johns hopkins

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is facing a public controversy after a donor pitch letter inadvertently exposed the former patients' Social Security numbers. The letter, which went out to about 6,000 former patients earlier this month, included a tracking code that integrated the SSN. The code was visible through the envelope window. Critics call the inclusion of the SSN a serious mishap, arguing that it could expose the 6,000 recipients to identity theft. UPMC denies that …

Healthcare researchers already know that as boys become men, they visit the doctor less often, sometimes because of costs or lack of health insurance. Now, a new study suggests that problem is deeper than that. The study, by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, suggests that 15- to 19-year-olds see visits to doctors as a sign of weakness. Researchers, who looked at data from 1,700 young men, also noted that the young men's parents may not be encouraging them to get annual exams either, …

Just a week after high-profile Maryland hospital Johns Hopkins lost data on thousands of patients and employees, a second Maryland hospital has reported losing data on about 130,000 former and current patients. St. Mary's Hospital just notified the patients that a laptop stocked with their personal information was stolen from a hospital late last year, in December. The laptop, which was …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins released a study that concludes requiring doctors and nurses to report medication errors and log them in a database improves care quality and decreases the chances that providers will make mistakes. The research, which appears in the June issue of the journal Quality & Safety in Healthcare, looked at mistakes at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. In the study, researchers found errors occur during every step of the medication process …

Visitors from other countries looking for access to world-class medical care have traditionally flocked to U.S. hospitals. In the aftermath of September 11, many hospitals have found themselves cut off from what was once a highly lucrative revenue stream. Stricter visa rules and tougher security at borders have meant a major evolution of the market. Johns Hopkins appears to have come up with a logical response: moving to where the action is. The Baltimore Sun reports that Hopkins …

> The Center for Science in the Public Interest calculates that a one cent per can soda tax would raise $1.5 billion a year to fight obesity and other diseases. Article

> The national organ transplantation system is under fire after recent revelations. Could Web sites like MatchingDonor.com be the answer? Article

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A new study appearing in the journal Health Affairs confirms that the U.S. is falling behind other industrialized nations in the race to implement electronic medical records systems. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Princeton studied data on health and technology spending in the U.S. and compared it with OECD data and found that the U.S. is at least 12 years behind other advanced states. The study also backs earlier work that has concluded that the U.S. gets less bang for its buck …

Architects are rethinking the way they design hospitals as providers focus on challenges like improving efficiency and preventing medical errors. Innovations like no-slip floors and glass walls are improving safety and allowing staff to better monitor patients. The Wall Street Journal looks at the case of St. Joseph's Hospital in West Bend, Wisconsin, which hired Nashville's Gresham Smith and Partners to study the question of how a safer hospital could be built. The hospital also …

A new study offers a sobering glimpse of what could happen at hospitals in North America in the event of a major pandemic. Researchers at Johns Hopkins asked public health professionals how they would react if they felt their lives and those of their families were at risk. Would they go to work? Would they stay home? The answers they elicited appear to contradict the conventional wisdom about attitudes among public health workers regarding their own responsibilities. Forty-six percent of …

VISICU is either the steal of the century or highly over-rated, depending on who you ask. The Baltimore-based company, which was founded by two doctors at Johns Hopkins, prices shares for its initial public offering this week. The company plans to offer 6 million shares priced at between $11 and $13. Wall Street is watching, intrigued by a business model that provides hospitals with technology that allows remote access to intensive care services. Forbes columnist Scott Reeves, …