How Helping Patients Get Good Care At Home Helps Rural Hospitals Survive
Hospitals are now financially rewarded by insurers for safety and efficacy — which often results in patients spending less time as inpatients.
Hospitals
Chronically Ill, Traumatically Billed: $123,019 For 2 Multiple Sclerosis Treatments
Shereese Hickson's doctor wanted her to try a drug called Ocrevus for her multiple sclerosis. Trained as a medical billing coder, Hickson was shocked by the six-figure bill and the share she owed.
Dangerous Infection Tied To Hospitals Now Becoming Common Outside Them
Infections with Clostridium difficile can be difficult to treat and life-threatening. Once a problem seen mainly in health care facilities, the infections are now occurring often in the community.
Sales Reps May Be Wearing Out Their Welcome In The Operating Room
It has been an open secret that salespeople are present for surgeries at many hospitals, especially for hip and knee implants. But does the reps' expertise outweigh concerns about ethics and costs?
Antipsychotic Drugs Don't Ease ICU Delirium Or Dementia
Though widely prescribed in hospital intensive care units to treat hallucinations and other signs of delirium, Haldol and similar drugs are no better than a placebo for such patients, a study finds.
A Tough Negotiator Proves Employers Can Bargain Down Health Care Prices
A former health insurance executive has made it her mission to bring down high health care costs. She's demanding a better deal for employers — and the workers whose care they pay for.
Taken For A Ride: M.D. Injured In ATV Crash Gets $56,603 Bill For Air Ambulance Trip
After an accident in an all-terrain vehicle crushed a doctor's left arm, he was whisked by air ambulance to the closest trauma center for specialized care. Soon he was fighting over the $56,603 bill.
The Remedy For Surprise Medical Bills May Lie In Stitching Up Federal Law
Gaps in a wide-ranging law covering employee benefits can blindside consumers whose health coverage is provided by company and union health plans that pay claims out of their own funds.
Hospitals Prepare To Launch Their Own Drug Company To Fight High Prices And Shortages
A consortium of hospital systems and three foundations is moving ahead with a nonprofit drugmaker that would produce some of the generic medicines health care facilities need the most.
His $109K Heart Attack Bill Is Now Down To $332 After NPR Told His Story
"I don't feel any consumer should have to go through this," says Drew Calver, of the huge surprise bill he got from an Austin hospital after his 2017 heart attack. He's worried about other patients.