So Why Are Waiting Room Magazines So Old?
Ever wonder why the magazines in your doctor’s waiting room are so out of date? One office I was in had a Golf Digest from 2012. Are our docs just trying to bore us to death? Do they put out only old...
View ArticleWeak Flu Shot Adds to Woes for Those 65-Plus
It's already a bad flu season for those age 65-plus and now there's more bad news: This season's flu shot will only cut your chances of getting sick by 23 percent, compared to the more typical 60...
View ArticleHow to Talk About Death ... and Life
Many Americans, it seems, have a hard time talking about death. Even doctors struggle to deal with the mortality of patients who they know aren’t going to make it.
View ArticleMedicare Itemizes Its $103 Billion Drug Bill
The federal government popped the cap off drug spending on April 30, detailing doctor-by-doctor and drug-by-drug how Medicare and its beneficiaries spent $103 billion on pharmaceuticals in 2013.
View ArticleCongress Approves Bill Bolstering Medicare Patients’ Hospital Rights
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation Monday night requiring hospitals across the nation to tell Medicare patients when they receive observation care but have not been admitted to the...
View ArticleGood and Bad News About Ovarian Cancer
Two new studies this week have upended some basic assumptions about ovarian cancer, questioning both the survival rate of this dangerous disease and the best type of chemotherapy to improve those...
View ArticleBitten by a Crocodile? There’s a Code for That
A seismic change in Medicare and the rest of the U.S. health care industry began Oct. 1, when a new system of diagnostic codes — which all health providers must use to get paid — finally went into...
View ArticleIs Observation Status Substituting for Hospital Readmission?
Since October 2012, the Medicare program has penalized hospitals when too many patients in traditional Medicare are re-hospitalized within a month of discharge. This policy appears to be having...
View ArticleSoaring Prices Put Drugs out of Reach for Many Americans
Retail prices for more than 100 widely used specialty prescription drugs surged by nearly 11 percent in 2013, according to a new AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) report issued today. The report found...
View ArticleBeyond Ebola—How Safe Is Your Hospital?
The media frenzy over Ebola has focused a glaring spotlight on hospitals across the country this fall. One man has died from the virus in the United States, and a handful of nurses have been infected....
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