This is from an advocacy group. RNs across the United States are actively working with CNA/NNU to win their own mandated direct-care RN-to-patient staffing ratios. RNs in other countries have also been fighting to win RN-to-patient staffing ratios to improve conditions for their patients. Safe RN-to-patient staffing ratios have been proven to save lives, yet… Read More
According to an August 3, 2017 CNN report by Caitlin Ostroff and Ciara Bri’d Frisbie, Sixteen percent of mainland America is 30 miles or more from a hospital. The lack of adequate financing of rural hospitals may make this worse. Medicaid cuts could close even more rural hospitals This can especially effect trauma, cardiac neurological… Read More
According to an article in Modern Healthcare, CMS announced in August 2017 that they will give inpatient psychiatric facilities a modest 1% Medicaid reimbursement increase in 2018 of $45 million. Medicare previously announced they would receive a $100 million increase in Medicare reimbursement in 2018 Excerpts include: The agency made the change via a notice… Read More
This CDC link and publication shows opiate prescribing rates by county and state. Interesting to see the discrepancies from county to county and state to state. Here are the highlights of the data After a steady increase in the overall national opioid prescribing rate from 2006, the total number of prescriptions dispensed peaked in 2012… Read More
This November 16, 2016 This November 25, 2016 newspaper article written by Bill Hanna in the Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram talks about the problems with rural hospitals closing in Texas. Excerpts In some areas of West Texas and the Texas Panhandle, the nearest hospital can be as far as an hour away. Since 2013,… Read More
This 2017 Business insider brief looks at how much you have to earn to rent a two-bedroom house. With the minimum wage sitting at $10.00/ hour, you have to make nearly twice that and more than three times that in some states to pay rent for a modest house. This brief article comments… Read More
“Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado on Adolescent Emergency Visits” was an abstracted presented Monday, May 8,2017 at American Academy of Pediatrics meeting in San Francisco. The study looked at the number of emergency department visits before after marijuana legalization. The results are fairly disturbing as the number of visits has dramatically increased. With marijuana… Read More
A CNBC report June 27, 2017 reports that looks at the problems and difficulties with high deductible health plans. This is a significant problem as healthcare moves forward potentially destabilizing the entire healthcare delivery system and safety net. More than two-thirds of patients aren’t paying their entire hospital bills, and that number could increase to… Read More
This is a great Op-ed from a radiologist who understands the health economics effecting patient care that was published in the Wall Street Journal. Just after World War II, there were 1.4 million hospital beds available in the U.S. The most recent estimates show fewer than 900,000 beds, even though the nation’s population has grown… Read More
