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Placebos have been a part of medicine since ancient times, and remain both clinically relevant and philosophically interesting, according to a University of Chicago medical student whose research has shown that 45% of Chicago-area internists use placebos in their practice.
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A paper reporting the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) association's position on how far doctors can go in conscientious refusal to perform abortions and prescribe emergency contraception is an attack on "pro-life" physicians, according to two medical associations.
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Now that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is rolling out its Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) project nationwide, it's more important than ever for case managers to make sure the medical record includes documentation that supports medical necessity for the services patients receive, experts say.
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Through a partnership with a community free clinic, a community case management program at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, CA, helps needy residents learn to negotiate the health care delivery system and get the care they need.
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At Dublin (OH) Methodist Hospital, the clinical staff carry notebook computers into patient rooms, communicate through wireless communications badges, and rarely touch a piece of paper or a pencil in their every day work.
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Two new auditing processes and a script for "introducing" discharge planners to their patients are the latest innovations at Stevens Hospital in Edmunds, WA, part of its response to the revised "Important Message from Medicare" (IM).
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At California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles "we never want [staff] to say, 'We do not have any beds,'" says Elizabeth Oliver, director for access care for the facility, which is part of Catholic Healthcare West (CHW).
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In the first year of Saint Luke Hospital's initiative to improve throughput for long-stay patients, the length of stay for those patients dropped by 0.5 days and the number of avoidable days dropped from 160 in 2006 to 90 in 2007.
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At the end of a project to improve throughput in the emergency department, the length of stay for patients with low-risk chest pain dropped from an average of more than 30 hours to an average of between 20 and 24 hours at two hospitals in the Sharp HealthCare system.
