Hospitals

The past 15 years have seen a drop in deaths and hospitalizations among Medicare patients — people 65 and older. Teasing out why is tricky, but it seems a good trend for the 50-year-old program.

Even when some Medicare patients stay overnight in the hospital, they are are being classified as outpatients under something called observation status. It sounds innocuous but can trigger big bills.

As least 55 hospitals across the rural U.S. have closed since 2010. But northern Missouri's Putnam County Memorial finds that adding high-quality specialty services lures patients and revenue.

Too many patients only learn after they get the bill that their insurer won't cover some medical services provided in the hospital. New laws in several states aim to stop those nasty surprises.

Dr. Ken Murray wrote an essay a decade ago about how the gentler care doctors choose at the end of life stands apart. His work still shapes how some doctors talk to patients about death.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin enforcing safe patient handling practices to prevent hospital workers from suffering debilitating injuries.

Texas has turned down federal funds to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Hospitals and some business owners want the money, but it's a tough sell in Republican-dominated state politics.

If you're in a medical facility, bedbugs should not be on your worry list. But infestations of the bloodsucking insects in nursing homes and hospitals are on the rise.

The famed Cleveland Clinic is building a new cancer center right around the corner from a competing cancer hospital. Both institutions are confident there will be plenty of patients.

Some hospitals are using a remote command center to keep an eye on ICU patients. This brings the expertise of a major medical center to rural hospitals — and may help keep the rural centers open.

Economic forces are squeezing the city of Lakewood, just outside Cleveland, forcing the closure of one hospital even as another is built in a more affluent suburb.

Mortality rates for Medicare patients don't rise in communities after their hospitals shut down, say Harvard researchers who analyzed 195 closures across the country.