Medicaid’s short-sightedness is apparent when they’re considering cutting physician payments. Many practices can safely drop Medicaid patients without affecting their bottom line. Dr. Rob sums it up, saying that “a rise in the number of ER visits would be inevitable. This would significantly raise the cost to the system and worsen the financial shortfall for the Medicaid program.”
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Put this into the “thanks for nothing” file. An imprisoned doctor saves the life of a fellow inmate, and receives time off from his sentence. He gets to be released 30 days early from his 45-year prison term.
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Buckeye Surgeon advocates limiting the use of HIDA scans, which adds unnecessary costs and delays care. Acute cholecystitis can be diagnosed clinically, and an ultrasound is by far the more cost effective test.
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A woman didn’t know she was pregnant, now the hospital is sued (via Overlawyered): “This is America. You’ve got to love this country. This woman doesn’t know she is pregnant, but somebody else should.” ’nuff said.
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Open enrollment is coming. With practices tightening their fiscal belts, many are dropping low-paying insurers. Internist Matthew Mintz advises patients to ensure that their doctor will continue taking their insurance, and has no plans to drop it in the near future. Calling the physician’s office directly is the best way to confirm this.
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Suspended prison sentences for three doctors who left a 22-cm medical instrument in a patient.
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If it wasn’t for family caregivers, there is no way that nursing homes by itself can deal with all the needed elderly care. Their economic value was estimated to be $350 billion, and sure to rise as Baby Boomers hit Medicare age.
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The credit crisis is squeezing hospitals, who are delaying improvement projects (via Our Own System). I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, since the building boom is a major contributor to rising health care spending. It’s better they use that money to shore up primary care access.
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Ben Brewer talks about MRSA (via the WSJ Health Blog), and some of the ways to fight this growing infectious problem. A particularly sad case is the 18-month old toddler with recurrent boils that necessitates bathing in a diluted bleach solution. Think about that the next time you think an antibiotic is needed for a cold.
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The early returns on Medicare’s “never” events are in. WhiteCoat notes a dramatic drop in indwelling Foley catheters, leading to more straight catheters which “amounts to more work for the nurses, more patient discomfort, and more trauma to the urethra as the catheter is repeatedly inserted.” Gotta love those unintended consequences.
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Supraventricular tachycardia mid-flight. A doctor responds, and is thankful he did: “The whole experience . . . was overall a positive experience for me. I’m not sure why there are grumblings in the odd newspaper stories about doctors on flights being ‘forced to work’ when called upon on airline flights.” Perhaps coming from Canada, he’s less sensitive to malpractice fears.
