June 15th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, News, Opinion
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When it comes to hospital parking, the British healthcare system is making a go at it:
Using data from 126 Freedom Of Information requests, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust came top for clamping. Over a year, the hospital clamped 1,671 cars and made nearly £2m profit. Leeds General Infirmary issued the most parking tickets — over 10,000, generating £142,000 profit. The Royal Derby was the target of the most criticism — it received 82 complaints in 2008-09.
I wonder what U.S. hospitals are bringing in? When a hospital owns 4,734 parking spaces, I bet they’re doing pretty well.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
June 11th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, News, Research
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You just can’t make this stuff up:
The underwear project, spearheaded by the nanoengineering professor, was funded by the U.S. military and its effectiveness will likely be tested on the battlefield.
“This specific project involves monitoring the injury of soldiers during battlefield surgery,” Wang told Reuters. “The goal is to develop minimally invasive sensors that can locate, in the field, and identify the type of injury.”
Ultimately, the waistband sensors will be able to direct the release of drugs to treat the wounded soldier.
I wonder what other creative uses our men in uniform will find for this? I can hear it now: “It’s not the size of the device, honey, it’s the metronome that’s in it!” (Heh.)
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
June 7th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
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When I started medical school, if someone had told me that providing healthcare to my patients would be grounds for a Department of Justice inquiry into the care I delivered, I would have laughed in their face. But the government’s desperate financial times require desperate measures. From the Report on Medicare Compliance:
Both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) are focusing investigations on Medicare billing for implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) surgery. The reimbursement rate for ICD surgery is one of the higher dollar Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groupings (MS-DRG). The DOJ’s investigation is focusing on both medical necessity and MS-DRG coding validation issues, while the RACs are currently only conducting MS-DRG validation reviews. According to the CMS national coverage determination (NCD), Medicare pays for ICD implantation for eight specific conditions. However, there are many circumstantial limitations to coverage in these conditions that often lead to CMS not covering the implantation. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
June 4th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Humor, Opinion, True Stories
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Medical receptionists beware — your days are numbered.
This little gizmo was placed in one of our facility’s lobbies this week. (No, it’s not being used to get your boarding pass at the airport, but it’s amazing the parallels healthcare is taking with the airline industry.)
Instead, it’s used to check in patients presenting to have their blood drawn for prothromin times. Just swipe your credit card, confirm your appointment, sign your name, and away you go!
On seeing this, one doctor exclaimed: “But INR checks are my patients’ only chance to get out and socialize!”
Fortunately for now there are still human assistants there to help patients learn how to use the new device.
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
May 28th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Humor, Opinion
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Who needs calipers when you have an iPhone?
-WesMusings of a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist.
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
