Long weekend reading: How long should we live? Surgery in the womb. And why are medical students learning the names of their cadavers? — and other best-of-the-web stories selected by KHN’s Shefali S. Kulkarni
Eric Feldman, M.D., former Chief of Cancer Care Services at Group Health, has been a practicing Medical Oncologist for over 30 years. He’ll share an insider’s perspective on how your doctor thinks, to help you best work with your Oncologist for optimal treatment outcomes.
You can be healthy well beyond 60, but you’ll be different than you were when you were 20. You’ll have different posture, wrinkles and a lot of other changes that are less obvious but age appropriate. We have to be very, very careful about calling any difference from when we were younger an illness or a disease. And we have to be even more careful about telling people that we have things we can do to “fix” these differences, but this happens all the time. That’s the medicalization of aging.
Most insurance plans allow you to visit an out-of-network doctor or hospital, but it is very likely to cost you more — possibly a lot more.
Whether it’s music, lifestyles, or a refuse-to-age outlook, Baby Boomers think of themselves as trailblazers. Now, that generation born between 1946 and 1964 can claim credit for another “first”—a dramatic increase in knee replacement surgeries.
“I lost 90 pounds with the Lap-Band!,” read the billboards. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? But there are serious risks with the weight-loss surgery promoted by these ads.
As obesity among young people continues to rise, a growing number of clinicians say that weight-loss surgery may be their best chance to take off significant weight. But although health plans frequently cover bariatric surgery in adults, coverage for patients under age 18 is spotty.
Planning to have surgery? Well, you might want to find out just how frequently hospitals in your area are perform the operation before deciding where to go.
Ask your healthcare provider to clean their hands with soap before they examine you or check your wound — and other tips to avoid surgical infections from the CDC.
Patients want to be partners with their doctors in determining the course of their care. But for many conditions, there are no good guideposts.
“Never Events” continue to be common events in U.S. operating rooms. Hospital group estimates 40 “wrong-site” surgeries performed each week in U.S. hospitals and clinics.
Medicaid will stop paying for about two dozen “never events” in hospitals, such as operations on the wrong body part and certain surgical-site infections, federal officials said today.
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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