South Dakota’s Avera Will Acquire Physician-Owned Clinic in Iowa

From Becker’s Hospital Review: Family Medicine Clinic of Sibley, Iowa, will join Avera Medical Group network and be owned by Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, both in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to an Avera news release. The transaction is effective Jan. 1. The new name of the clinic will be Avera Medical Group, [...]

Rural teens more likely to abuse prescription drugs than their urban, suburban counterparts

From Modern Medicine: Adolescents living in rural areas are significantly more likely to abuse prescription drugs than their counterparts in urban areas, according to a study published online in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, HealthDay News reported. Jennifer R. Havens, PhD, of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data [...]

Study: Electronic Medical Records Don’t Boost Hospital Quality Measures

From the WSJ Health Blog: Standard measures of hospital quality aren’t improved much by the use of electronic medical records, according to a recently published study by Rand Corp. researchers. The study compared data on hospital EMR capability from 2003 and 2006 and publicly reported hospital quality data for 2004 and 2007, looking specifically at [...]

Fake “Nurse of the Year” Headed to Prison

From NBC Connecticut: A woman who staged a dinner honoring herself as “Nurse of the Year” will spend nine months in prison for practicing nursing without a license. Betty Lichtenstein, 57, of Danbury was working for Dr. Gerald Weiss in 2009, when Weiss complained to the Connecticut Department of Health that Lichtenstein had acted unprofessionally. An [...]

Sex bias in cardiovascular testing, intervention due to patient preference

From Cardiology Today: Despite presenting in ED’s with similar symptoms of acute coronary syndrome, women are less likely than men to receive the appropriate diagnostic tests and interventions because they are less apt to follow their physician’s recommendations, according to a cohort study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine. Researchers enrolled 1,080 patients, 54% of [...]

DHS: Iowa Medicaid providers first to receive incentives to upgrade records

From IowaPolitics.com: Doctors and other Iowa Medicaid providers will be among the first in the nation next month to receive direct incentives for installing electronic health record systems in their offices, according to Medicaid Director Jennifer Vermeer. Doctors, dentists, and other providers whose practice includes a high percentage of Medicaid patients can receive up to [...]

Woman Waits 30 Hours for Ambulance in Blizzard

From FoxNY: As a battering snowstorm stranded ambulances and hundreds of 911 calls piled up unresolved, Annie O’Daly knew she might have to wait for help after slipping and breaking her ankle on Sunday night. She didn’t think she’d be waiting for 30 hours. Help finally arrived at the 58-year-old woman’s Brooklyn home Tuesday morning [...]

Medicare regulation revives end-of-life planning

From the Associated Press:  new health regulation issued this month offers Medicare recipients voluntary end-of-life planning, which Democrats dropped from the monumental health care overhaul last year. The provision allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death. [...]

The Joint Commission Appoints New CMO

From DOTmed.com: The Joint Commission said Wednesday it appointed Dr. Ana Pujols-McKee as its new executive vice president and chief medical officer. McKee will work on developing policies and strategies that promote patient safety and improve quality in health care. Her responsibilities will include supporting The Joint Commission’s Patient Safety Advisory Group and offer clinical [...]

Obese Drivers at Higher Risk of Death in Car Crashes: Study

From US News and World Report: Here’s another reason not to pile on too many excess pounds: A new study finds that the obese and very obese are at raised risk of death in severe car crashes. According to the research, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, a moderately obese driver is 21 [...]