-
Virginia has enacted a new law that will allow mature teenagers, their physicians, and parents to more freely consider alternative even risky and controversial therapies and reject traditional treatment without fear that doing so will trigger neglect and abuse charges.
-
In the 10 years since Oregon passed its physician-assisted suicide (PAS) law, Americans have become more familiar with the idea of doctors assisting patients who wish to be allowed or helped to die. But though they're familiar with it, the population is divided over whether PAS should be legal.
-
A recent study suggests that emergency medicine patients may not have a high level of acceptance of the practice of providing an exemption to informed consent for research involving emergency medical settings.
-
The last medical school in the nation to use what was considered the most archaic version of the Hippocratic Oath has created a new version of a physician's oath that was pledged by graduates during commencement in May.
-
The Seattle hospital that performed growth attenuation treatments and surgery on the severely disabled child known as "Ashley" took place in violation of Washington state law, but the hospital stands behind the ethics and best-interest issues that resulted in the treatment.
-
Aging with Dignity, the United Health Foundation, the American Hospital Association, and other national and local organizations will distribute 500,000 advance directives in the coming year in a campaign to help patients and families make important advance decisions about end-of-life care.
-
Years ago, in an effort to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy -- and after a lengthy and passionate campaign by providers -- what is now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) eliminated the signature requirement, deciding that giving patients the information upon admission was sufficient.
-
The biggest challenge regarding the implementation of registration kiosks at the Medical Center of Central Georgia (MCCG) in Macon was "just trying to arrive at the place where our organization was ready to present self-service."
-
Customer service training is a crucial -- but sometimes forgotten -- piece of the training needed to prepare call center employees for the demands of the job, says Judith Brown, president of Chicago-based Brown Healthcare Consulting.
-
Health care organizations that are operating a call center or centralized scheduling department without the appropriate technology as a foundation might as well put blindfolds on their managers, suggests Judith Brown, president of Brown Healthcare Consulting in Chicago.