Quality Improvement: 'Become Good At Cheating And You Never Need To Become Good At Anything Else'
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David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler in an August 27, 2015HealthAffairsBlogpost:
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has trumpeted the recent drop in hospital readmissions among Medicare patients as a major advance for patient safety. But lost amidst the celebration is the fact that hospitals are increasingly "observing" patients (or treating returning patients in the emergency department) rather than "readmitting" them.
WIM According to the authors:
But while re-labeling helps hospitals meet CMS' quality standards (and avoid costly fines), it probably signals little real quality gain and often leaves patients worse off financially.
Study finds gender, racial disparities in physician workforce
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A
report published
8.24.15 in
JAMA Internal Medicine (authored by
Laura E Riley, MD) found that only 7% of the 16,835 medical school graduates in 2012 were Hispanic, 7% were black and 48% were women. In the same year, just 30% of practicing physicians were female, 5% were Hispanic and 4% were black. Women generally gravitate toward obstetrics, gynecology and family medicine while representing just 14% of trainees in orthopedics.
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The researcher notes that a more diversified physician workforce is important to reaching underserved populations.
Fight Over Medical Malpractice Law Goes to Supreme Court
A dispute over the constitutionality of a 2013 medical malpractice law, which critics contend violates patient privacy rights, could be taken up by the
Florida Supreme Court...
...The challenge focuses on part of the law that allows what are known legally as
ex parte communications.
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According to the article:
In ex parte communications...defense attorneys representing a doctor accused of malpractice could get personal health information about the patient involved in the case. That information could come from other doctors who treated the patient, and disclosure could occur without the patient's attorney being present.
Opponents have raised a number of constitutional issues, including arguing that the law violates a right to privacy in the
Florida Constitution.
