Don’t let a hospital kill you

Like the title?
Part of the (characteristically inflammatory) CNN.com “Empowered Patient” series, excerpted below:
Like many young men, Josh Nahum loved a thrill. That’s why he took up skydiving. But on Labor Day weekend in 2006, he had an accident while skydiving in Colorado, fracturing his femur and skull.
Josh spent six weeks in the intensive care unit. [...]

Patients Generally Pleased With Hospital Care

They’re referencing HCAPS…
From the American Medical News, via ACHE News:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, a survey that covered more than 2,500 hospitals and 3,000 patients per hospital from October 2006 to June 2007 and asked about their hospital stays. Nearly [...]

Making Room For ‘Dr. Nurse’

From the Wall Street Journal, as reported in the ACHE News:

The healthcare industry is plagued by a dearth of physicians, but nursing schools across the United States are stepping in to offer doctoral programs for nurses. These two-year programs, which include one-year of residency, create a “hybrid practitioner” with more skills than a nurse practitioner. [...]

More On Hospital Insolvency…

More Than Half of U.S. Hospitals Are Now Technically Insolvent or at Risk of Insolvency

State and local governments across the United States are limiting spending as the economy continues its decline and tax revenues falter, which is why about 50 percent of short-term, acute-care hospitals are either insolvent or near insolvency, according to a recent [...]

“Enough Already”

Tales from the Emergency Room weighs in…
I have stayed mostly quiet on the topic of the Macleans article that hit newsstands in January. It examined the doctor shortage across Canada, gave tips on how to find a family doctor, and looked in particular at the shortages in rural areas. Sprinkled liberally with anecdotes and horror [...]