Thousands of assaults occur each year at California's state psychiatric hospitals. Last October, a patient allegedly murdered a staffer at Napa State Hospital. Employees there demonstrated, demanding greater safety. Now, the protests have spread to Metropolitan State Hospital near Los Angeles, where about 100 workers recently spent a broiling hot lunch hour marching in front of the place where they work. Psychiatrist Laura Dardashti, who has worked at Metropolitan since 2006, says that when she started, co-workers told her, "It's not if you get assaulted -- it's when." Her turn came about a year and a half ago. Here's what state statistics say about "the norm" at Metropolitan: Last year, staff members were attacked by patients more than 1,300 times -- nearly double the number of assaults from the year before. Meanwhile, patients assaulted other patients at a rate of almost seven times a day.
Northeast Health System, which operates hospitals in Beverly, Gloucester, and Lynn, has agreed to affiliate with Lahey Clinic of Burlington, a teaching hospital affiliated with Tufts Medical School, in the latest hospital merger in Massachusetts. The deal, which will create a new umbrella company called Lahey Health System, could affect other potential consolidation moves. Lahey had begun preliminary merger talks with Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard-affiliated teaching hospital that had also submitted a bid for Northeast. Lahey and Northeast are both nonprofit organizations. Two for-profit hospital chains, Steward Health Care System and Vanguard Health Systems, had also initially submitted bids for Northeast, though Boston-based Steward ultimately dropped out of the competition.
All U.S. women should have access to free birth control as part of the 2010 healthcare reform law, the Institute of Medicine recommended Tuesday, along with eight other suggestions for preventive health services. Commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services to identify "critical gaps" in the agency's list of preventive services, the highly influential IOM report recommends that all U.S.-approved birth control methods be covered by insurers. That includes the highly controversial "morning-after" or "Plan B" pill that is considered by some to be a form of abortion because the woman takes it in the hours after sexual intercourse. The reform law requires insurance plans to cover services on the HHS list, meaning the adoption of the recommendation would make the pill co-pay free for "all women of reproductive capacity."
The nation's largest pediatricians' group has issued its first policy on protecting children from sexual abuse by doctors, citing a recent Delaware case and urging medical facilities to screen employees for previous abuse. Parents and patients also should be informed that they have a right to have a chaperone present during children's exams, according to the policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Training programs should educate future doctors about appropriate boundaries, and healthcare institutions should report suspected abuse to authorities and not quietly pass the problem doctor along to another institution. The marketing strategy is unique among hospital systems in the San Diego region and apparently uncommon nationwide. Some hospital systems have produced shows on medical issues, but programs that follow patient stories appear to be rare.
The American Telemedicine Association has fired off a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging that more money be spent on expanding telecommunications services, which will boost telemedicine projects at rural healthcare facilities. The letter, which was sent last week to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, noted that 16 months had passed since the FCC adopted the National Broadband Plan, which included an entire chapter on the positive effects that broadband expansion can have on healthcare delivery. The letter also stated that eight months ago the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report sharply criticizing the Commission's management of the Rural Health Care Program. However, during this period the FCC has not committed enough funds or developed sound performance goals and measures that will help the FCC implement the National Broadband Plan's healthcare objectives, the ATA said.
The UnitedHealth Group posted a higher-than-expected profit for its second quarter on Tuesday, helped by broad increases in enrollment, and the insurer raised its full-year earnings forecast. The company, which is the country's largest health insurer by market value, also cited moderated use of healthcare services by its members for helping lower its medical claim costs. The industry has benefited from Americans avoiding procedures and doctor visits during the weak economy. But UnitedHealth's higher forecast was only in line with Wall Street's target, and its shares fell 2.7% after the announcement. Its net income rose 13% to $1.27 billion, or $1.16 a share, compared with $1.12 billion, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 94 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters.