a former partner involved with the project. The hospital's chief executive officer, David Kreye, said last week the lawsuit likewise wouldn't affect the newly opened hospital, which is working on a marketing campaign to raise awareness about the facility. Houston resident Mark Smith, an original developer of the planned medical campus, filed the suit in late August against the Lakeway Regional Medical Center, Aqua Land Lakeway Medical Development LLC and Phin-Ker Ventures LLC.