Kaiser Health News
In a stark departure from the past, the vast majority of the country's medical schools now integrate discussions of cost, value and effectiveness into their curricula.
The fate of many other health programs, from the National Institutes of Health to efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, hang in the balance as well, as lawmakers decide whether and how to fund the government after the current fiscal year expires Sept. 30.
Ownership by a hospital "dramatically increases" odds that a doctor will admit patients there instead of another, nearby hospital, researchers found.
California legislators passed a bill postponing a controversial plan that would have shifted tens of thousands of medically fragile children into Medi-Cal managed care plans.
The long-awaited rules from the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services further define protections included in the Affordable Care Act, particularly broadening those for transgender Americans.
Colorado's uninsured rate has plummeted from a recent high of 15.8 percent four years ago to 6.7 percent this year, but the success of the Affordable Care Act in Colorado is almost entirely the result of Medicaid expansion, according to a much anticipated survey from the Colorado Health Institute.
Heart-attack patients whose ambulances were diverted from crowded emergency rooms to hospitals farther away were more likely to be dead a year later than patients who weren't diverted, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs.
Patients whose physicians worked from midnight to 7 a.m. the night before a daytime operation were as likely to die, be readmitted to the hospital or suffer complications within 30 days of their procedure as other patients who had the same operations in the daytime from physicians who had not worked after midnight, researchers said.
The vast majority leave their contributions in savings accounts instead where the money may earn lower returns.
For patients, connecting with a physician's office or group practice on Facebook can be a simple way to keep up with basic health news.