death rates
Suspended, indicted Miami surgeon keeps operating
Cardiac surgeon Dr. Alex Zakharia has been suspended from the medical staff at Miami's Cedars Medical Center while it investigates 24 of his cases, including several deaths. That hasn't stopped the... Read more...
CA rates cardiac surgeons by name
For the first time, California consumers can find out how individual cardiac surgeons fare on coronary bypass procedures. In a new report, the state has listed bypass death rates for 121 hospitals... Read more...
Study: Asian-Americans have unique cancer patterns
Whether born here or newly-arrived in the U.S., Asian-Americans have distinctive patterns of cancer incidence that doctors should be aware of when treating this population, new research says.... Read more...
Payments lagging for popular cardiac treatment
Atrial fibrillation is fairly common in the United States, affecting at least 2.2 million people. This condition, which creates rapid and irregular heartbeats, often serves as a warning hearts are deteriorating and can be a major cause of stroke. Increasingly, physicians are hoping to treat it with a costly procedure known as catheter-based ablation (CBA), rather than the fairly toxic drugs often used for this condition.
The problem is that the FDA hasn't approved any of the …
Study: Limiting intern hours improves patient care
Evidence is piling up, in study after study, that it just makes sense to limit work shifts for residents and interns. In today's example, which comes from the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers at Yale-New Haven Hospital collected data on treatment and outcomes …
... Read more...UnitedHealth launches minority health initiative
Working with civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH organization, UnitedHealth Group has launched an initiative intended to promote African-American health. The two groups are working to address disparities in the care African-American and other minority communities receive. The partners will also focus on health issues which are proving to be a particular challenge among African-Americans, including diabetes, cancer, coronary disease, asthma and obesity. UnitedHealth will give …
... Read more...New Orleans official challenges death rate data
The city of New Orleans' top medical official is angrily contesting new state data which conflicts with his findings that death rates have risen substantially since Hurricane Katrina. Officials with Louisiana's Department of Health and Hospitals yesterday released numbers which contradict an analysis by Dr. Kevin Stephens that mortality rates have spiked 47 percent since the disastrous storm. State officials concede that the city is still struggling, but said that Stephens' numbers are …
... Read more...UnitedHealthcare rates hospital cardiac care
Health plan UnitedHealthcare launched a plan yesterday to name hospitals that agree to submit information on one aspect of cardiac care to a central registry. Under the program, UnitedHealthcare will certify hospitals as "premium" cardiac care centers if they agree to submit performance and outcomes data on their use of implantable cardiac defibrillators to the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Registry (ICDR). The ICD registry, which was developed by the American College of …
... Read more...CMS to publish cardiac death rates, but carefully
Quite aware that a misstep could generate a huge backlash among hospitals, CMS has chosen a conservative course for its planned publication of cardiac death rates. Starting next month, the agency will publish death rates for heart attack and heart failure on its Hospital Compare website. The reports, which reflect stats from July 2005 to June 2006, profile heart attack and heart failure patients who died within a month of entering the …
... Read more...Study: High-volume NICUs perform better
A new study suggests that preemies do better if they're treated in higher-volume, high-tech neonatal intensive care units. The study, which appears today in the New England Journal of Medicine, reviewed records on 48,000 premature and fetal deaths in California from 1991 through 2000, focusing on infants with birth rates of one to three pounds. Upon analyzing the data, researchers found that extremely premature infants survived twice as often when they were treated at a busy …
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