Quality/Equality

News digest

This frequently updated news digest on the subject of Quality/Equality highlights key articles from major journals, news publications and blogs. The digest is a free service of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. All rights reserved. Sign up to receive the digest free via email.

Feb 9, 2012	Medicare Data Show Variation in ‘Central Line’ Infection Rates Across States Kaiser Health News, Jordan Rau, 02/09/2012 Across the country, one in six hospitals has high rates of one of the most serious kinds of preventable infections — those caused by catheters inserted into large veins, according to new data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Feb 9, 2012	New Way to Pay Doctors Wall Street Journal, Anna Wilde Mathews, 02/09/2012 Efforts to change how Americans pay for health care are gathering momentum on a national scale as UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. health insurer, becomes the latest carrier to say it is overhauling its fees for medical providers. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Feb 8, 2012	What Doctors Are Telling Us Even When They’re Not Talking New York Times, Pauline W. Chen, 02/08/2012 I recently read through a study published in The Journal of General Internal Medicine on the different ways that African-American and white doctors communicate nonverbally with older patients, and I was reminded of a former colleague, a specialist in brain tumors who stood out from the rest of us young doctors for two reasons.
Feb 8, 2012	Study: Some Physicians Not Always Honest With Patients Kaiser Health News (Blog), Jessica Marcy, 02/08/2012 Doctors report that they’re not always completely honest with patients, especially when it comes to disclosing a medical mistake, or discussing a difficult prognosis, according to a new survey.
Feb 7, 2012	Race and Mental Illness: Do African Americans Suffer More Schizophrenia or is It Bias? Los Angeles Times (Blog), Melissa Healy, 02/07/2012 Diagnosed with mental illness, Nathaniel Ayers, later portrayed by Jamie Foxx in the movie "The Soloist," became an accomplished musician.
Feb 6, 2012	Many Doctors Don’t Follow Ovarian-Cancer Screening Guidelines Wall Street Journal (Blog), Katherine Hobson, 02/06/2012 The government estimates that more than 15,000 women died last year from ovarian cancer.
Feb 6, 2012	Why Do Cardiologists Often Pass Up Safe, Low-Tech Treatments for Chest Pain? Washington Post, David Brown, 02/06/2012 Can American doctors say “No” to an aggressive and high-tech treatment they’re used to providing even when it turns out a less heroic and cheaper one works just as well?
Feb 5, 2012	New Inner-City Health Center Opens in Boston Associated Press, Bob Salsberg, 02/05/2012 Bob Thompson learned he had prostate cancer after routine screening at the Whittier Street Health Center, a community-based facility that has long served serving thousands of residents of the inner-city Roxbury neighborhood.
Feb 4, 2012	Advice for the Ill, and Points for the Doctors New York Times, Randall Stross, 02/04/2012 Every sphere of life, it seems, can be turned into a game — including the way physicians offer medical advice and build a public reputation.
Feb 3, 2012	Digital Doctoring Wall Street Journal, Scott Gottlieb, 02/03/2012 Among the most common reasons why people come to an emergency room are bouts of heart failure or pneumonia. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Feb 3, 2012	Study: Hospitals Overpay for Devices Wall Street Journal, Christopher Weaver, 02/03/2012 Some hospitals pay thousands of dollars more than others for big-ticket medical devices such as defibrillators and hip replacements, and a portion of the higher costs could be passed on to the federal Medicare program, a new government report says. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Feb 2, 2012	The Doctor Can Listen To You Now Wall Street Journal, Kristen Gerencher, 02/02/2012 Did you hear the one about the patient who tackled his high blood pressure because of a friend's remark that stuck with him? Or the doctor who finally cracked an elusive diagnosis after letting his patient talk longer? Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Feb 1, 2012	Book Offers 10 Checklists for Hospital Patients USA Today, Kim Painter, 02/01/2012 Elizabeth Bailey learned what could go wrong in a hospital the hard way: by watching her elderly father endure a long in-patient nightmare.
Feb 1, 2012	A Computer Beats A Pen For Getting Prescriptions Right Kaiser Health News (Blog), Ted Burnham, 02/01/2012 Drug errors inside hospitals remain a big problem.
Feb 1, 2012	When Doctors Ditch Pens, Medical Errors Drop Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 02/01/2012 There’s a lot of interest in health care right now in digitizing doctors’ decision-making, using computer databases to assist in diagnoses and treatments (Exhibit A: Wellpoint’s pilot project using Dr. Watson, the Jeopardy-winning super-computer, to assist doctors in the exam room).
Jan 31, 2012	Doctor Exposes the Dangers of Overtreatment USA Today, Liz Szabo, 01/31/2012 The woman walked quietly into the busy emergency room at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta's safety net hospital for the poor and uninsured.
Jan 31, 2012	Employers Need Healthcare Price Transparency The Hill (Blog), Shawn Leavitt, 01/31/2012 What if I told you there was a cost-effective way to help businesses and employees lower their health care costs without sacrificing quality of care?
Jan 31, 2012	Cost-Saving Plan to Unify Military Medical Services on Hold USA Today, Gregg Zoroya, 01/31/2012 An idea to unify the medical operations of the Army, Navy and Air Force that researchers say could save a half-billion dollars a year has been shelved at a time when the military is trying to cut nearly half a trillion dollars from its budget.
Jan 31, 2012	Informed Patient: Taking Quality of Life into Account in Health Decisions Wall Street Journal (Blog), Laura Landro, 01/31/2012 Quality-of-life questions are becoming increasingly important in medical care, especially when it comes to helping patients make decisions about treatments, today’s Informed Patient column reports.
Jan 31, 2012	Breast Cancer Surgery Rules Are Called Unclear Saint Mary's Health Care New York Times, Denise Grady, 01/31/2012 Nearly half of women who had lumpectomies for breast cancer had second operations they may not have needed because surgeons have been unable to agree on guidelines for the most common operation for breast cancer, a new study finds.
Jan 31, 2012	Many Tests, Treatments Not Necessary USA Today, Liz Szabo, 01/31/2012 Many patients would be surprised to realize how little of the medicine they receive is actually backed by evidence, says Otis Brawley, author of How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America.
Jan 31, 2012	Searching for Side Effects Wall Street Journal (Blog), Melinda Beck, 01/31/2012 You're taking a new medication and have dry mouth and feel dizzy.
Jan 31, 2012	Doctors Track Patients' Mood, Social Life to Manage Illness Wall Street Journal (Blog), Laura Landro, 01/31/2012 When Amy Messier was preparing to undergo back surgery, doctors asked her to fill out a survey with an unusual question: "Have you felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up?" Doctors Track Patients' Mood, Social Life to Manage Illness Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Jan 30, 2012	Dream Of A Medical ‘Price List’ Dies In Florida Legislature Kaiser Health News (Blog), Sarah Barr, 01/30/2012 Imagine if finding out the cost of a particular treatment or procedure at a doctors’ office was as easy as locating the prices of entrees at a restaurant
Jan 30, 2012	Ear Doctors Performing Face-Lifts? It Happens New York Times, Kate Murphy, 01/30/2012 After moving from New York to Los Angeles in 2010 to take a job with a financial services firm, Joan, now 59, believed she needed to freshen her look.
Jan 30, 2012	Lessons From ZocDoc, a Health Tech Start-Up That Works New York Times (Blog), Steve Lohr, 01/30/2012 ZocDoc, an oddly named Web service for scheduling appointments with doctors, started in New York in 2007 and has been growing at a torrid pace.
Jan 30, 2012	How Safe Are Our Hospitals? Kaiser Health News, Bara Vaida, 01/30/2012 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ website, Hospital Compare, began reporting patient safety ratings for thousands of the nation’s hospitals, including those in the Washington area, in October 2011.
Jan 30, 2012	Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist? Kaiser Health News, Bara Vaida, 01/30/2012 When Frances Barnes had a stroke in August 2008, she was taken by ambulance to Howard University Hospital.
Jan 29, 2012	Entrepreneurs Try to Fill Gap in Online Medical Help Washington Post, Dina ElBoghdady, 01/29/2012 Go online and it’s easy to compare just about anything according to cost, value or performance. But health plans? Doctors? Prescriptions drugs? Not so much.
Jan 28, 2012	Some Doctors Try to Squelch Online Reviews Washington Post, Dina ElBoghdady, 01/28/2012 Fuming about a billing dispute with his dentist, Robert Allen Lee posted his complaints on two consumer review Web sites, triggering a legal battle over a technique designed to snuff out negative online commentary.
Jan 27, 2012	Insurer WellPoint to Revamp Primary Care Pay Associated Press, Tom Murphy, 01/27/2012 Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to improve primary care doctor payments and start reimbursing physicians for care management it doesn't currently cover as a way boost treatment and save money.
Jan 26, 2012	Report: Much Work Still Needed to Achieve Widespread Use of Computerized Patient Records Associated Press, Staff Writer, 01/26/2012 America may be a technology-driven nation, but the health care system’s conversion from paper to computerized records needs lots of work to get the bugs out, according to experts who spent months studying the issue.
Jan 26, 2012	Report Outlines Challenges for Oral Health The Hill (Blog), Julian Pecquet, 01/26/2012 A new report on dental care calls for improving quality through better use of electronic health data, quality measures, payment incentives and expanded use of non-dental professionals to deliver care.
Jan 26, 2012	New Study Points to Deep Differences in Quality of Health in Memphis Commercial Appeal, Toby Sells, 01/26/2012 The health of individual Memphians is influenced by race, ethnicity and language, according to a new study from the Healthy Memphis Common Table.
Jan 26, 2012	Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Aims to Cut Health-Care Costs Washington Post, N.C. Aizenman, 01/26/2012 The Obama administration touts it as a key solution to the nation’s runaway health-care spending: a new national center set up by the 2010 health-care law to test and implement groundbreaking ways to cut costs while improving patient care.
Jan 26, 2012	Caregivers Improve Care, Lower Costs UPI, Staff Writer, 01/26/2012 Family members who routinely accompany older adults to physicians' offices help improve care, U.S. researchers found.
Jan 25, 2012	Shortage of Research on When There’s Too Much Health Care NPR, Scott Hensley, 01/25/2012 There’s little doubt that the U.S. wastes a lot of money on unnecessary health care.
Jan 24, 2012	CDC: Diabetes Amputations Falling Dramatically Associated Press, Mike Stobbe, 01/24/2012 Foot and leg amputations were once a fairly common fate for diabetics, but new government research shows a dramatic decline in limbs lost to the disease, probably due to better treatments.
Jan 24, 2012	Why are we Seeing so Many Specialists? Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 01/24/2012 Referrals to medical specialists have more than doubled in the past decade, according to research published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Jan 23, 2012	For Healthier Moms and Babies, X-Out Repeat C-Sections Huffington Post, Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D., 01/23/2012 Preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease control include a promising bit of news for women's health: for the first time in a decade, the rate of cesarean section births dropped.
Jan 23, 2012	Too Many Tests? Routine Checks Getting Second Look Associated Press, Lauran Neergaard, 01/23/2012 Recent headlines offered a fresh example of how the health care system subjects people to too many medical tests — this time research showing millions of older women don't need their bones checked for osteoporosis nearly so often.
Jan 23, 2012	Can Accountable-Care Organizations Improve Health Care While Reducing Costs? Wall Street Journal, Anna Wilde Mathews, 01/23/2012 It's often said that the main method of paying health-care providers—with a fee for each service—results in increased and wasteful spending. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Jan 20, 2012	Is U.S. Health Spending Finally Under Control? New York Times (Blog), Uwe E. Reinhardt, 01/20/2012 “Growth in U.S. health spending remains slow in 2010” was the headline of a news release on Jan. 9 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Jan 19, 2012	In Health Care, Determining What’s Unnecessary Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 01/19/2012 It’s an oft-repeated health-care statistic, and one that’s easy to get frustrated about: As much as one-third of health-care costs are wasteful, spent on unnecessary treatments that do not improve Americans’ health.
Jan 19, 2012	Health Care Is Next Frontier for Big Data Wall Street Journal (Blog), Ben Rooney, 01/19/2012 Big Data — the ability to collect, process and interpret massive amounts of information — is one of today’s most important technological drivers.
Jan 18, 2012	PCORI: Funny Acronym, Serious Work Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 01/18/2012 This afternoon, in a hotel ballroom in Northern Florida, two dozen health policy wonks are quietly embarking on a momentous task: Determining what medical treatments are the most effective.
Jan 17, 2012	Informed Patient: Diagnostic Errors Highlight Need for Second Opinions Wall Street Journal (Blog), Laura Landro, 01/17/2012 For patients diagnosed with cancer and other serious diseases, a second opinion can make the difference between getting the right and the wrong care, today's Informed Patient column reports.
Jan 17, 2012	HHS Rewards Use of Technology to Boost Health The Hill (Blog), Julian Pecquet, 01/17/2012 The Obama administration on Tuesday announced a "Healthy New Year Video Challenge" that rewards contestants who create videos showing how they'll use health information technology to achieve a New Year's resolution.
Jan 17, 2012	In Maryland, a Prescription for Better Health Care Washington Post, Miranda S. Spivack, 01/17/2012 Maryland is near the top of the national rankings in median household income, but the state's great wealth does not equal good health for everyone.
Jan 17, 2012	Retail Labs Give Patients Information, But Needle Doctors Kaiser Health News, Gigi Douban, 01/17/2012 You could call Michael Brooks a supplement junkie.
Jan 17, 2012	Peeking in on Your Doctor's Notes Kaiser Health News, Michelle Andrews, 01/17/2012 If you saw that your doctor had written "SOB" in the notes he took during your latest office visit, you might be offended and wonder what you'd done to give him such a negative impression.
Jan 17, 2012	What if the Doctor Is Wrong? Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro, 01/17/2012 When a CT scan showed multiple tumors in Dawna Harwell's pelvis, abdomen and spine in 2008, her doctrors in Dallas told her she might have ovarian cancer, which can be especially deadly. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Jan 16, 2012	New Group to Set Priorities for Medical Effectiveness Research Kaiser Health News, Julie Appleby, 01/16/2012 More than two years ago, studies found that injection of medical cement into compression fractures of the spine produced no better pain relief than "sham" injections.
Jan 16, 2012	U.S. to Force Drug Firms to Report Money Paid to Doctors New York Times, Robert Pear, 01/16/2012 To head off medical conflicts of interest, the Obama administration is poised to require drug companies to disclose the payments they make to doctors for research, consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment.
Jan 16, 2012	Many Ills, Constant Care, but Calling Her Own Shots New York Times, Mathew R. Warren, 01/16/2012 Verona Peters is clear: nursing homes are just not for her.
Jan 16, 2012	Really? The Claim: Drinking Water Can Help Lower the Risk of Diabetes New York Times (Blog), Anahad O'Connor, 01/16/2012 There are many reasons to stay properly hydrated, but only recently have scientists begun to consider diabetes prevention one of them.
Jan 16, 2012	D.C. Cardiologist Develops Mobile App to Speed Diagnosis of Heart Attacks Washington Post, Lena H. Sun, 01/16/2012 In theory, the concept seems like a no-brainer for quickly determining if someone is having a heart attack: Use a smartphone, tablet or other device equipped with a camera to take video of the patient's electrocardiogram, or ECG, which is typically used to diagnose heart attacks.
Jan 14, 2012	Digitizing Health Records, Before It Was Cool New York Times, Milt Freudenheim, 01/14/2012 The push to move the nation from paper to electronic health records is serious business.
Jan 13, 2012	U.S. Diabetes Prevention Program Might Avert 885,000 Cases USA Today, Serena Gordon, 01/13/2012 A national community-based diabetes prevention program in the United States could prevent or delay 885,000 cases of type 2 diabetes over 25 years, a new federal government study says.
Jan 12, 2012	Physician, Heal My Doctor Bills Associated Press, Christina Rexrode, 01/12/2012 Few things make me feel as clueless as a bill from my doctor's office.
Jan 12, 2012	Getting Patients to Take Charge of Their Health New York Times (Blog) ., Pauline W. Chen, M.D, 01/12/2012 One afternoon, I heard a colleague let out an exasperated groan in front of the hospital computers. His patient had been admitted.
Jan 12, 2012	How a Doctor Handles a Wife’s Cancer Diagnosis Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 01/12/2012 At his blog “Life as a Healthcare CIO,” Harvard Medical School chief information officer John Halamka has started writing a series on an unfamiliar health care challenge he now faces: His wife Kathy’s recent breast cancer diagnosis.
Jan 12, 2012	Daschle, Frist Join Advisory Board of Health Site ZocDoc The Hill (Blog), Rachel Leven, 01/12/2012 The website ZocDoc has added two former Senate majority leaders to its advisory board.
Jan 12, 2012	Do No Harm — And Keep An Eye on Costs Kaiser Health News, Staff Writer, 01/12/2012 The American College of Physicians hit a nerve when it released an updated ethics manual calling for doctors to provide "parsimonious care" – in other words, "to practice effective and efficient health care and to use health care resources responsibly."
Jan 10, 2012	Measuring Quality: 368 New Ideas For 2012 Kaiser Health News (Blog), Jordan Rau, 01/10/2012 How should Medicare and Medicaid measure doctors, hospitals, dialysis centers and other health care providers it pays?
Jan 10, 2012	Interactive Tools Used to Assess the Likelihood of Death New York Times, Paula Span, 01/10/2012 To help prevent overtesting and overtreatment of older patients — or undertreatment for those who remain robust at advanced ages — medical guidelines increasingly call for doctors to consider life expectancy as a factor in their decision-making.
Jan 10, 2012	Project Puts Records in the Patients’ Hands New York Times, Roni Caryn Rabin, 01/10/2012 In an old “Seinfeld” episode, Elaine goes to see a dermatologist about a rash, and is left sitting on the table in the exam room, alone with her medical chart. She opens the folder and almost immediately makes a sour face.
Jan 9, 2012	White House Cheers News that Health Law Not Adding to Healthcare Costs The Hill (Blog), Julian Pecquet, 01/09/2012 The Obama administration on Monday cheered new evidence that the president's healthcare reform law isn't making healthcare more expensive.
Jan 9, 2012	Building Health Reform's Research Arm Kaiser Health News, Shefali S. Kulkarni, 01/09/2012 PCORI is not quite a household name, but if Dr. Anne Beal has her way, it will be soon.
Jan 9, 2012	Caring Often Goes Beyond the Technical Expertise USA Today (Blog), Andrea Kay, 01/09/2012 Days before my husband entered the hospital where a team of medical professionals would peer inside his lungs and remove what should not live inside him, I read an article that scared the heebie-jeebies out of me.
Jan 8, 2012	Federal Health Care IT Spending Set to Grow Washington Post, Angela Petty, 01/08/2012 With money tight, congressional appropriators rarely insist that agencies spend money.
Jan 6, 2012	Curbing the Cost of Health Care Washington Post, Kathleen Sebelius (Opinion), 01/06/2012 The rising cost of health insurance coverage has imposed a heavy burden on our nation.
Jan 6, 2012	Collaborating Reduces Costs of Health Care Kaiser Health News, Harris Meyer, 01/06/2012 Peter Cady, who works 12-hour shifts on his feet at Intel's plant here, occasionally suffers severe lower back spasms.
Jan 6, 2012	Report Finds Most Errors at Hospitals Unreported New York Times, Robert Pear, 01/06/2012 Hospital employees recognize and report only one out of seven errors, accidents and other events that harm Medicare patients while they are hospitalized, federal investigators say in a new report.
Jan 4, 2012	Desert Oasis Health Care to participate in Pioneer Accountable Care Program Desert Sun, K. Kaufman, 01/04/2012 In the coming weeks thousands of Medicare patients in the Coachella Valley will have the chance to take part in an experimental program aimed at improving care while lowering costs.
Jan 4, 2012	HHS Releases Final Set of Quality Measures for Medicaid-Eligible Adults McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Staff Writer, 01/04/2012 The Department of Health and Human Services published its final core set of 26 quality measures for adult Medicaid beneficiaries in the Federal Register today.
Jan 3, 2012	2011 Medication Shortages Set New Record at 267 Associated Press, Linda A. Johnson, 01/03/2012 The number of new prescription drug shortages in 2011 shot up to 267, well above the prior record and about four times the number of medication shortages in the middle of the last decade.
Jan 3, 2012	Numbers Show High Cost of Skipping Your Meds Associated Press, Staff Writer, 01/03/2012 Not taking medicines as prescribed can have huge costs both for patients and the U.S. healthcare system.
Jan 3, 2012	Taking Your Meds Can Save Money, Hospital Trips Associated Press, Linda A. Johnson, 01/03/2012 Not taking your medicines as prescribed can hurt your wallet as well as your health and far outweigh any savings on your pharmacy bill.
Jan 3, 2012	Should Doctors Be 'Parsimonious' About Health Care? NPR (Blog), Rob Stein, 01/03/2012 A major medical group issued ethical guidelines on Monday that take the provocative position of urging doctors to consider cost-effectiveness when deciding how to treat their patients.
Jan 3, 2012	When Nurses Catch Compassion Fatigue, Patients Suffer Wall Street Journal (Blog), Laura Landro, 01/03/2012 As a nurse in the cancer center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Wilhelmina Roney, 26, sometimes feels overwhelmed by demands from patients, even though she tries her best to care for them. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Jan 2, 2012	Nowhere to Go: Patients Linger in Hospitals at High Cost New York Times, Sam Roberts, 01/02/2012 Hundreds of patients have been languishing for months or even years in New York City hospitals, despite being well enough to be sent home or to nursing centers for less-expensive care, because they are illegal immigrants or lack sufficient insurance or appropriate housing.
Jan 2, 2012	Debate Over Who Needs a Thyroid Check in Pregnancy Associated Press, Lauran Neergaard, 01/02/2012 Check-ups during pregnancy tend to focus around the waist.
Jan 2, 2012	Consumer Reports: Unnecessary Cardiac Screening Test Can Mislead a Patient Washington Post, Staff Writer, 01/02/2012 The 53-year-old accountant, a longtime patient of Marvin M. Lipman, Consumer Reports’ chief medical adviser, was smiling when he came in for a routine exam after a winter in Florida.
Jan 2, 2012	Two Choices for Best Bedside Read in the Hospital New York Times, Abigail Zuger, 01/02/2012 What is the best reading material for a stay in the hospital: the book that will lift you far away from that miserable place, or the one that will plunge you deeper in, a kind of guidebook to clarify local customs and keep you out of trouble?
Jan 2, 2012	It Costs More, But Is It Worth More? New York Times (Blog), Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Steven D. Pearson, 01/02/2012 If you want to know what is wrong with American health care today, exhibit A might be the two new proton beam treatment facilities the Mayo Clinic has begun building, one in Minnesota, the other in Arizona, at a cost of more than $180 million dollars each.
Dec 31, 2011	Hospital Lures Rural Doctors With Unusual Offer Associated Press, Roxana Hegeman, 12/31/2011 The hospital had lost the last doctor in a succession of those who came to the remote Kansas town and left again.
Dec 23, 2011	Breast Cancer Patients Face More Imaging Tests Today HealthDay, Kathleen Doheny, 12/23/2011 Women with breast cancer undergo many more imaging tests between diagnosis and surgery than they did in the early 1990s, a new study finds.
Dec 22, 2011	California ERs Serving Blacks Likelier to Close Reuters, Kerry Grens, 12/22/2011 Hospitals in California that served a greater proportion of black patients were more likely to shutter their emergency departments in the past decade than hospitals with fewer black patients, according to a new study.
Dec 22, 2011	Cut Readmissions with Discharge 'Passports,' Communication FierceHealthcare, Karen M. Cheung, 12/22/2011 Discharge planning and provider communication helped Philadelphia hospitals reduce readmissions by 7 percent, according to a report released last week by The Health Care Improvement Foundation.
Dec 22, 2011	A Doctor's Christmas Wish List Politico, Rep. Phil Gingrey (Opinion), 12/22/2011 President Obama has played Santa Claus year-round since coming into office, giving the Americans exorbitant “packages” that have time after time proven to be lumps of coal.
Dec 22, 2011	California: Nurses Plan One-Day Strike Over Contracts New York Times, Ian Lovett, 12/22/2011 Thousands of nurses plan to hold a one-day strike on Thursday over contract disputes between the California nurses’ union and two health care organizations.
Dec 21, 2011	Number of Serious Hospital Mistakes in Mass. Unchanged in 2010 Boston Globe (Blog), Kay Lazar, 12/21/2011 The total number of Massachusetts hospital patients who had the wrong body part operated on, received an erroneous medication, or were seriously disabled or died from a fall remained essentially unchanged in 2010 compared with the previous year, according to hospital safety data released today by state regulators.
Dec 21, 2011	Better Care for the Disabled New York Times, Editorial, 12/21/2011 Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to reform the wasteful and sometimes dangerous system that is supposed to care for more than 125,000 developmentally disabled adults in about 6,000 homes across New York State.
Dec 20, 2011	Surgery Complications Down with Better Teamwork Reuters, Genevra Pittman, 12/20/2011 Hospitals that introduced a program to boost communication and teamwork among doctors and nurses saw a decrease in surgery-related complications, according to a new study.
Dec 20, 2011	Nurses Accuse Equity Firm of Cutting Patient Care New York Times, Nina Bernstein, 12/20/2011 Instead of the inflatable rat that has become ho-hum at union protests in New York, a giant three-headed dog with fangs was the effigy on display as about 250 unionized nurses rallied outside the Midtown headquarters of the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.
Dec 20, 2011	Will Reading Your Doctor's Notes Lead to Better Health? USA Today (Blog), Cheryl Alkon, 12/20/2011 Could having easier access to the notes your doctor takes during a checkup help you stay healthy?
Dec 20, 2011	An interview With Health Reform's Best Hope Washington Post (Blog), Sarah Kliff, 12/20/2011 Within the health reform law, Accountable Care Organizations are meant to serve as a crucial tool to bring down health care costs by bringing American medicine past the fee-for-service model.
Dec 19, 2011	Area Conference Will Bring Health Care Pros, Educators Together The Holland Sentinel, Staff Writer, 12/19/2011 Grand Rapids — A two-day conference will focus on building and improving interprofessional relationships among West Michigan health care providers and educational institutions.
Dec 19, 2011	HHS Names 32 ‘Pioneers’ in Key Program to Cut Healthcare Costs The Hill (Blog), Sam Baker, 12/19/2011 The Health and Human Services Department on Monday named 32 organizations that will take the lead in testing out the healthcare law’s biggest effort to cut costs and improve quality.
Dec 19, 2011	Scientists Find Safer Ways To Test Medical Procedures Wall Street Journal, Shirley Wang Article, 12/19/2011 Scientists are developing ever more sophisticated versions of "virtual patients" with the aim of testing medical devices and procedures that can't readily be assessed in real people. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Dec 19, 2011	Medical Reform’s Daunting Task: Hospital Billing Politico, J. Lester Feder, 12/19/2011 During a trip to Florida in 2008, Barbara Beatty fell. She was taken to the emergency room and admitted to the hospital. A brain tumor was discovered and she began immediate treatment.
Dec 19, 2011	Was My Doctor Loyal to Me, or to the Drug Companies? Washington Post, Maran Wolston, 12/19/2011 Last year, four years after showing initial symptoms of multiple sclerosis, I walked out of one neurologist’s office and began searching for a different doctor.
Dec 19, 2011	Medicare Penalties for Readmissions are Likely to Hit Hospitals Serving the Poor Washington Post, Jordan Rau, 12/19/2011 James Breedin cannot keep track of how often he has been admitted to Howard University Hospital for heart problems.
Dec 19, 2011	When Terminally Ill Patients Ask How Long They Have, Doctors Find it Hard to Say Washington Post, Manoj Jain, 12/19/2011 In January, when my close friend’s lymph node biopsy came back as a rare form of T-cell lymphoma, I scoured the scientific literature.
Dec 19, 2011	Kaiser Health News Analysis Examines Readmission Rates at 3,119 Hospitals Kaiser Health News, Jordan Rau, 12/19/2011 Academic studies have found that hospitals treating a higher proportion of low-income patients are more likely than others to have higher readmission rates.
Dec 19, 2011	Post-Discharge Clinics Try to Cut Hospital Readmissions by Helping Patients Washington Post, Michelle Andrews, 12/19/2011 For patients, the transition from hospital to home is a critical time
Dec 19, 2011	When Lobotomy Was Seen as Advanced New York Times, Barron H. Lerner, M.D., 12/19/2011 Most of us recall lobotomies as they were depicted in the movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”— horrifying operations inappropriately used to control mentally ill patients.
Dec 19, 2011	More than 30 Organizations to Test New Health-Care Model for Seniors Washington Post, Christian Torres, 12/19/2011 Thirty-two groups were named Monday to test a new health-care model, called for in the health-care law and designed to improve care for seniors while reducing costs.
Dec 19, 2011	Online Access to Notes on Patients Gets Mixed Reaction USA Today, Kelly Kennedy, 12/19/2011 Patients and doctors have dramatically different visions about the value of access to physicians' notes about their patients, a new survey from Harvard Medical School released Monday shows.
Dec 19, 2011	Battling the Blues Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro, 12/19/2011 'Tis the season to be merry—or not so much, if you suffer from depression. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Dec 19, 2011	Why Mandated Health Insurance Is Unfair Wall Street Journal, John C. Goodman (Opinion), 12/19/2011 Should all Americans be required to have health insurance? Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Dec 19, 2011	Hospital Faces Scrutiny Wall Street Journal, Jacob Gershman, 12/19/2011 Brooklyn Facility at Center of Corruption Probe Accused of Endangering Patients. Note: Viewing this article may require a subscription.
Dec 18, 2011	Digital Data on Patients Raises Risk of Breaches New York Times, Nicole Perlroth, 12/18/2011 One afternoon last spring, Micky Tripathi received a panicked call from an employee.
Dec 17, 2011	The Internet Gets Physical New York Times, Steve Lohr, 12/17/2011 The Internet likes you, really likes you.
Dec 15, 2011	Walkouts by Nurses Loom as Hospitals Seek to Cut Costs New York Times, Nina Bernstein, 12/15/2011 The specter of nursing strikes is looming on both coasts, as newly empowered nurses’ unions confront hospitals pressed to cut costs amid changes in health care financing.
Dec 15, 2011	Study: Higher Hospital Admissions Equal Higher Hospital Readmissions HealthDay, Maureen Salamon, 12/15/2011 Efforts to reduce costly hospital readmissions have focused on improving patient care just after discharge. But much of the readmission problem may be due to an overuse of inpatient hospital services in the first place, a new study suggests.
Dec 15, 2011	When the Doctor Faces a Lawsuit New York Times (Blog), Pauline W. Chen, 12/15/2011 Within months of completing my training, I received the call that every doctor dreads.
Dec 14, 2011	Study Suggests Readmissions Rates May Reflect Broader Hospital Use Kaiser Health News, Jordan Rau, 12/14/2011 The high rate of hospital readmissions has produced a flurry of policy solutions to improve care for patients as they’re being discharged and afterward.
Dec 14, 2011	Hospitals Try to Control Readmissions, Even When It Hurts Profits Kaiser Health News, Fred Mogul, 12/14/2011 What doesn’t kill you only makes you a repeat customer.
Dec 14, 2011	Hospitals Cut Doses Amid Drug Shortage Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Corbett Dooren, 12/14/2011 Hospitals are grappling with a shortage of nutrition drugs and disinfectant products that has led doctors to cut doses and ration supplies, prompting patients at a handful of facilities to get sick.
Dec 14, 2011	As Doctors Use More Devices, Potential for Distraction Grows New York Times, Matt Ritchel, 12/14/2011 Hospitals and doctors’ offices, hoping to curb medical error, have invested heavily to put computers, smartphones and other devices into the hands of medical staff for instant access to patient data, drug information and case studies.
Dec 13, 2011	‘Meaningful Use’ of Health Information Technology Should be Truly Meaningful The Hill (Blog), Jonathan Bush, 12/13/2011 As all parties to the health care system search for ways to rein in costs, the U.S. government is in the process of distributing the first of nearly $30 billion in checks to eligible medical providers.
Dec 12, 2011	Medicare May Penalize Hospitals That Readmit Too Many Patients Washington Post, Ranit Mishori, 12/12/2011 It’s a return trip nobody wants to take: You are discharged from the hospital, only to find yourself readmitted a few days later.
Dec 12, 2011	Many Elderly Screened for Cancer Despite Risks USA Today, Steven Reinberg, 12/12/2011 Many older Americans get screened for colon, breast, prostate and cervical cancer even though guidelines recommend against routinely screening the elderly, a new study finds.
Dec 12, 2011	When Pap Smears Are No Longer Needed New York Times, Paula Span, 12/12/2011 Many women past 65 can stop getting annual Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer, medical panels agree.
Dec 12, 2011	Berwick: Don’t Blame Medicare, Medicaid. It’s The Delivery System Kaiser Health News, Phil Galewitz, 12/12/2011 Dr. Donald Berwick, who oversaw Medicare and Medicaid until earlier this month, defended the programs Monday, but said they are trapped in a U.S. health system that promotes wasteful spending and inefficient care.
Dec 12, 2011	Racial Disparities in Colon Cancer Screenings Persist Despite Insurance, Access Medical Xpress, David Pittman, 12/12/2011 Public health researchers have long attributed the disparity in colonoscopy rates between whites and minorities to a lack of health insurance or access to doctors.
Dec 12, 2011	Keeping Errors at Bay Modern Healthcare, Staff Writer, 12/12/2011 To prevent medical errors from affecting patients—and minimizing the harm caused when they do—Helen DeVos Children's Hospital has introduced “high reliability units” in several higher-risk patient-care areas based on evidence-based practices.
Dec 12, 2011	The Future of U.S. Health Care Wall Street Journal, Anna Wilde Mathews, 12/12/2011 Call it the united state of health care.

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