patients

About two months after undergoing open-heart surgery, Sara England's infant son, Amari Vaca, was sick and struggling to breathe. Staff members at a local medical center in Salinas, California, arranged for him to be transferred to a different hospital via air ambulance.

Health & Safety

A mom's $97,000 question: How was an air-ambulance ride not medically necessary?

5:00am March 25, 2024

by Molly Castle Work

There are legal safeguards to protect patients from big bills like out-of-network air-ambulance rides. But insurers may not pay if they decide the ride wasn't medically necessary.

Frontline health care workers hold a demonstration outside Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center on September 4.

Health & Safety

75,000 Kaiser nurses, pharmacists and other workers have walked off the job

1:29pm October 04, 2023

by Danielle Kaye

In the largest health care strike in U.S. history, over 75,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and medical facilities across the U.S. walked off the job on Wednesday morning.

Queue Listen Now

Eloise Reynolds lost her husband, Kent, to colon cancer last year. She paid what she believed to be his final hospital bill, but this year she received a new version of the bill, charging nearly $1,100 more due to "adjustments."

Health & Safety

She paid her husband's hospital bill. A year after his death, they wanted more money

5:12am August 29, 2023

by Samantha Liss

Eloise Reynolds encountered a perplexing reality in medical billing: Providers can come after patients for more money well after a bill has been paid.

Winter can be hard, especially in the halls of healing. A doctor shares how this year's World Cup has become the holiday event she and others didn't know they needed.

Health & Safety

World Cup fever sparks joy in hospitals

9:00am December 13, 2022

by Grace Farris

Winter can be hard, especially in the halls of healing. A doctor shares how this year's World Cup has become the holiday event she and others didn't know they needed.

After a car crash, Peggy Dula was billed $3,606 in ambulance fees by a taxpayer-funded municipal fire department.

Health & Safety

The ambulance chased one patient into collections

6:27pm July 27, 2022

by Bram Sable-Smith

After a car wreck, three siblings were transported to the same hospital by ambulances from three separate districts. The sibling with the most minor injuries got the biggest bill.

Queue Listen Now

Vanderbilt University Medical Center bought the hospital in Lebanon, Tenn., from Community Health Systems in 2019, but the latter is still suing former patients over unpaid medical bills.

A Health Care Giant Sold Off Dozens Of Hospitals — But Continued Suing Many Patients

4:39pm July 26, 2021

by Blake Farmer

As Community Health Systems has downsized, what remain are like zombie hospitals – little more than legal entities still taking patients to court even though the new owners don't sue.

Kristin Sollars (left) and Marci Ebberts say nursing is more than just a job. "Sometimes I wonder why everyone in the world doesn't want to be a nurse," Sollars says.

For 2 Nurses, Working In The ICU Is 'A Gift Of A Job'

12:26pm August 30, 2019

For years, Kristin Sollars and Marci Ebberts worked together caring for critically ill patients, a job they say is also a daily mindset. "You carry a little bit of them with you," Ebberts said.

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Dr. Mary Rice walks with Michael Howard at a Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare clinic in Chealsea, Mass, as they test his oxygen levels with the addition of oxygen from a portable tank. He has COPD, a progressive lung disease that can be exacerbated by hea

Has Your Doctor Talked To You About Climate Change?

8:26am July 13, 2019

by Martha Bebinger

Some physicians say connecting environmental effects of climate change — heat waves, more pollen and longer allergy seasons — to the health consequences helps them better care for patients.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry. Most assaults come from patients and patients' families.

Facing Escalating Workplace Violence, Hospital Employees Have Had Enough

9:56pm April 08, 2019

by Marlene Harris-Taylor

U.S. hospitals are under mounting pressure to address violence against health care staff by patients and visitors. Nearly half of emergency doctors say they've been physically assaulted at work.

Queue Listen Now

As more doctors' offices give patients electronic access to their medical records, both patients and their physicians are asking: Exactly how much of your medical record should you get to see?

Health & Safety

Open Medical Records Can Spur Frank Talk Between Doctors And Patients

4:41pm August 23, 2018

by Mara Gordon

As more doctors' offices give patients electronic access to their medical records, both patients and their physicians are asking: Exactly how much of your medical record should you get to see?