Healthcare Associated Infections: What is the Message, and What Can We Do About Them?
The good people at GE and JESS3 have come up with an HAI infographic. It's pretty, and it conveys the horrible information that many of us already know…
A Few Notes on Hospitals, and US Health Care Spending
What’s wrong with this headline: “Falls in hospitals are not preventable and the burden shouldn’t be borne by hospitals.” See our answer here. Study: Best hospitals are physician-run. What’s wrong…
A Marxist Turned Libertarian on The Health Train
In preparing for today’s journey on the Health Train my travels took me to a video by Thomas Sowell. Dr. Sowell was born a poor African-American black man (as…
Employers as Doctors
Major employers across the country, eager to curb fast-rising healthcare costs, are opening their own state-of-the-art health centers where doctors and nurses provide medical care to workers often just steps…
Primary Care of HIV Patients Increasing in Importance
Much has been written of late regarding the intial media presentations of the virus that causes AIDS and the de rigueur comparisons to how far awareness, activism, and innovation have…
Medical State of Mind
Medicine has gradually been drawn into a state of mind where legalese and bureaucracy have replaced medical and scientific results. “Evidence based medicine” has surpassed scientific results, or empirical…
Medicare Payments to Physicians – Proposed Rule for 2012
It's doc season again, that time of year when the sustainable growth rate rules are trotted out, and physicians are informed that they will face catastrophic rate reductions courtesy of…
The One Medicare Program that Actually Works
This is Avik Roy, writing in National Affairs: This is Avik Roy, writing in National Affairs: The most successful cost-control experiment in Medicare — the relatively new prescription-drug component called…
Lawsuit Filed Against Quest Diagnostics for Overcharging
Andrew Baker was fired from a company that Quest purchased, Unilab, when he refused to participate in the scam and the case had been sealed since 2005 but recently re-opened. …
Small Airplane Crashes Into Community Hospital In Northern California
The crash took place after hours and there will be a couple of doctors without offices tomorrow. Luckily the offices were empty. Two surgical technicians in surgery left the room…