KHN Conversation On Overtreatment
Physicians estimate that 21 percent of medical care is unnecessary — a problem that costs the health care system at least $210 billion a year. KHN hosted a forum on how too much medicine can cause harm.
Patient Safety
81-100 of 139 results
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Simple Surgeries. Tragic Results.
Despite Red Flags At Surgery Centers, Overseers Award Gold Seals
A decade ago, California stopped licensing surgery centers and then gave approval power to private accreditors that are commonly paid by the same centers they inspect. That system of oversight has created a troubling legacy of laxity, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds.
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Doctor To The Stars Disciplined Over Use Of Controversial Menopause Therapy
Dr. Prudence Hall has made a name for herself in the field of “bioidentical hormones” — plant-based compounds purportedly customized for each patient’s needs. Experts say the popular approach is unproven; California regulators say she was grossly negligent in her care of two patients.
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Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, finds an investigation by KHN and the Chicago Tribune.
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Readers And Tweeters Revisit Surgery Centers, Think Twice About Single-Payer
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
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Simple Surgeries. Tragic Results.
Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark
A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.
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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.
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Simple Surgeries, Tragic Results
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.
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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 federal tool known as the Payroll-Based Journal.
By Jordan Rau -
1,400 Nursing Homes Get Lower Medicare Ratings Because Of Staffing Concerns
Medicare said those homes either lacked a registered nurse for “a high number of days” over three months, provided data the government couldn’t verify or didn’t supply their payroll data at all.
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Time For That Colonoscopy? Probe Your Doc First On How The Scopes Are Cleaned
Millions of Americans undergo procedures each year requiring medical scopes, but there’s growing concern about the risk of infection from dirty devices. Be prepared to ask questions — and bail if you’re not satisfied with the answers.
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That ‘Living Will’ You Signed? At The ER, It Could Be Open To Interpretation.
End-of-life documents express your preferences for care but may not be binding medical orders. Here’s how to better prepare for the unexpected — that your last wishes won’t be carried out.
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Medicare Takes Aim At Boomerang Hospitalizations Of Nursing Home Patients
One in 5 Medicare patients who leave the hospital for a nursing home end up back in the hospital. To discourage this, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will soon give bonuses and penalties to facilities based on their rehospitalization rates.
By Jordan Rau -
Look-Up: Compare Nursing Homes’ Track Records On Boomerang Hospitalizations
Use this tool to see how skilled nursing homes in the U.S. performed on two metrics of quality.
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Study: Nearly Three-Quarters Of Commonly Used Medical Scopes Tainted By Bacteria
The ‘scary’ findings show a discouraging lack of progress in cleaning the devices, despite more vigorous efforts in the wake of deadly superbug outbreaks, experts say.
By Chad Terhune -
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
KHN’s newsletter editor, Brianna Labuskes, wades through hundreds of health articles from the week so you don’t have to.
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Safety Violations Compound Pain Of Painkiller Shortages
California and federal officials have cracked down on a major compounding pharmacy they say posed a threat to public safety, but their actions are worsening shortages of medications that doctors rely on to keep their patients out of pain.
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What We Know And Don’t Know About Memory Loss After Surgery
Memory problems and trouble multitasking are among the symptoms of POCD, a little-known condition that affects a substantial number of older adults after surgery.
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Without Context Or Cushion, Do Online Medical Results Make Sense?
In some cases, information now available to people without talking to a doctor can be a source of confusion and alarm and the cause of more work for doctors because it comes without adequate guidance.
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The Other Opioid Crisis: Hospital Shortages Lead To Patient Pain, Medical Errors
A nationwide shortage of injectable opioid painkillers has left hospitals scrambling to find alternatives — in some cases leading to dosage mistakes that may harm patients.