Medical malpractice reform is a political football in a game that serves no one well. Not patients, not their legal representatives, not medical professionals, not insurance interests. OK, we’ve said that before, but we’ll keep saying it as long as the flat-earthers press their misguided “reforms.” And here are some new facts: A recent article….
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Court OKs Nursing Home Contract Even Though Confused Patient Could Not Have Understood It
Someone old enough to be a consenting adult is also, presumably, someone who understands what he or she is being asked to consent to. But not in one Florida appeals court. A recent court decision in Florida concerning a 92-year-old woman’s signature on her nursing home contract changes the basic premise of what it means….
Continue ReadingNC Mom Speaks Out Against Secret Settlements of Malpractice Suits
When Laurie Sanders lost her 6-year-old son Christopher to a malpractice incident at a North Carolina hospital, she refused the hospital’s offer of settlement that would have required her to keep quiet about what happened. “I didn’t know how everything would end as far as the lawsuit, but I did know that it wouldn’t end….
Continue ReadingHow Tort Reform Continues to Victimize the Victims
Connie Spears has the bad luck to live in Texas. Her story, as recounted by the New York Times/Texas Tribune is another sad reminder of how the powerful forces behind so-called “tort reform” continue to deprive people harmed by medical mistakes of their rights. And Texas leads the way. In 2010, Spears arrived at a….
Continue ReadingLinking Patient Satisfaction to Doctor Pay Is a Bad Idea—One Doctor’s Opinion
As people become more aware of the waste associated with overdiagnosis and overtreatment and as the government strives to make the delivery of high quality health care more efficient and responsive, measures to connect patient satisfaction with provider payment are becoming popular. (See our blog about doctor rating services.) But one practitioner, writing on KevinMd.Com,….
Continue ReadingA Federal Plan to Make It Easier to Report Medical Mistakes
Accountability for preventable mistakes has now been officially recognized as an important part of the effort to make medical care safer for everyone. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead agency in the federal HHS department charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of health care. It supports research….
Continue ReadingPut a Fork in Medicare’s Overtesting
With all the political angst over the future of Medicare and how to fund it, we have to ask: Why not start with eliminating the redundancies — the repeats on tests when no repeat is needed? A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that Medicare patients frequently undergo repeated diagnostic tests…..
Continue ReadingTaking the Post-Election Health-Care Temperature
Now that President Obama has won a second term, the Affordable Care Act (ACA, commonly called “Obamacare”) has gained renewed attention and urgency. As Kaiser Health News reminds, “[T]he law will have sweeping ramifications for consumers, state officials, employers and health care providers, including hospitals and doctors.” Courtesy of KHN, here’s a refresher about the….
Continue ReadingPatient Advocates: A New Market Niche
As the health-care landscape continues to be reconfigured through legislative reform, greater consumer awareness, technological advances and evolving provider business models, an entrepreneurial niche has been carved out to help patients find the best, most efficient care. It’s called patient advocacy, and although the business is in its infancy, already there are a couple hundred….
Continue ReadingSurvey Results Show Consumers, Providers and Employers Hold Low Opinion of Health Care System
The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of the business consulting firm Deloitte LLP, recently surveyed consumers, physicians and employers about the U.S. health-care system. Although these groups often have competing interests and agendas, they shared a low opinion about health care in America. As reported on MedCity News, 63 percent of consumers,….
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