Community Benefit

Two suburban Chicago healthcare providers are developing what they call a “ground-breaking” joint venture to improve quality care in the region.

"Reform" of the U.S. healthcare system can mean a myriad of things, all of which have been discussed and debated ad nauseum over the past two years - before, during and after passage of the Affordable Care Act.

There are some who argue that human beings are violent by nature.

When Jennifer Searfoss realized she had a urinary tract infection, she made a decision more and more Americans are making: She went to a retail health clinic for care.

Studies have shown that therapy gardens help patients and residents of long-term care facilities experience less stress, lowered blood pressure and improvements in mood and socialization and have a more balanced circadian rhythm. Alzheimer’s patients, meanwhile, experience a decrease in aggressive behavior.

A recent survey of employers shows more than half would like to improve their employees' health habits as a means of reining in the rising cost of providing health benefits.

A study presented last month at the annual American Psychiatric Association conference points to a pending crisis in geriatric psychiatry and potential healthcare cost increases as older adults end up in emergency rooms for mental health-related issues.

Anthem Blue Cross and APS Healthcare have announced an agreement that will see APS provide targeted care management and coordination of Anthem members enrolled in Medi-Cal's California's Seniors and People with Disabilities (SPD) Program.

Forty-five percent of young adults said healthcare cost considerations caused them to forgo necessary medical treatments in 2010, up from 32 percent in 2001, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.

The Steward Health Care System, which has acquired several Massachusetts hospitals since being launched eight months ago, is now looking outside the Bay State - at Rhode Island's Landmark Medical Center.