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Mississippi attorney Richard Scruggs has targeted not-for-profit hospitals in his latest class action effort, accusing them of overcharging uninsured patients and using harassment to collect overdue bills.
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On Dec. 17, the American Hospital Association (AHA) announced it would provide guidelines for hospitals on billing and collection practices to ensure that poor patients and patients who lack health insurance are treated in a fair-and-balanced manner.
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Public health officials should carefully evaluate the reasons for low rates of participation of health care workers in Phase 1 of the federal Smallpox Preparedness Plan before expanding the vaccination campaign if they hope to preserve the publics trust in vaccination campaigns as a viable public health measure, a group of ethicists from the University of Pennsylvania warn.
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African-American and low-income U.S. residents are more likely to die from cancer, less likely to be insured, and less likely to have usual sources of health care than white and higher-income Americans, recent reports from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicate.
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The recent report on assisted reproductive technology (ART) by the Presidents Council on Bioethics has been drawing a favorable reception from groups advocating womens health and reproductive choice.
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A study shows only 50%-60% get recommended care. A recent analysis of data collected by the RAND Corp, a Santa Monica, CA-based health policy think tank, indicates that people in all parts of the nation are at risk for receiving poor health care.
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Although the researchers themselves focused on deficiencies in the delivery of health care, officials with the nonprofit consumer protection group, Public Citizen, claim the new analysis of health care quality conducted by the RAND Corp. demonstrates that the malpractice insurance crisis is not as great as tort reform advocates claim.
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According to newly released survey data from the Huntington Valley, PA-based Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), intimidating behavior is a common element of many health care practice settings, and such behavior is a factor in the occurrence of many medication errors.
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Mediation long has been known as an alternative way of resolving civil legal disputes. But as the following case study illustrates, it is emerging as a new way to help resolve conflicts in medical settings.
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Many adults do not understand health information. Nearly half of all American adults 90 million have difficulty understanding and using health information, and there is a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with such limited health literacy, states a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
