Tag: emergency care

October 14, 2019

When Ashley Pintos went to the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., in 2016, with a sharp pain in her abdomen and no insurance, a representative demanded a $500 deposit before treating her. “She said, ‘Do […]

January 15, 2018

The nationwide flu epidemic has led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to postpone its planned briefing on preparation for nuclear war and replace the topic with how healthcare officials can respond to severe influenza. The previously scheduled briefing […]

October 10, 2017

Patients are not happy with Anthem’s new emergency room coverage policy, according to a new poll, although the health insurer says it is largely misunderstood. The American College of Emergency Physicians polled more than 2,200 adults; two-thirds said they oppose […]

August 2, 2017

Hospitals see more elderly patients as the population continues to age, and as a result plan to retool their approach to emergency care to better suit the greater numbers of seniors. Facilities in the San Diego region, for instance, are planning geriatric-specific […]

July 10, 2017

Two years ago, Kimberly Griffiths’ week-old daughter, Avery, suddenly became very ill. “She was turning blue and had very labored breathing,” said Griffiths, who rushed her child to the ER in rural Sonora, California. Doctors there were stumped, and the […]

March 20, 2017

As President Donald Trump and the GOP-led Congress look to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a new poll finds that 95% of Americans want health insurance companies to cover emergency medical care. Indeed, Morning Consult’s poll (PDF) of […]

February 24, 2017

Although all hospitals will feel the impact of a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, community health centers and safety-net facilities could suffer more than most. The healthcare reform law provides funding for safety-net providers. If a replacement plan doesn’t […]

November 29, 2016

Today’s patients want to schedule an appointment very much the same way they buy running shoes on Amazon or book a trip on Travelocity. They want the same convenience they enjoy as consumers. But many doctors find their practices also […]

October 24, 2016

A coalition of New York hospitals is targeting emergency department “super users” in hopes of reducing unneeded ER visits. Hospitals and health systems work with the 25 Performing Partner Systems in New York as part of the state’s initiative to reduce avoidable hospitalizations […]

October 5, 2016

As the healthcare industry increasingly tilts in the direction of outpatient services, research shows numerous acute conditions can be treated in outpatient settings at no cost to quality or patient satisfaction. Researchers, led by Jared Conley, M.D., of Massachusetts General […]

September 27, 2016

The emergency medical services industry is undergoing massive change to better meet the needs of patients. In some communities, this means paramedics offer house calls and preventive care to keep patients out of the hospital. In others, it means experimenting […]

August 22, 2016

As more hospitals and healthcare facilities move away from a fee-for-service model, they may find it difficult to apply alternative payment models to the emergency department, frequently a safety net for patients who may be uninsured or unable to pay for care. […]

August 18, 2016

More organizations are opening free-standing emergency departments and no-frills “micro-hospitals” for their convenience and accessibility. Those models may also fix New York’s troubled hospital system, says the head of the New York State Health Foundation. Nearly 30 of the Empire […]

August 9, 2016

When Dignity Health opened the first of 12 planned joint-venture urgent care centers in the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this month, it did more than just provide its patients with more accessible, convenient care at a lower cost. The model will […]

June 23, 2016

Mobile devices, social media, visual media and crowdsourcing have the potential to improve emergency care for cardiac arrests, heart attacks and strokes, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association. The new statement, published in the American […]