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People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Emergency Medicine
Seattle Children’s opens urgent-care clinic in Mill Creek
The clinic will provide treatment for children, teens and young adults ages 0-21 needing non-emergency medical care in the evenings, over the weekends and during the holidays.
King County homicides lowest in ten years
There were 59 homicides in King County last year, the lowest number in a decade. The number deaths due to suicide, traffic accidents and overdoses also fell.
Health law may accelerate growth in urgent care centers
Besides their convenience, urgent care centers attract patients because their fees at least half those charged at a hospital ERs. Those lower fees have drawn the attention of hospitals and insurers — both of which increasingly see the facilities as a way to hold down costs and boost their bottom lines.
What’s behind the ER building boom? — Seattle Times
As health-care costs spiral ever upward, hospitals race to build free-standing emergency rooms and expand existing ERs. Hospitals say it makes business sense, but critics say the hospital arms race is too costly for businesses, government and families.
Can retailers revamp primary care?
In-store medical clinics like those at Walmart – having established a beachhead with relatively healthy patients looking for convenient, low-cost care for simple problems – are eyeing a bigger prize, the millions of Americans with costly illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.
Grading docs with electronic medical records
Electronic health records reveal how well doctors are providing care. Are their patients receiving recommended preventive services? Have they been given unnecessary care? It’s in the record.
Seattle Childrens opens urgent care clinic on main campus
Clinic hopes to provide an alternative care option to the ER for children needing non-emergency medical attention in the evenings, over the weekends and during the holidays.
Webwatch: Best of the Web on health
Komen for the Cure and possible link between breast cancer and BPA. Steering ER regulars to primary care. And health reform will bring a surge in Medicaid patients–which states ready?
Get your mobile and other high-tech gear ready for emergencies
How to set up your mobile and online tools so they can help you stay in touch during an emergency or disaster.
Disaster Readiness Fair at Evergreen Hospital – Sat. 24th
Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland will hold its annual Disaster Readiness Fair this Saturday, Sept. 24th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m..
Are hospitals’ ER marketing campaigns driving up Medicaid costs?
Medicaid officials in Washington state are so concerned by hospitals’ ER marketing that they have issued rules making it harder for hospitals to qualify for Medicaid bonus payments if they promote their ER for primary care.
Answers to readers’ insurance questions
If you’re injured after drinking, can your insurer refuse to pay? Do privacy rules keep insurers from talking to you about your spouse’s coverage? Does colonoscopy coverage include polyp removal? Yes, no and maybe.
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