The doctor is NOT in
The slippery slope for patients, nurses, and doctors posed by robots in healthcare. For patients needing dialysis or care for acute kidney failure, there’s a new doctor in the nephrology ward at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Calif. Meet the doc on a stick. It’s not a scene from “Star Trek†or the latest X-box video game. And, like the smooth-sounding, but ominous “Hal†computer running the spaceship in “2001: A Space Odyssey,†those side effects might be a killer.
National Nurse Magazine
This is a hospital, not Disneyland
How nursing scripts and patient satisfaction surveys project a fantasy of care, not real care. “Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Joanne. I am your nurse. Are you experiencing any pain today? No? That’s good. Do you need help getting to the bathroom?†(check script) “Can I fluff your pillow, bring you a magazine, turn on your TV, move your water bottle closer?†(check script) “I am so happy to be of service, this is all part of the excellent care we provide here at Happy Homes Medical Center and Resort.â€
National Nurse Magazine
Brave New World, Again
With all the clamor over website woes during rollout of the Affordable Care Act, much less attention has been paid to changes in the delivery of healthcare that will have far-reaching, adverse effects on healthcare quality and access long after the signup problems are a distant memory.
National Nurse Magazine
Nurses, Healthcare Workers in 11 Countries Mark ‘Nurses Week’
Leading nurse and healthcare union organizations in 11 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe are holding coordinated actions marking international “Nurses Week†with a call to step up efforts to promote patient safety, protect health care services, and ensure access to health care for all with a common theme of “Health Care is a Human Right.â€
Global Nurses United
May 11, 2014
Should hospitals be more like Walmart?
We've heard about how healthcare should be more like the airline industry or customer-friendly online retailers such as Amazon or Zappos.com. But a new article in MIT Technology Review argues that after the information technology revolution, medicine will be more like superstore Walmart.
Fierce Health IT
Why CHS is converting two hospitals from inpatient to outpatient
Community Health Systems is converting a Pennsylvania hospital to a walk-in clinic, the second such announcement in a week for the Franklin-based company. Mid-Valley Hospital, in Peckville, Penn., will stop offering inpatient and emergency department services in July, according to a report from the Scranton Times-Tribune. Earlier this week, The Tennessean reported that Haywood Park Community Hospital in Brownsville would also end inpatient emergency services effective July 31.
Nashville Buisiness Journal
Report Finds More Flaws in Digitizing Patient Files
Although the federal government is spending more than $22 billion to encourage hospitals and doctors to adopt electronic health records, it has failed to put safeguards in place to prevent the technology from being used for inflating costs and overbilling, according to a new report by a federal oversight agency.
New York Times
The Trouble with EHRs
Although electronic health records are known to reduce healthcare costs, concerns about accuracy and usability—and the risk of EHR-caused medical errors—are growing. The move away from paper medical records to EHRs has many benefits, but the flip side is that providers need to carefully manage the usability, accuracy, and audit trails of EHRs across the entire care team.
Health Leaders Media
Third of Americans skip healthcare due to cost
An international survey of 11 developed countries, American adults are the most likely to forego treatment due to the cost, struggle to pay bills, and spend the most out-of-pocket on treatment. The results revealed that in 2013 37% of U.S. adults either didn’t see a doctor, didn’t seek the recommended treatment, or failed to fill a prescription because of prohibitive costs. This compares with only 4% of respondents in the UK and 6% in Sweden.
ExpatHealth.org
RNs, Hospital Workers, and Community Meet to Save Doctors San Pablo
RNs Demand County Take Charge Public meeting Saturday 10:00 a.m. at hospital. Registered nurses, hospital workers and community members are holding a public meeting at the hospital this Saturday to plan the next steps in their effort to keep Doctors Medical Center San Pablo (DMC) and its emergency department open. The nurses say that closure of DMC would create a dire public health crisis in the West Contra Costa County and are urging Contra Costa County to assume authority to ensure the continued operation of the facility as an acute care hospital with a fully staffed Emergency Room and ICU.
California Nurses Association
May 10, 2014