“What am I going to do now Doc?” asked Mike, a down on his luck, 29 year–old recently unemployed truck driver, as he handed me his hospital bill. Mike was seen at our local emergency department on a Friday evening with complaints of indigestion. Earlier that day he and his wife Susan celebrated their second […]
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Tag Archives: hospital
Safety First
November 28, 2010 
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Is it safe? No, this isn’t a replay from the movie “Marathon Man” (1976). It’s what several health policy experts asked about safe practices at hospitals. Researchers combed over 2,300 hospital records (2002 to 2007) of 10 random hospitals in North Carolina. What they found, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, were 588 […]
Continue readingOn This Eve of Giving Thanks
November 24, 2010 0 Comments
We’re living in thoughtful times. Everyday in healthcare I am humbled by the care, compassion and thoughtfulness exhibited by the staff at our hospitals and clinics. They don’t show this because it’s prescribed in a handbook, or policy and procedure. They’re not after a high rating on the next patient care survey. They don’t need […]
Continue readingA Tip of Our CAHPS to Coming Clean in America
November 10, 2010 0 Comments
Are hospitals coming clean? An article just published in Health Affairs reveals details of a government–required survey conducted in 2008 and 2009. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey or CAHPS (thank goodness for acronyms!) is required of all hospitals receiving and hoping to continue to receive federal funding. Analysts compared CAHPS […]
Continue readingPatient Heal Thyself
October 27, 2010 1 Comment
It must be Kismet. A patient, who I hadn’t seen for over a year, returned for evaluation after developing a medical complication. Three weeks before, he entered a private specialty hospital for a total knee replacement. After suffering with arthritis in his knee for over five years he stated that, “Enough was enough.” He went […]
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