Category: Hospital News
Swedish Visiting Nurse Services will cease operating in April. The service provides in-home medical care to about 300 home-health patients, about 125 hospice patients and 80 home-infusion patients. Swedish said the service is projected to lose $12 million in this year, which would put its total loss since 2009 at $51 million. Swedish blamed losses on the high cost of wages, benefits and overtime and low reimbursement from commercial payers as well as “productivity issues.”
Preterm babies, those born before 39 weeks, are at increased risk for death, low birth weight, lung disorders, feeding problems and blood infections. More than 500,000 infants are born prematurely in the U.S. each year, an increase of 36 percent in the past two decades.
The U.S. may soon start seeing a rising number of untreatable cases of gonorrhea unless new drugs can be found to combat emerging strains that are resistant to existing antibiotics, scientists warn in this week’s issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. “It is time to sound the alarm,” said the UW’s Dr. Judy Wasserheit, one of the authors of the journal article.
Hospitals using their patients’ health and financial records to help pitch their most lucrative services, such as cancer, heart and orthopedic care and buying detailed information about local residents compiled by marketing firms — everything from age, income and marital status to shopping habits and whether they have children or pets at home.
Julie Grabow, an oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, recently prescribed an exciting new therapy for a 60-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer — Afinitor made by Novartis. There was a catch, though. Novartis is charging $10,000 per month for the drug
Next month, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center offers its annual “Science for Life” series in which the center’s top researchers will explain the latest science in a fun and informal atmosphere.
Teens and young adults with cancer talk about their experiences with the disease – from treatments and hair loss, to dealing with school, friends and family.
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.
Many veterans on Medicaid qualify for the more generous benefits offered by the VA. Washington state’s program has helped these vets obtain those benefits while a the same time helped reduced costs for the state’s cash-strapped Medicaid program. Two state officials explain how the program works.
“I practiced for 30 years without knowing how long patients waited to see me,” says Dr. Robert Mecklenburg of Seattle’s Virginia Mason. After meeting with employers, “you realize how important it is to see patients when they need to be seen,” Mecklenburg says,. “Any wait is not OK.”
U.S. heart attack patients tend to be sent home sooner than other countries, but were more likely to be back within 30 days. Better post-hospital care may explain why other nations do better.
Hospitals are usually eager to embrace the latest medical technology, but the road to deploying tablet computers has been bumpy.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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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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