Healthcare Cost: High Spenders and Low Spenders Get Same Results
The Journal of the American Medical Association (Internal Medicine) published a new study on the cost of healthcare. Researchers analyzed 485,000 Medicare patient hospital visits between 2011 and 2014. The visits involved almost 22,000 hospitalists, medical specialists who work in the hospital. The number of tests and consultations prescribed for the patients varied widely, even within […]
Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death
The Institute of Medicine published a study in 1999 called “To Err is Human”. The study estimated deaths because of medical errors as high as 98,000 a year. The report called the results an epidemic. Needless to say, the entire healthcare industry was shocked and many plans were developed for increased attention to patient safety […]
Can Paramedics Reduce Hospital Readmissions?
Most of us may think of a paramedic as a healthcare professional who works primarily in a pre-hospital environment, usually as part of an emergency medical services (EMS) team. That is changing. Hospital executives are laser focused on readmissions, especially for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients. CHF is the number one reason for hospital admissions. Typically, CHF […]
Electronic Medical Records: Do They Reduce Healthcare Costs
The New York Times published a story in January 2013 titled “In Second Look, Few Savings From Digital Health Records” (see Electronic Records Systems Have Not Reduced Health Costs). The article suggested that a prestigious study that forecasted significant savings from EMR’s was funded by companies that provide EMR software and services. Now, the same […]
