January 15, 2020 Recent News

Healthcare

Hospitals

Physicians

Healthcare

The US funded study into talc causing ovarian cancer has shown little correlation.  This should probably end the trial against J&J and other makers of the talc but will not.  Those that used the powder at all had a 13% higher risk of ovarian cancer and those who used it at least once a week this increased to 19%.  

The cancer mortality rate continues to drop.  This is specially true for those with lung cancer.  I am particularly sorry to say that the mortality rates for prostate cancer have stopped their decline.  I look directly to the US Preventative Health and the lack of PSA testing for this.

California continues to want to go bankrupt.  The guv wants to not only continue to provide minor illegal aliens with Ocare but to expand that to senior citizens as well.  This is the intermediate step  to just provide all illegals with free healthcare by the nanny state.

California's Guv does have some good ideas.  He wants the state to create its own generic drug label and to negotiate with pharmaceutical houses  for lower drug prices.   

TechCrunch reports that over 1 Billion medical images are visible online with patient's personal identification.  This is a hospital problem.  They store images through DICOM which may be accessed by any free apps.     Top

Hospitals

Never trust a hospital!!  In June 2018 nine Nebraska Heart Institute cardiologists left to form their own practice.  both sides said it was amicable and they could retain their privileges.  They have now lost their privileges at the CHI hospitals.  The hospital entered into an exclusive contract with its own cardiologists.  Surprise!!

In a story about Baltimore's Washington Hospital and one patient explains the terrible situation many hospitals have regarding psychiatric patients.  Henry, a 15 year old, started breaking things at school and needed intervention.  He was taken by ambulance to the ED of the hospital, the closest Kaiser facility to his home.  There he was added to a waitlist for admission.  Henry went to behavioral health unit until he had a brief tachycardia and was sent back to the ED.  He remained in the windowless room for over three weeks or 603 hours.  This is common for hospitals across the country in general and even more so with individuals with intellectual disability.  He had been hospitalized at a different unit some time prior but had been discharged prematurely due to insurance issues before he was fully transitioned onto his new meds.  This led to this admission.  

Beaumont Health and Summa Health have signed an agreement to form one system.  Summa would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Beaumont.  

Cook County health has decided to remove its CEO Dr. John Shannon.  That decision will cost the citizens of the county mucho dinero for not only the salary owed plus the benefits but his replacement will get a raise of $40,000 and that is after the cost of a search.  On top of that Shannon will receive a pension of $254,000 per annum plus health insurance premiums.       Top    

Physicians

The AMA as issued a checklist for E/M services.  It is hoped that this will delete "note bloat".  The organization has worked with HHS on this.        Top

 

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 DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.