April 19, 2016

 

Can fixed payments transform the health care industry?

By: Guy Boulton | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | April 16, 2016

Madison— Two items stood out when employees of UnityPoint Health-Meriter first saw the total cost of knee and hip replacement surgery for its Medicare patients.

Jobs in health care remain plentiful over decade

By: Jen Zettel, USA Today Network – Wisconsin | Post Crescent | April 13, 2016

Health care jobs among those expected to show the most growth by 2022.

Zika unlikely, but not impossible, in Wisconsin this summer

By: David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal | April 17, 2016

Wisconsin has not seen even a trace of Zika virus, which federal health officials confirmed last week can cause serious birth defects, but that could soon change.

Froedtert and Medical College plan affiliation with Cleveland Clinic

By: Guy Boulton | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | April 12, 2016

Froedtert Health & the Medical College of Wisconsin are turning to Cleveland Clinic to improve cardiovascular care at Froedtert Hospital.

 

Tainted Scope Infections Far Exceed Earlier Estimates

By: Chad Terhune | Kaiser Health News | April 15, 2016

The number of potentially deadly infections from contaminated medical scopes is far higher than what federal officials previously estimated, a new congressional investigation shows.

Letting Patients Tell Their Stories

By: Dhruv Khullar, M.D. | The New York Times | April 11, 2016

Friday night in the emergency department is about what you’d think. It starts off slow: a middle-aged man with a middling pneumonia; an older nursing home resident with a urinary tract infection that is making her delirious.

Payments for cost sharing increasing rapidly over time

By: Gary Claxton, Larry Levitt, Michelle Long | Kaiser Family Foundation | April 12, 2016

Rising cost-sharing for people with health insurance has drawn a good deal of public attention in recent years.  For example, the average deductible for people with employer-provided health coverage rose from $303 to $1,077 between 2006 and 2015.

Painkiller critics take aim at hospital surveys, procedures

By: Matthew Perrone, AP Health Writer | The Charlotte Observer | April 13, 2016

WASHINGTON - Critics of how prescription painkillers are administered in the U.S. are calling on health officials to phase out hospital procedures and questionnaires used to manage pain.

Self assessments: Patient-generated data on their health is gaining importance in treatment

By: Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News | La Crosse Tribune | April 13, 2016

For Erin Moore, keeping her son’s cystic fibrosis in check requires careful monitoring to prevent the thick, sticky mucous his body produces from further damaging his lungs and digestive system.

In the Hospital, Resisting the Urge to Do More

By: Jessica Nutik Zitter, M.D. | The New York Times | April 14, 2016

There was absolutely no way around it. She was dying. I gave her a few hours at best, with maximum pedal to the metal intensive medical care.

 

Agnesian HealthCare supporters attend WHA Advocacy Day

By: Agnesian HealthCare | Fond du Lac Reporter | April 16, 2016

More than 1,000 hospital leaders, employees, trustees and volunteers, including those from Ripon Medical Center and Waupun Memorial Hospital, went to Madison on March 30 to participate in the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Advocacy Day event.

Catching Up: Free clinic helps women with gynecological care

By: Staff | Wisconsin State Journal | April 18, 2016

Share the Health, a free clinic offering gynecological services in Madison, has cared for nearly 200 women and helped prevent cancer in many of them since opening two years ago.

Engaging our community for better health

By: Mark Herzog | Herald Times Reporter | April 16, 2016

If you’ve read this column before, you’ll recall overall health in a community is more than doctors and hospitals: jobs, economy, environment and behaviors represent 80 percent of the equation.