Inspector general identifies possible problems in nearly 23 percent of pharmacies that bill Medicare for blended creams, gels and lotions.
Category: Health Industry
Once Its Greatest Foes, Doctors Are Embracing Single-Payer
Young physicians are pushing the medical establishment to rethink its long-held opposition. The political fallout could be substantial.
Stanford’s Chief Wellness Officer Aims To Prevent Physician Burnout
Tait Shanafelt focuses on helping doctors cope with such problems as long hours and copious record-keeping, seeking to prevent burnout and reduce the rate of physician suicide. As doctors’ well-being improves, he says, so does patient care.
Doctors Reckon With High Rate Of Suicide In Their Ranks
The devastating loss of a promising young doctor prompts soul-searching and action at one of the nation’s largest emergency room staffing companies.
How Rival Opioid Makers Sought To Cash In On Alarm Over OxyContin’s Dangers
Fentanyl and other painkillers marketed as safer than Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug left their own trail of overdose deaths.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Let’s Talk Politics
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call talk about health care’s emergence as a possible voting issue in the coming midterm elections. Plus, Rovner interviews KHN’s Emmarie Huetteman about July’s “Bill of the Month”: a transgender woman’s “bait-and-switch” $92,000 surgical bill.
Missed Visits, Uncontrolled Pain And Fraud: Report Says Hospice Lacks Oversight
A new government watchdog report outlines vulnerabilities in Medicare’s $17 billion hospice program, pointing to inadequate services, inappropriate billing and outright fraud.
Medicare Reconsiders Paying For Seniors’ Spine Operations At Surgery Centers
After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.
Mining A New Data Set To Pinpoint Critical Staffing Issues In Skilled Nursing Facilities
Low staffing is a root cause of many injuries in nursing homes. Kaiser Health News senior correspondent Jordan Rau explains how he connected the dots between manpower and risk at facilities nationwide, using a federa tool known as the Payroll-Based Journal.
Community Frets As Buyer For Cherished Rural Hospital Slips From View
Some residents of remote Surprise Valley in Northern California fear their hospital will close like so many others around the country, as hope wanes for financial support from a Denver entrepreneur. The businessman, Beau Gertz, had planned to raise money through lab billing for faraway patients.
