contact news from FierceHealthcare

Here we go again! As reported by the Baltimore Sun, a CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield dental HMO accidentally leaked personal information--including Social Security numbers--of around 75,000 patients Read more...

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's hospital plans to kick off a unique program which would attempt to do better at obtaining donor organs from patients who can't be revived. Under the Read more...

Given the lower prices and high quality care available outside of the U.S., is anybody surprised by medical tourism's growth? Probably not. The real question is what should we do about it. OK, I Read more...

A New England-based foundation is offering a growing list of providers a new perspective by setting up meetings exposing clinicians to patients' stories of their healthcare experiences. The "Rounds Read more...

While hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are nasty, a new MRSA strain emerging outside of hospitals is proving to be even more lethal. This newer MRSA strain, community-associated MRSA, is often spread in prisons and on athletic teams , both of which bring people into close physical contact and involve sharing personal items like towels, …

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Particularly when it comes to surgeons, who are particularly at risk for nicks and cuts, providers may pose more of a infection-control risk than previously thought. Because viruses like hepatitis B and C and HIV are spread by blood-to-blood contact, healthcare workers are more at risk than the general population, given their more-frequent contact with bodily fluids. And since there are no laws requiring surgeons to be tested for blood-borne viruses--not to mention that infected …

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There's a hepatitis C scare on in New York City, where authorities have asked 4,500 people to get tested after their contact with a local anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist, who hasn't been named, may have spread the disease as he or she put patients under. To date, three people treated by the physician have been diagnosed with hep C. Tests suggest that the patients picked up the illness while getting intravenous anesthesia meds during outpatient procedures. However, it's not clear …

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Search Google for the term "hospital concierge service" and you'll be flooded with links to such programs. Over the past couple of years, a growing number of hospitals have been running with the concept, borrowed …

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Adding yet another wrinkle to the agency's complex relationship with doctors, CMS may begin profiling physicians and targeting those it deems inefficient sometime next year. Herbert Kuhn, acting deputy administrator of CMS, told a House subcommittee that the agency will have the data and computer capacity available to do the tracking as soon as mid-2008. To monitor efficiency, CMS would compare levels of tests physicians order for certain types of patients to tests ordered by other …

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Rising healthcare costs, less contact with physicians, longer wait times--all of these are the frustrating realities for patients dealing with our healthcare system. But the American Academy of Family Physicians' TransforMED project is hoping the cure these problems using a program that allows patients to have virtual checkups online. Thirty-six physicians have been selected to participate in a pilot program that will run for two years. Billed as the "house call of the future," the …

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