Beverly Johnson, MD, has experienced exactly how rheumatologists and their patients benefit from musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune disease…
Hospitals May Face Bigger Penalties for Readmissions Than Deaths
(Reuters Health)—Medicare penalties are tied to fewer repeat hospitalizations for some common health problems, but a new study suggests current policy doesn’t encourage hospitals in the U.S. to focus on preventable deaths. Researchers examined nationwide data for both deaths and readmissions within 30 days of discharge for three common problems: heart failure, pneumonia and heart…
U.S., Canada Issue Joint Alert on Ransomware after Hospital Attacks
(Reuters)—The U.S. and Canada on Thursday issued a rare joint cyber alert, warning against a recent surge in extortion attacks that infect computers with viruses known as “ransomware,” which encrypt data and demand payments for it to be unlocked. The warning follows reports from several private security firms that they expect the crisis to worsen,…
Parents Often Catch Hospital Errors Doctors Missed
(Reuters Health)—Parents often catch medical errors that their child’s doctor missed, according to a U.S. study that suggests families may be an untapped resource for improving hospital safety and preventing mistakes. Roughly one in 10 parents spotted mistakes that physicians did not, according to the study of safety incidents observed on two pediatrics units at…
Los Angeles Hospital Paid Hackers $17,000 Ransom in Bitcoins
(Reuters)—The president of Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center said on Wednesday that his hospital paid hackers a ransom of $17,000 in bitcoins to regain control of their computer systems after a cyber attack. Allen Stefanek said in a statement that paying the ransom was the “quickest and most efficient way” of regaining access to the affected…
U.S. Appeals Court: Hospitals Can Be ‘Urban’ & ‘Rural’ at Same Time
NEW YORK (Reuters)—The federal appeals court in New York struck down a U.S. regulation that made it harder for hospitals to provide better medical care at lower cost by claiming they were “rural” for some purposes and “urban” for others. Thursday’s decision by the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for hospitals…
The Future of Rural Rheumatology: A Discussion with Dr. Robert Jackson
Rheumatologists practicing in rural and urban areas face different challenges. Robert Jackson, DO, discusses how technology, healthcare reform and hospital closures affect rheumatology practice in rural areas and its future…
New Venture Aims to Fill Customer-Service Void in Healthcare
(Reuters)—Three large U.S. venture capital firms are betting that hospitals will buy into a new service designed to help healthcare providers treat their patients more like upscale hotels treat their customers. The new company, called Docent Health, is creating software and mobile applications that will help organize and monitor every aspect of an individual’s hospital…
Patients Leaving Hospitals Often Don’t Understand Care Plans
(Reuters Health)—Many patients leaving the hospital don’t understand follow-up care plans because the instructions are tailored to people with higher reading levels and more education, a recent U.S. study suggests. The American Medical Association already recommends that written health information be targeted to a sixth grade audience because nearly half of the U.S. population is…
Hospital Safety Culture Key to Improving Surgical Results
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The “safety culture” of a hospital may be just as important in delivering high-quality surgical patient care as more technical issues like surgeon skill and operating room equipment, according to a new study. “The study supports what many surgeons have known for a long time, and that is that the organizational culture…