This article in The New Republic tells the story of a best-in-class anesthesiologist who became addicted to the drugs he administered. It also examines some of the reasons for high addiction rates among anesthesiologists, including proximity, a feeling of invincibility, stress.
According to survey done by WebMD, 13% of 1,500 respondents admitted they lied to their doctors, while 32% said they "stretched the truth." But when a patient does not tell their doctor about all the health products they are taking, it can be risky. A study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that about one in 25 adults between the ages of 57-85 are putting themselves at risk for major drug interactions when mixing prescription drugs with over-the-counters, for example.
In a phone survey, 20% of 1,009 respondents said they would want fictional TV doctor Gregory House of the Fox drama "House" as their doctor. Coming in a close second was Marcus Welby of "Marcus Welby, MD" at 13%, followed by Hawkeye Pierce of M*A*S*H (11%), according to the survey by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Doctors from other popular current shows such as Lost and Grey's Anatomy didn't break the 10% mark. In the same survey, respondents said the most important attribute they look for in a physician is bedside manner/communication skills.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. will pay $350 million to resolve class action lawsuits over reimbursement for its out-of-network medical services. UnitedHealth hailed the proposed class-action settlement as resolving numerous lawsuits around the country by patients and doctors claiming that the out-of-network payments were too low for many years. The settlement comes two days after UnitedHealth struck an agreement with the New York state attorney general following a probe into the independence of its database used to set reimbursement rates for patients’ medical bills.
The House easily approved an expansion of government health coverage for low-income children, a top priority for President-elect Barack Obama. The president-elect vowed as a candidate to provide health coverage to every child, and the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program is a major step toward that goal. "In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable healthcare is not just good economic policy, but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens," Obama said.
An operator of 14 Chicago-area MRI centers will settle allegations they paid illegal kickbacks to doctors to win patient referrals, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office confirmed. Under the settlement, Virginia-based MIDI LLC will pay $1.2 million, much of it to fund state grants for low income patient care, and is prohibited from paying referring doctors under what the centers called "lease agreements" or "technical service agreements." Madigan's office alleged the agreements were shams merely used to pay doctors to refer patients to the centers.
Physician-owned hospitals in Texas will infuse $2.3 billion into the state's economy this year, the largest projected economic impact by such hospitals in the nation, according to a study. Texas physician hospitals also will pay close to $86 million in property, payroll and income taxes this year, according to Health Economics Consulting Group, the Morristown, NJ-based health policy research firm behind the study. Many of the state's largest nonprofit hospital systems have partnered with physicians to create joint venture models in which the nonprofit and physicians share ownership.
Surgical teams that followed a basic checklist in the operating room reduced the rate of deaths and complications by more than a third, according to a year-long, eight-nation project. The low-cost, low-tech intervention tested in eight hospitals around the globe could have enormous financial implications. If every operating room in the United States adopted the surgical checklist, the nation could save between $15 billion and $25 billion a year on the costs of treating avoidable complications, according to calculations by the authors.
At a time when many hospital expansion and improvement projects are on hold, the New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Woburn, MA, debuted a renovation to keep business up and patients confident in its services. While the $1.1-million project didn't expand the facility, increase services, or replace medical equipment, the upgrade to the cardiopulmonary wing has created a more comfortable place for patients to stay and a more efficient workspace for hospital staff. Hallmark Health System, which has hospitals in two Boston-area communities, has no planned improvements for 2009 or 2010, rather it will invest in its quality of care such as through recruiting and retraining healthcare professionals.
The Center for Fibromyalgia, Fatigue and Chronic Pain said it would close its three Chicago area locations, citing the economic downturn and a dip in payments from insurance companies. The closure of the center means 500 patients will have to find alternatives for care, said Michael McNett, MD, a family physician who ran the clinics.
