-
Hurricane Katrina, clearly, was a health care disaster of unimaginable proportions. In the wake of the storm, Gulf Coast hospital emergency generators were rendered inoperable by rising floodwaters.
-
Hurricane Katrinas impact was felt far beyond those areas that received the storms direct fury. From Alabama to Texas, EDs that already were overcrowded had to deal with a sudden influx of transfers that, in most cases, doubled their normal censuses.
-
The recent fining of Behavioral Hospital of Lutcher (LA) for allegedly failing to appropriately accept transfers of two patients suffering psychiatric emergencies may have offered a bit of consolation to ED managers who are increasingly frustrated by their inability to successfully transfer such patients, but it was also a sober reminder of the severity of the problem.
-
-
As technological advancements make it possible to quickly and easily scan large numbers of medical records to conduct research, there is increasing public concern about the possible intrusions to patient privacy.
-
With only nine organizations receiving accreditation through its Partnership for Human Research Protection (PHRP), the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and its partner in the effort, the National Commission on Quality Assurance (NCQA) have jointly decided to dissolve the agency.
-
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that deaths due to poor diet and physical inactivity rose by 33% over the past decade and soon may overtake tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death.
-
-
The line between quality improvement (QI) activities, which are intended to improve health care within an institution, and true research, which seeks to contribute knowledge to others outside the institution, has always been blurry.
-
Deception has long been a tool of investigators conducting social and behavioral research. Subjects agreeing to a study may not know exactly what it is about, in order to elicit unguarded responses.
