Medical practice

A new bill has been filed in the House which would create a standardized template for cancer care--and see to it that physicians were paid to develop more comprehensive plans. The bill, which is sponsored by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA), would lay the foundation for a coordinated system of cancer care, particularly at the post-treatment stage. Right now, cancer patients typically lack a treatment summary and written care plan offering input on follow-up exams and symptoms …

A new program is getting under way which will help primary care residents prepare to run practices that serve more effectively as a "personal medical home" for patients. The program is funded by a $1.7 million grant from the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors and the American Board of Family Medicine, in collaboration with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Fourteen family residency programs are taking part in the initiative, dubbed "Preparing the Personal …

Physicians, more patients than you might think believe you're not sparing enough with prescriptions and treatments. A new study by the Wall Street Journal and Harris Interactive found that more than a quarter of patients have failed to fill a drug prescription because they felt that it was unnecessary, and that 20 percent have gotten a second opinion when they felt their doctor's recommendations were too aggressive for their taste. All told, 44 percent of people surveyed told …

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has signed on for an HHS program designed to help doctors treat ethnic minorities more effectively, adding its support to a growing industry movement focusing on differences in minority care. While UHC's participation is limited to Web efforts at the moment, the extent of their outreach efforts to doctors suggests that they're taking the issue seriously.

Working with the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH), the health plan is launching a website which will …

Sure, adding more medical schools can help address physician shortages. But it's just as important to expand residency programs, say medical school deans in Florida, one of 23 states targeted by a new federal residency-promotion bill. In Florida, the number of med school graduates should double during the next 10 years, but aren't any current plans on the table to dramatically increase the number of residency slots. However, things will change if The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction …

Over the past couple of years, executives at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have found a new way to deal with the threat of malpractice claims. The medical center has developed a formal mediation process which not only settles claims, but does so in creative ways. Of course, UPMC does offer cash to settle some claims, but it has also mounted plaques and named hospital rooms in an aggrieved patient's honor. It's also given patients a chance to discuss their negative …

Despite the importance of such diagnoses to wartime medical care, the military hasn't developed a comprehensive plan to treat soldiers with mild and moderate brain injuries, according to a new report. The Pentagon has had traumatic brain injury (TBI) on its radar since at least mid-2006, when a military-generated report suggested that it was critical to develop good screenings for blast-associated TBI and other forms of brain injury. While the military does a good job of treating …

An employee of a Pittsfield, Mass.-based hospital is suing a physician there, claiming that the doctor accessed her medical chart because he was interested in her romantically. The employee, Ashley Keyes, is suing pulmonary and critical-care specialist Dr. Boris Alberto Murillo, as well as his employer, Berkshire Medical Center parent company Berkshire Health Systems.

The dispute arose from Keyes' discovery, in January 2006, that Murillo had been reviewing her electronic medical …

It's been 18 months since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, but 11 hospitals remain closed in the wake of the storm. Officials continue to argue over how the healthcare system should be reshaped, most notably over whether indigent care dollars should remain the Charity Hospital system or follow patients as part of an insurance scheme. Meanwhile, many of the city's …

Does it matter whether you roll out an EMR system now or later? Apparently, it does to some consumers. According to a new study by Accenture, the majority of consumers give at least some weight to whether a physician uses an EMR when choosing a practice--and what's more, most are willing to pay more to such practices. To draw these conclusions, Accenture surveyed 600 U.S. consumers and interviewed more than 100 physicians. Two-thirds of consumers surveyed said that the presence of an EMR …