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.
Why do mothers seek abortions late in their pregnancies? How much detail should journals provide about killer flu research? Obama originally opposed the individual mandate and Romney supported it – now it’s the other way round. What’s up with that?
Hospitals are usually eager to embrace the latest medical technology, but the road to deploying tablet computers has been bumpy.
Errors are often the result of poor coordination within the health care system and poor communication on the part of physicians, nurses and patients. What can you to protect yourself and loved ones?
Hospital autopsies have become a rarity. As a result, experts say, diagnostic errors are missed, opportunities to improve medical treatment are lost, and health-care statistics are skewed.
Starting next fall, Medicare will begin penalizing hospitals if their readmission rates are higher than expected for three conditions: heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.
A growing number of hospitals nationwide are hiring former drug and device sales representatives to visit doctors’ offices to persuade them to use their services over competing facilities.
Are the brains of autistic children different? Do non-profit hospitals rake in too much money? Should doctors consider other careers?
Medicare will soon start taking patient satisfaction into account when reimbursing hospitals. And that means, disgruntled patients could reduce revenue,
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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Seattle Times Health News
Experts divided over recommendation to screen children for cholesterol
Some clinicians say universal screening is an important tool to help identify children who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol and to pinpoint others who could benefit from treatment. Others express concerns that screening may do more harm than good.
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.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
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