Dive Brief: A new study in JAMA Network Open finds that Medicare patients with heart failure or pneumonia likely had more costs associated with the hospital where they were receiving treatment than their acuity. The researchers randomly studied 1.22 million patients discharged between July 2013 and June 2016, and further isolated them to 1,615 patient… Read More »
Dive Brief: The blackouts created by the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) utility in Northern California have led to numerous hospitals relying on their backup generators for power. Many of the hospitals have had to cancel elective procedures. No hospital has had to close down, but some clinics have had to cut back on operations.… Read More »
—By George Heckman and Paul Hébert Canadians over 65 years old use over 40 per cent of hospital services, a demand that continues to rise. As they age, Canadians hope to stay at home as long as possible. If hospitalization is required, they should expect to go home quickly and safely afterwards. Yet many spend… Read More »
Opinion writers weigh in on these public health issues and others. The New York Times: Don’t Forget Our Frontline Caregivers In The Opioid Epidemic America’s opioid epidemic will go down in history alongside the Spanish flu, typhoid, polio and AIDS as one of our worst public health disasters. Between 1999 and 2017, almost 218,000 people… Read More »
Dive Brief: A new report from Moody’s Investors Service rates the risk of cyberattacks on the hospital sector as high, noting such attacks are growing in frequency and “will continue to evolve.” The primary reason for the high risk is hospitals’ reliance on technology. Banks and securities firms are in a similar situation. Moody’s believes… Read More »
When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of healthcare rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, according to a new paper by experts at Rice University and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. As hospitals gain more control over physicians, they may incentivize delivery of more services but not necessarily higher… Read More »