Medical Ethics Advisor – January 1, 2003
January 1, 2003
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Growth of hospitalist programs brings confidentiality, continuity concerns
The expansion of hospitalist programs at medical centers nationwide has yielded impressive benefits in terms of reduced costs of care and lowered length of stays, according to recent published studies. -
What is a hospitalist?
The term hospitalist can mean a variety of things. -
Is the time right for a single-payer system?
In November, Oregon voters were asked to consider a once unthinkable measure: abolish private health insurance in favor of a taxpayer-funded, single-payer health system that would cover everyone. -
Hefty outlier payments may border on fraud
The federal investigation into alleged billing fraud and unnecessary surgeries at a Redding, CA, hospital also has shed new light on potential abuses of a unusual Medicare reimbursement mechanism designed to help hospitals who perform difficult procedures or care for very sick patients. -
Report card gives states low grades on EOL care
Though the number of programs to improve care for patients at the end of life have increased, little real progress has been made, claims a new report from Washington, DC-based Last Acts, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-sponsored coalition to improve care for the dying.