All Patients
Profits Over Patients – Insurers are Refusing or Delaying Prior Authorization
Summary: Prior authorization requirements have caused a disruption in the continuity of care and resulted in adverse events and hospitalization. Instead of prior authorization, insurers should go back to the old ‘pay-and-chase’ model. By Steve… Read More
An App is Helping Hospital Patients Protect Themselves from the 3rd Leading Cause of Death
APRA’s Patient’s Hospital Safety Guide app is a mobile app developed in co-operation with leading medical professionals to help hospital patients protect themselves from preventable medical errors and harm. Why Hospital Patients Need a Safety… Read More
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