By Phil Galewitz – Kaiser Health News August 12, 2009 Charles “Chip” Kahn III, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, has been a major player on the Washington health policy scene for nearly 25 years. As head of the lobbying group representing investor-owned hospitals, Kahn helped negotiate a deal in June among the hospital [...]
Teachers more likely to spank disabled children More than 200,000 U.S. schoolchildren are spanked, paddled or subjected to some other form of corporal punishment each year with disabled children receiving a disproportionate share of such punishments, according to a report prepared by Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). “At least 41,972 [...]
By Phil Galewitz August 11, 2009 When Congress and the White House began talking about a health care overhaul, the industries that profit from the $2.5 trillion system were understandably nervous. But as the legislation takes shape, it appears much of the anxiety was misplaced. Most of the major health care players, including hospitals, health [...]
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 [...]
Hospitals, After Agreeing to Cuts, Push Ahead With a Full Agenda By Eric Pianin and Phil Galewitz – Kaiser Health News July 08, 2009 With the Obama administration’s help, hospitals are moving aggressively to resolve their biggest objections to legislative proposals to overhaul the health system. The deal announced today by Vice-President Biden — an [...]
By Laurie McGinley and Phil Galewitz – Kaiser Health News July 02, 2009 The hospital industry is close to a deal with the White House and congressional Democrats in which the industry would agree to federal funding cuts of $150 billion to $170 billion over the next decade to help pay for a health system [...]
By Joanne Kenen June 30, 2009 This story is a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post. Doctors call them frequent fliers. They are the patients who leave the hospital, only to boomerang back days or weeks later. They have become a front-burner challenge not only for hospitals and doctors but also for [...]
Valley Medical Center Receives Achievement Award for Heart Treatment The American Heart Association (AHA) has awarded Valley Medical Center a Silver Performance Achievement Award for its efforts to make sure the care the hospital provides to its heart failure patients meets the AHA’s treatment guidelines. The award was given as part of the AHA’s “Get [...]
Donald McNeil, Jr. in the New York Times writes about new ways people are trying to predict the course outbreaks of diseases like swine flu by using computer simulations. One program tracks air and land travel information to predict the spread of disease. That program predicted correctly that New York, California and Texas would prove [...]
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 [...]
When a patient’s heart stops in the hospital, the staff calls a “code” to summoning a resuscitation or “crash” team. But in one Washington hospital the call code for the crash team” might be “code 4″, while in another it might be “code blue”. And in yet another hospital “code blue” might be the call [...]
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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