Hospital/physician relations
Physician leaders have voted to adopt a modernized Code of Medical Ethics during the American Medical Association's annual meeting, capping an eight-year project to modernize the code's ethical guidance for relevance, clarity and consistency, the AMA said.
Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Network will employ IBM Watson's cognitive computing skills to help match cancer patients with clinical trials.
Issues can arise when patient information isn't shared with family and friends, either because medical staff decide to withhold it or patients themselves choose to restrict who can receive information about their care.
Steven Lipstein, chief executive of BJC, which includes Barnes-Jewish hospital in St. Louis, said Medicare doesn't play fair because its formula for setting penalties does not factor in patients with socioeconomic disadvantages -- low-income, poor health habits and chronic illnesses for instance -- that contribute to repeated hospitalizations.
According to a new study, shortages of many drugs that are essential in emergency care have increased in both number and duration in recent years even as shortages for drugs for non-acute or chronic care have eased somewhat.
Between January 2010 and July 2015, the analysis found, inspectors identified 3,016 home health agencies -- nearly a quarter of all those examined by Medicare -- that had inadequately reviewed or tracked medications for new patients. In some cases, nurses failed to realize that patients were taking potentially dangerous combinations of drugs, risking abnormal heart rhythms, bleeding, kidney damage and seizures.
Three hospitals have pledged that they will require their surgeons and 20 affiliated hospitals to meet minimum annual thresholds for 10 high-risk procedures, and have asked other hospital networks around the country to join them.
Despite the drive towards value-based payment models, physicians are bringing in $1.56 million each in inpatient and outpatient fee-for-service revenue to hospitals, according to a survey by AMN Healthcare subsidiary Merritt-Hawkins, a slight increase of $112,230 over 2013.
Often hired by the local health department, they take on diverse public health initiatives -- running diabetes or nutrition education programs, counseling patients to stick to their medication regimens or teaching new mothers about vaccinations.
By teaming with community organizations, doctors and hospitals can deliver high-quality care at good value to disadvantaged people at risk for poor health, according to a new report from a panel of experts.