Category: Advice and Tips
Health Effects Of Comparing Care: No Easy Answers By Joanne Silberner, NPR News JUL 21, 2009 This story comes from NPR, a Kaiser Health News partner. The Obama administration and Congress are moving forward with plans to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the various medical treatments for common health conditions, despite concerns of some [...]
To reduce medical errors, hospitals are forming advisory councils where patients and health care professionals work together to improve safety. In this column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, M.D., director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, explains how these advisory councils work. Hospital Advisory Councils Get Patients’ View on Safer Health Care By Carolyn [...]
“Don’t assume your doctor has all the relevant information at his or her fingertips. Usually, in fact, the doctor does not.” — Dr. Carolyn Clancy In this month’s column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, provides tips on how to make sure you can get information from your [...]
Efforts to improve the quality of U.S. health care and reduce medical errors are proving to be disappointingly slow, writes Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in this column. “If you get sick or have surgery, you have only a 3 in 5 chance of getting the care [...]
Creating a “medical home” to help patients cope with chronic and often complicated health problems is really an old idea that is getting a new look as health providers try to find ways to improve the quality of care and reduce medical costs. In this column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Health [...]
“It took 2 years of questions and followup before actress and health advocate Fran Drescher learned she had uterine cancer,” writes Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in her new column. “Today,” she writes, “Ms. Drescher is an 8-year cancer survivor, due in large part to her asking [...]
One out of every five prescriptions written today are to treat a condition for which the drug has not been approved. Such “off-label” use of drugs is common because under the law doctors are given considerable freedom to use their clinical judgement when it comes to practicing medicine. Still, taking a drug for a condition [...]
“In health care, one size does not fit all, and treatments that are good for one patient aren’t necessarily good, or even safe, for you,” writes Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. To try to find out which treatments are best for which patients, Clancy’s agency has been [...]
When you’re unhappy with the care you receive from a doctor or hospital, what can you do to be heard? In this month’s column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, offers tips on where you can go to find help filing a complaint.
Despite rules limiting the hours doctors-in-training can work, a recent report by the Institute of Medicine found that many of hospital interns and residents continue to work long shifts with far too little sleep. In this column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. writes about efforts to reduce [...]
How do you find long-term care for a family member? And how do you pay for it? In this column, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, reviews your options. A nursing home isn’t the only answer, Dr. Clancy writes: often there are other services, such as adult day [...]
Chronic diseases such as heart failure,high blood pressure, arthritis and diabetes don’t generally go away—but they can be managed, writes Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in her latest column. “If you or a loved one has a chronic condition,” she writes, “you know that managing it can [...]
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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