Get me a neurosurgeon, stat!

From US News and World Report:
Across the country, three quarters of emergency departments report a shortage of specialists like neurosurgeons and orthopedists, according to a 2006 survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians. That’s up from two thirds when the survey was done in 2004. “This is the weak link in the chain of [...]

Norms for Staff of UWMC Emergency Department

Norms for Staff of UWMC Emergency Department
Always: 1. Remember the patient is the reason we are here2. Treat the patient and their families with dignity and care for them with compassion3. Maintain patient confidentiality at all times; keep your voice down and discuss patients only in private areas4. Wear your name [...]

"An Rx for Deadly Dosages"

From Time:
Flawed prescriptions each year kill more than 7,000 people in the U.S. and injure more than 1.5 million. To reduce such errors, a coalition of health-care companies and tech firms is launching eRX Now, a Web-based program that will enable all physicians in the U.S. to write electronic prescriptions for free. It will also [...]

Comments on EMR

From SacBee.com
Not long ago, I regularly coached students and residents that during their patient encounters, they should put their papers and notes aside and listen to the person — look them in the eyes. There was so much more to be learned by having doctors use their eyes as well as their ears.
Today, a flat-screen [...]

Woman files complaint that doctor offered patients $10 to go home

From the Sault Star:
An Echo Bay woman plans to file a complaint with Sault Area Hospital that an emergency room doctor was offering patients $10 to go home.
Diane Edwards had been waiting eight hours to get a prescription refilled when a physician told the “room full of people he’d pay them $10″ each if [...]

Changes Proposed for Medicaid Funding

Bush administration plan would cut spending, affect many small hospitals, nursing homes
WASHINGTON (AP) - Many rural hospitals and nursing homes would get fewer federal dollars under a proposal to save Medicaid almost $4 billion over the next five years. The change would have “a significant economic impact on a substantial number” of health care providers, [...]

2007 Medicare Payment Rates Posted

2007 Medicare Payment Rates Posted
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Medicare contractors have posted 2007 physician payment rates on their Web sites following our victory in December halting their proposed payment cuts. These revised fees, which went into effect 1/1/07, result from the Medicare physician payment provisions [...]