Baptist Health South Florida, a healthcare giant with almost $1.9 billion in annual revenue, is opening a medical center in Coral Springs and planning three more for Broward County. The Coral Springs center includes an urgent-care clinic and a center for outpatient diagnostic services, including magnetic resonance imaging, CT scans, and digital mammography.
Examining stroke patients via videoconferencing is as effective as a bedside exam and can increase patient access to stroke specialists, says a statement released by the American Heart Association. Stroke patients require rapid assessment in order to determine if they're eligible for time-sensitive treatments such as tissue plasminogen activator, which can save brain function and reduce stroke-related disability, the AHA explained in a news release. These patient evaluations often need to be done by stroke and brain imaging specialists, but there are only about four neurologists per 100,000 people in the United States.
Those who want to extend the time some Texas hospital patients may live before their life support is cut off are worried that their proposal is running into a wall at the Capitol. Legislation by Texas Rep. Bryan Hughes would require life-sustaining treatment to continue for patients whose condition is deemed futile by doctors until a transfer to another medical facility can be arranged, if their family requests it. Currently, hospitals can stop life support after 10 days in certain cases if the patient is terminally or irreversibly ill and cannot express treatment wishes.
In an attempt to get Johnson Memorial Corp. "out of the woods," officials are negotiating with Fairfield, CT-based Paradigm Physician Partners, which promises to upgrade the hospital with new technology and business operations. The Connecticut-based Johnson Memorial filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November. John Pierro, a partner at Paradigm, is to become the permanent chief executive officer of Johnson when the partnership goes into effect. The Johnson network, which cared for nearly 100,000 patients in 2008, includes the hospital, nursing homes and several other medical treatment facilities.
For more than 2 1/2 years, Farrah Fawcett's battle with cancer has sparked a flurry of headlines, but it has also stripped the actress of her ability to seek treatment while maintaining her privacy, she said. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Fawcett denounced the National Enquirer for publishing leaked details about her illness, including some that she said were false. And she criticized UCLA Medical Center for failing to protect her medical records from snooping employees.
Even before Congress debates a healthcare bill, President Obama is getting sucked into a fiercely polarized fight over a new government insurance program that patients could choose instead of private coverage. The battle over the "public option" has mobilized interest groups on both sides of the political spectrum with millions of dollars in their campaign war chests.