The ‘101’s’ of Being Hospitalized
By Julie Kliger, May 16, 2022. Do you know what you need to know? Most people, it turns out, have no idea what to do when one of their family members (or themselves) lands in… Read More
Articles by Peter Hunt
At US Hospitals, a Drug Mix-Up Is Just a Few Keystrokes Away
Article Summary: Many hospital medication cabinets can be searched by inputting only a few letters which results in a drug mix-up and causes patient harm. By Brett Kelman, KHN, Apr 29, 2022. More than four… Read More
12 Most Famous Medical Malpractice Cases – Dirty Dozen of Medical Mistakes
While we live in a time of great medical advances, serious medical mistakes take an enormous number of lives. By the last count, independent studies suggest that between 200,000 and 400,000 people die each year in...
Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?
On any given day, one in every 31 hospital patients has an infection that was contracted during their stay, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infections and other complications can prolong hospital… Read More
Health Care Paradox: Medicare Penalizes Dozens of Hospitals It Also Gives Five Stars
By Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News, February 8, 2022. . The federal government has penalized 764 hospitals — including more than three dozen it simultaneously rates as among the best in the country — for… Read More
Study Claims Hospitals Charge Double for Specialty Drugs Compared to Pharmacies
Article Summary: A new study conducted by AHIP shows hospitals and doctors’ offices charge patients more for specialty drugs compared to specialty pharmacies. By Robert King, Fierce Healthcare, Feb 17, 2022. Hospitals on average charge… Read More
An $80,000 surprise bill points to a loophole in a new law to protect patients
Article Summary: An insurer refused to pay bills related to the premature birth of the Bull family’s twins because it said their delivery wasn’t an emergency and their stays in the NICU weren’t medically necessary…. Read More
No Surprises Act: Understand Your Rights Against Surprise Medical Bills
The No Surprises Act protects people covered under group and individual health plans from receiving surprise medical bills when they receive most emergency services, non-emergency services from out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, and services from...
The hidden epidemic: Medical errors are the leading cause of death in the U.S.
I’ve got a friend, I’ll call him George, who, for several months, experienced an intense pain on his side. Turned out to be a kidney stone. George had dealt with them before and passed each… Read More
Medi-Cal Patients Struggle to Fill Prescriptions – ‘Somebody Is Gonna Die’
Article Summary: Problems with California’s new Medicaid prescription drug program is preventing thousands of patients from getting their medications. By Samantha Young, KHN, Feb 09, 2022. A month into its debut, California’s new Medicaid prescription… Read More