Hospitals around the country are starting to advertise their emergency department wait times in some unexpected ways. Notwithstanding the obvious fascination with watching an enormous billboard post such information, does this help or hurt a local emergency health system?

Some critics argue that a patient with a true medical emergency may travel further to an emergency department with a shorter wait time, irrespective of the triage system employed by hospitals to ensure critical patients are seen as soon as possible.  Others find this may deter “unnecessary” visits to overcrowded facilities while sending marginal cases to the emptier ones. … Read more →

The mind is a funny thing. When it comes to certain events in our lives, we tend to “misremember” our expectations in advance, therefore revising our conclusions after so we are consistent with our actual feelings.  Or so concludes the research appearing in the November issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, a publication of the American Psychological Association.

Recognizing that the process of predicting emotions is imperfect at best, but the idea behind “misremembering” these emotions may be somewhat logical. Trust in one’s emotional instincts could be “nature’s feedback mechanism to steer us toward actions that are good for us,” said study author and psychologist Tom Meyvis, PhD, of New York University. The study finds that human “ignorance” of this proclivity may help with motivation as we avoid what may appear to be “bad” and pursue that which is “good”. … Read more →

An “advance health care directive,” also known as a living will or advance directive, provides a legal mechanism for individuals to specify what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make such decisions due to illness or incapacity. These instructions can prevent the need for anyone to “guess” what to do. By appointing a person or persons in this capacity, individuals can let their physician, family and/or friends know their health care preferences, including the types of special treatment they may want at the end of life, their desire for diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and/or organ donation.

Although requirements sometimes differ from state to state, on December 1, 1991, the federal Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) went into effect. PSDA requires health care institutions to ask all adults admitted as inpatients whether they have an advance directive, and to inform these patients of their right to refuse treatment. The PSDA and advanced directive regulations nationwide assume that patients want, need, and appreciate information about medical technological intervention. It further assumes that health professionals and institutions will respect those decisions. … Read more →

As part of an annual publication, Modern Healthcare recently ranked the top 100 health care employers in the nation. The following chart shows just one example of the interesting differences between the 100 top-ranked places to work in health care and all of the participating employers nationwide.

For more information about Modern Healthcare‘s “Best Places to Work in Healthcare,” visit the publication’s Website.

In the world of health insurance, a high deductible plan requires significantly higher out-of-pocket expenses for health care in exchange for a lower monthly premium.  The California Health Interview Survey defines “high-deductible” plans as having out-of-pocket deductibles of $1,000 or more for individuals or $2,000 or more for families, and can exceed $5,000 annually.

A new report from the University of California at Los Angeles’ Center for Health Policy Research estimates that as many as three million Californians are enrolled in such health plans. Requiring deductibles in excess of $5,000, these health plans can cause enrollees to delay medical care and create financial hardships for families. According to the report “Profiling California’s Health Plan Enrollees: Findings from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey“, however, these plans may be the only viable option for many Americans. … Read more →

On October 31 each year, we usually see a mix of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals and European folk traditions that make up what is commonly referred to as Halloween.

The Celtic holiday of Samhain, the Catholic Hallowmas period of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and the Roman festival of Feralia all influenced the Halloween of today. Whatever shapes our Halloween traditions, and no matter what we may believe about the holiday’s origin, most people tend to agree with the importance of keeping everyone safe, and especially children. … Read more →

In the United States, there are many health care concerns that we must face collectively, and we would be wise to pool our knowledge and resources when waging the necessary battles. Diabetes is one such disease that commands the attention of the nation, regardless of sex, race, financial status or age. As November is American Diabetes Month, there is no better time than the present to reflect upon our need to address this disease together. … Read more →

A new study published in the October issue of Neurology examines differing sleep patterns and the correlating individual responses. By studying people who have a gene variant connected to narcolepsy, the article concludes that the ability of some to function at a higher level with less sleep than others may be a genetic in nature.

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sometimes causing individuals to fall asleep at inappropriate times (like work or at school). Often confused with insomnia, narcoleptics usually experience disturbed nocturnal sleep and an abnormal daytime sleep pattern. … Read more →

Historically performance measures in health care focused on individual clinicians, not systems. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) encourages the formation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), an idea designed to completely overhaul the nation’s health care system. Interest in ACOs has increased dramatically since PPACA’s passage as it created a new payment model under Medicare, and it fosters pilot programs extending the idea to Medicaid and private payers.[audio:http://hospitalstay.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/5-15-Better-Things.mp3|titles=Better Things]

In creating ACOs, Congress hopes that providers will work together more effectively to improve health care quality and slow spending growth. Critics argue that ACOs will focus too much on the bottom line and either prevent or delay the delivery of medical care, or even use the newly-established leverage to demand unreasonable prices from payers. … Read more →