All Patients
U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2019: Higher Spending, Worse Outcomes
The U.S. spends more on health care than any other high-income country but has the lowest life expectancy. The U.S. has the highest suicide rate among wealthy nations. By Roosa Tikkanen and Melinda K. Abrams,
Our Broken Medical System Threatens Patients
Our profit-driven healthcare system is broken and your life, as well as your savings, are at risk. Unexpected medical bills, such as from out-of-network doctors who people thought were in-network, visits to the ER, hospital stays,
CVS Fined for Prescription Errors and Poor Staffing at Pharmacies
Article Summary: Regulators of a pharmacy board faulted four CVS locations in Oklahoma, an action that followed complaints at drugstore chains across the country. The state board inspected the four pharmacies from mid-2019 to early… Read More
Race Factors Into Medical Decision-Making
By Gina Kolata, The New York Times, Jun 17, 2020. Unbeknown to most patients, their race is incorporated into numerous medical decision-making tools and formulas that doctors consult to decide treatment for a range of… Read More
Patients Are Being Billed For Some Phone Chats With Doctors That Used To Be Free
By Jay Hancock, NPR, Apr 27, 2020. Karen Taylor had been coughing for weeks when she decided to see a doctor in early April. The number of COVID-19 cases had just exceeded 5,000 in Texas,… Read More
As Surgery Centers Boom, Patients Are Paying With Their Lives
By Christina Jewett and Mark Alesia, USA Today Network, MARCH 2, 2018. The surgery went fine. Her doctors left for the day. Four hours later, Paulina Tam started gasping for air. Internal bleeding was cutting… Read More
Patient Safety Report: Not All Same-day Surgery Center Doctors are Board Certified
By Ken Alltucker and Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, Oct.22, 2019. More than 1 in 3 outpatient surgery centers employ doctors who are not board-certified in their respective medical specialty, according to a survey by the… Read More
4 Top Patient Safety Risks In Physician Offices and Outpatient Clinics
A watchdog group has identified the top four risks for patient safety at ambulatory care settings, according to a new report. Ambulatory care facilities such as physician offices and outpatient clinics are the most widely...
Rx for Doctors: Stop With the Urine Tests
By Paula Span, The New York Times, October 14, 2019. It’s such a common routine in a doctor’s office or clinic or hospital that patients tend to comply without thinking: Step on the scale, roll