A 2010 survey of 439 perfusionists, the medical technicians who operate heart-lung machines, found that more than 55 percent reported using their cell phones during procedures. Nearly 50 percent admitted texting, and 21 percent checked their e-mail.
Amid the recession, hospitals have been aggressively establishing footholds in affluent areas outside their traditional market boundaries as they fight for the patients with the best insurance, according to a new study.
Errors involving drugs are the most common type of medical errors, harming about 1.5 million people each year. A recent example shows how easily these errors can happen . . .
Medicare’s largest effort to pay hospitals based on how they perform did not lead to fewer deaths, casting doubt on a central premise of the new health law’s effort to rework the financial incentives for hospitals with the aim of saving money while improving patient care.
Even without the health-care reform law, the federal government is changing how it pays doctors and hospitals, from a system that rewards volume to one that rewards quality. . . . “I think if the health care law were repealed tomorrow, it would not change the direction of what is happening in the marketplace.”
Despite national efforts to improve patient safety, medical mistakes remain far to common. What can you do to protect yourself from medical errors?
A nurse, a doctor and six computer monitors help raise the standards of care for critically ill patients in Anchorage and in rural hospitals.
As anyone who has been a patient or a visitor at a hospital knows, they’re often confusing, chaotic places.
By the time you learn the routines and the rules, with any luck you’re recovered and on your way out the door.
Elizabeth Bailey’s father wasn’t that fortunate . . .
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.
The bad news: Heart disease is the number one killer of both women and men in the U.S. The good news: there’s much you can do to prevent heart disease. Here’s how . . .
The U.S. health care sector added more than 23,000 jobs last month, according to a new report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, with hospitals hiring about 10,000 new employees.
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.
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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