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The average time spent in emergency departments rose in 2006, but so did patient satisfaction, according to a recent report by Press Ganey Associates. Based on the firm's patient surveys in 1,500 hospitals, patients spent an average of four hours in the ED, 18 minutes more than in 2005.
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The great majority of U.S. health care dollars are spent supporting the chronically ill, yet the traditional focus of hospital care is on the "episode of illness," notes Bob Whipple, RNC, CCM, CCS, MHA, a Boston-based senior management consultant with ACS Healthcare Solutions.
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Except as specified for emergency situations, all inpatient and outpatient medical records must contain a properly executed informed consent form prior to a patient receiving any type of treatment that requires informed consent.
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One of your patients dies as the result of an AIDS-related infection. During the time he was under your care, he made it clear that he did not want his parents to know that he was HIV-positive or suffering from AIDS.
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Physicians in intensive care settings at times make the decision to withdraw life-supporting care from patients who are incapacitated and have no surrogate decision makers or advance directives.
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Preserving a patient's dignity is more important than some doctors think, according to a palliative care expert who points out that loss of dignity is one of the most common reasons patients seek out physician-hastened death.
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The American Medical Association has spoken out on two medical technology-related ethics issues, affirming that it is unethical to patent medical procedures and cautioning that the use of implantable radio frequency identification devices should come with a strong dose of caution to the user.
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Chronic pain has gathered increasing international attention as a human rights issue, and a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress in July seeks to mandate the right of chronic pain sufferers to education, treatment, and research into the condition.
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Spirituality has been tied to physical health throughout the history of cultures worldwide, but only recently has it been gaining new attention as a component of modern health care.
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While a grand jury in New Orleans has cleared otolaryngologist Anna Pou, MD, in the deaths of patients at Memorial Medical Center in the days following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, allegations that she and two nurses actively killed patients trapped in the hospital, some doctors fear, could deter health care providers from remaining at their posts in future disasters.
