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Only about one in four physicians in the United States use e-mail to communicate clinical information to patients, and one reason may be a lack of effective means of billing for e-mail time. But some say they don't yet know enough about what quality of care can be delivered via patients' e-mail inboxes.
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A patient's race, age, and medical condition may affect whether or not they receive pain medications in the emergency department (ED), according to a study of adults who presented to an emergency department with musculoskeletal pain.
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Good physician-patient communication does much more than eliminate the need for repeated visits. Effective communication has been demonstrated to result in better outcomes, greater patient satisfaction, and decreased likelihood of lawsuits.
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Almost all hospitals support the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in moving forward with a pay-for-performance program over the next few years.
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News reports in recent months tell of computers with data on Medicare and Medicaid patients being stolen from a health system's regional office and a former hospital worker charged with fraud and identity theft for accessing and selling patient files.
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A biometrics pilot project at Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital was virtually seamless in terms of staff training and patient participation and showed great potential for reducing fraud and enhancing customer service.
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A pilot program under way in Tucson, AZ, aims to direct uninsured patients who show up for care in the hospital emergency department to a nearby primary and specialty care clinic where they can find an ongoing medical home, says Nancy Johnson, RN, PhD(c), executive director of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Clinic.
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Patients' right to freedom of choice of providers has been a source of continuing conflict, especially between hospitals and post-acute providers not owned by or affiliated with hospitals -- so-called freestanding providers.
