Dangerous instances of miscommunication are not uncommon when it comes to LEP (limited English proficiency) patients and healthcare. As recently reported in “FierceHealthcare,” “a staggering 90 percent of clinicians say language barriers have compromised care in LEP patients, and 86 percent said cultural barriers compromised care.” In today’s … [Read more...]
Hospital Physicians and LEP Patients
Hospital Physicians: Employed or Contracted?
Hospital employment of physicians does not guarantee physician integration, nor a cost savings, reports a recent study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. For cost containment, and sustained quality, use of contracted hospital physicians may be the better choice. The recent rise in employment of hospital physicians is a result of a … [Read more...]
When Law and Medicine Don’t Mesh
A boy; a lab coat; a lie. The “Orlando Sentinel” broke the story: “Seventeen-year-old Matthew Scheidt was arrested last Friday for impersonating a physician assistant and actually examining patients at the Osceola Regional Medical Center ER.” The most mind-boggling piece of this puzzle (at least for me), is not the fact that this teenager … [Read more...]
Hospital Rankings Often Based on Chance
According to an article in a recent edition of “Fierce Healthcare," a new study has found that reported mortality rates used for hospital rankings are statistically imprecise with limited measures to compare quality of patient care. The article reported that "researchers who studied 42 children's hospitals had found that rankings are not as … [Read more...]
Mandate Strives to Promote Excellent Patient Care
“American Medical News” recently released a news article that emphasized the importance of accuracy in terms of medical data patients research and use in order to find the best patient care to address and resolve injuries and illnesses. The article stated that “following a mandate in the health system reform law, the Centers for Medicare & … [Read more...]