Really?: The Claim: If Possible, Avoid Hospitals on Weekends
42467
Many public services are less reliable on weekends. But does that apply to medicine as well?
471524
Because of a shortage of beds at Maryland psychiatric hospitals, a growing number of patients, including many who are involuntarily committed, are spending days in emergency rooms, often in violation of a state law that mandates that they be placed at a comprehensive care facility within 30 hours of...
686610
Life changed for Steve Lunt and his wife when they called Dr. Gordon Moore, who is among a growing number of doctors nationwide who have adopted same-day service. The idea, which experts say is gaining steam, is that scheduling patients immediately for even routine physicals will keep them healthier and happier.
604687
Americans have a harder time than residents of several other countries getting after-hours appointments with a nurse or primary care physician without going to an emergency room, a study released yesterday found.
17401
even at some of the most reputable hospitals in the nation -- does not necessarily translate into longer life or better health and may in fact leave patients
56048
Let the patient beware. Going outside your insurerâs network of preferred doctors or hospitals could be more hazardous to your financial health than you suspected.
147019
It's a new way to push for patient safety: Don't pay hospitals when they commit certain errors. Medicare will start hitting hospitals where it hurts in October, and other insurers are hot on the trail
641707
BusinessWeek Online - If you really want to understand what makes the U.S. economy tick these days, don't go to Silicon Valley, Wall Street, or Washington. Just take a short trip to your local hospital. Park where you don't block the ambulances, and watch the unending flow of doctors, nurses, technicians, and support personnel. You'll have a front-row seat at the health-care economy.
212706
Â· Proposal to rid law of 'common prostitute' termÂ· New offence of causing trouble in hospitals
535473
I hope the Republicans come prepared to debate health care this year, and they leave the platitudes and slogans home.  Enough of us have been seriously sick, or know someone who has, or have family members who have been or are now. The way the Republicans describe health care, it's as if they've never been through it or don't know anyone who has. I got some pushback, not much, from a casual mention of universal health care a few days ago. Some think the problem can be solved through the "private sector" but that's nonsense. There is no such thing in health care. It's not a free market, as anyone who's been through it can tell you. There's nothing free about it. (Free as in freedom, not as in free beer.) When you check into a hospital you turn over your whole being to the health care system. I can't imagine anything changing that, nor do I think it should. When you're dangerously ill, decisions must be made about you. To people who have never relinquished control, it's a big trip, because that's what you have to do. You spend huge amounts of time waiting. You can't sleep because hospitals are 24-by-7. You're much more likely to get an infection in a hospital, and infection on top of other disease can kill. Even so, people are treated and some even are cured by the system. Lives are definitely prolonged, pain is eased.  Whether we have universal health care or not, it won't change the basics of how health care works, and how unfair it is to be sick and fighting for your life. But there are some things we can change, and if you have a heart, and think about it, I don't see how anyone could be against universal health care and still sleep at night. One commenter said that no one is ever turned away from an emergency room, as if that's all there was to health care.  First, emergency rooms do turn people away, and some of them die. But most disease is not treated in emergency rooms. If you need drugs to treat cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's, AIDS, heart disease, depression, arthritis, emphysema, to name a few common chronic diseases -- you're out of luck if you don't have insurance. You could die years before you would with treatment, or might suffer, where if you had good insurance, you wouldn't.  I'm lucky I have good health insurance. It's lucky that I lived in Massachusetts when my COBRA policy expired, it's the one state in the US that has liberalized health insurance. I'm lucky that I can afford the monthly payments. I'm lucky. But why should getting the care and treatment you need depend on luck? We can do so much better. And I think our country would do better with a healthy population that knows if they, or someone they love, got sick they'll the help they need. It'll be interesting to see if we can get McCain to talk about this, if he turns out to be the Republcan nominee. The Republicans have never been responslble about this issue. It's of huge importance to Americans, and McCain presents himself as an honest person. He must understand how the health care system actually works. He's been through it himself, probably many times.  BTW, Hillary's passion for computerizing medical records is a good thing. She's right, a lot of money could be saved, the system could be made much more efficient, people would get better treatment, and lives would be saved. The sooner we get busy doing this, the better it will be for all of us.
697886
Â· Report tells of lack of access to antenatal care Â· Clinic says findings 'rebut myth of health tourist'
453613
Patients have a 'realistic' period to opt out The Department of Health (DoH) has stuck by the "implied consent" model for the central collection of electronic patient records in England, but will provide support for those who want to opt outâ¦
274309
By B.C. Manion, Tampa Tribune, Fla.  Jun. 2--Mowing the lawn and puttering in your garden don't seem all that dangerous, but thousands of people go to the emergency room every year because of injuries in their yard.
749276
Â· Government failed to follow up patients at riskÂ· Danger of wider infection a 'serious problem'
132767
Hospitals accused of keeping thousands of seriously ill patients in 'holding patterns'
410320
Stark evidence that high medical payments do not buy high-quality patient care is presented in a new study.
4941
Concern is raised about a new service brought in to provide medical cover outside surgery hours.