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Howard Bauchner, the editor in chief of the JAMA has resigned under fire. Why? He had the audacity to be in charge when a podcast said the "no physician was racist therefore how could ther be structural racism in health care". Even in medicine there can be no alternative views spouted. The cancel culture reigns supreme.
Donald Berwick, a leftist former president of a think tank, says fee for service has to go as it costs too much. He wants "value based healthcare". whatever that is. He wants the goal to be healthcare spending should be 15%$ of the GDP. It is now 18%. He does not address the largest problem with healthcare spending, the hospitals. They purchase physicians so to make the offices equivalent o the outpatient hospital areas and charge like a hospital. No difference in services just price. The hospitals do not cheaper competition such as physician owned facilities without EDs. Some of these "non-profits make Billion of dollars a year and pay no taxes.
There seems to potentially be a relationship between the RNA vaccines and pericarditis in young males. However, there are no deaths reported and most recover without problems.
UnitedHealthcare is at it again. Every few years they attempt to not pay for ED visits that they deem to be non-emergent. Each time they try this there is a hew and cry from the ED physicians and the hospitals and each time the insurer backs down. They need the prudent lay person standard and not their standard whatever that is.
Schizophrenic California is again confusing their citizens. Governor Newsome has declared June 15 as the official mask off day for the state vaccinated individuals both inside and outside. Then CAL/OSHA comes along and says people who work inside must be masked if anyone is not vaccinated. The employers are supposed to monitor this. At least it is legal to ask the employees if they have been vaccinated as long as it does not violate the ADA, religious freedom or employment contracts. The Gov could override this by executive decision but probably will not as he is running against a recall.
There was an interesting article regarding the difference between those states who opened early and those who stayed masked and shut. It made no difference. Nothing made a difference except for masks inside. The nothing mattered including business being shuttered and schools doing remote "learning". In the beginning the stay at home was necessary to flatten the curve for hospital usage not total cases. Tracing made no difference. As the mandates stayed in place the compliance rate fell dramatically. Policy is not important if people do not adhere to the policies. (See story above and watch the reaction) It seems that closing bars and restaurants had more impact than school closures or bans on large gatherings. Top
The Rhode Island AG blinked. He was adamant about having $50 million in escrow for okaying the sale of two hospitals. The owners threatened to close the hospitals and the AG caved. Now the Prospect Partners will put up $80 million and one of the owners had to put up an additional $34.8 million. Expensive but a far cry for the money the AG wanted.
There is a report on the Fayetteville, Arkansas, VA Hospital which is disturbing. It concerns a pathologist there for a decade and who was the chief pathologist for a while. Dr. Robert Levy was arrested and plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter when he misdiagnosed a patient with lymphoma when he actually had small cell carcinoma and then falsifying the chart. Dr. Levy had a substance abuse problems and was not removed from his post. The investigation examined 34,000 cases and found errors in more than 3000 cases. The report chastised oversight failures, relaxed quality standards and a negative culture at the hospital by ignoring warning signs. The VA via a spokesman said the VA is a great organization an d is improving processes. They always say this.
At the Florida Gainesville VA a patient died and an investigation said he was incorrectly triaged. He was post-op laproscopic colon surgery by about two weeks. He went to the ED as instructed by the call center. He was judged a level three and sent to the waiting room where shortly after he started his downward spiral. He was admitted to the ICU and died. The OIG said the nurse did not take into consideration the causes of his shortness of breath.
The physicians at CHS owned Medical Center of South Arkansas have voted a no confidence vote to the administration of the hospital. The vote was to the CEO leadership or non-leadership. The staff has delivered a copy of the a letter outlining the causes of the vote to the Board of trustees and the CHS owners.
When the Oregon State Hospital asked the National Guard to help staff their hospital the advisory panel to the hospital knew nothing of the problems. Could that be part of the problem. Communication is lacking.
Houston Methodist has followed through with its threat. As of the June7 deadline 178 employees had not been completely vaccinated and were suspended. If the have not initiated the vaccination processes by June 21 they will be terminated. The employees sued and the case was dismissed in federal court.
Cano Health, a value based? primary care organization acquired for $600 million University in Miami. Top
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.