California is entering the most critical period in its battle against COVID-19, and may need thousands of hospital beds and ventilators to accommodate a surge of critically ill patients. Hospitals are taking extreme measures, such as using 3D printers to make ventilator parts and turning cafeterias into wards.
California is entering the most critical period in its battle against COVID-19, and may need thousands of hospital beds and ventilators to accommodate a surge of critically ill patients. Hospitals are taking extreme measures, such as using 3D printers to make ventilator parts and turning cafeterias into wards.
KHN’s Julie Appleby talks about the behind-the-scenes steps that can add time to the process of testing for the coronavirus.
Molecular diagnostics are at the frontier of science, but insurance and billing questions create a minefield for patients.
Under pressure, the federal government announced it will let surgery centers, hotels and even college dorms serve as hospitals to treat an overflow of patients.
Revenue is way down for primary care, specialty physicians and some hospitals as patients avoid non-urgent visits. Practices small and large are doling out layoffs and furloughs to staff.
Hospitals need to clear out patients who no longer need acute care. But nursing homes are alarmed at the prospect of taking patients who may have the coronavirus.
A common complaint about the testing process is the long turnaround time for results.
As President Donald Trump called the nation “in good shape” to handle COVID-19, a cache of emails released by officials in Washington state show that top public health authorities feared gear shortages and doctor safety in the early epicenter of sickness and deaths.
A coalition of anesthesiologists wants to repurpose the country’s more than 5,000 surgery centers to serve as emergency overflow amid the coronavirus pandemic. The centers have trained medical staff largely sitting idle, anesthesia machines that could be turned into ventilators, and empty medical space. But obstacles such as federal payment rules, logistics and some skepticism are getting in the way.
