Policies mandating company approval before talking publicly about conditions in hospitals have been a source of conflict over the past year, as physicians, nurses and other health workers have been disciplined for speaking or posting about what they view as dangerous covid-19 safety precautions. The appeals court’s decision could mean that hospitals — and other employers — will need to revise their policies.
Your dutiful columnist tried to make use of a federal “transparency” rule to compare the prices of common medical procedures in two California health care systems. It was a futile exercise.
A Trump administration rule mandating that hospitals disclose true prices on their websites took effect this year. But compliance is spotty and even when the data is public, it’s hard to find and understand.
Even after recovering from covid, many patients experience respiratory or other problems and, since this effect of the virus is so unpredictable, medical experts aren’t sure when it is safe to undergo elective surgery. But medical experts are setting up guidelines.
A college student never got an answer for what caused her intense pain, but she did get a bill that totaled $18,736 for an ER visit. She and her mom, a nurse practitioner, fought to understand all the charges.
About three dozen elite health systems are involved in for-profit hospital projects overseas. Though the systems are exempt from U.S. taxes for providing “community benefit,” there’s limited evidence that such business ventures benefit American patients.
Eager to control costs, health systems and insurers are trying to address patients’ social needs such as food insecurity, transportation and housing. Yet, after years of testing, there’s slim evidence these efforts pay off.
HCA charges patients an “activation fee” of up to $50,000 for trauma teams at centers located in half its 179 hospitals — and they often don’t need trauma care, an analysis of insurance claims data shows.
Citing the deaths of thousands of health care workers, the new rules will force employers to report fatalities or hospitalizations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and provide higher-quality protective gear, among other actions.
Covid-19 and dozens of other illnesses now qualify for home treatment under a new federal effort aimed at freeing up hospital beds during public health emergencies.
