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People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Doctors
Weekend Reading: Health articles online
Investigate IVF clinics? Will there be a debate over Medicare’s future? Is Obama’s ruling on contraception an attack on religion? School-based health centers: a nonpartisan solution?
Computer prescribing cuts drug errors
Incomplete and unclear prescriptions, which numbered in the hundreds during the months before the systems were installed, dropped to single digits at both hospitals, study finds.
Florida doctors block effort to have them post prices
Imagine if finding out the cost of a particular treatment or procedure at a doctors’ office was as easy as locating the prices of entrees at a restaurant. The menu might read: school physicals – $40; office visit for a cold – $80; diabetes screening – $200.
Heavy doctors less likely to talk to patients about weight
Overweight doctors discuss weight loss less frequently with obese patients than doctors with normal weights and they’re significantly less confident of their ability to provide effective counseling about diet or exercise.
New cancer drugs offer hope — but at an often staggering cost
Julie Grabow, an oncologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, recently prescribed an exciting new therapy for a 60-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer — Afinitor made by Novartis. There was a catch, though. Novartis is charging $10,000 per month for the drug
Weekend Reading: Cheating doctors, conflicts of interest and the FDA, and more…
Articles on: Conflict of interest on FDA panels. Radiology residents charged with cheating. Why dentists oppose allowing mid-level dental practitioners provide care in rural and other underserved areas.
Teens and young adults talk about coping with cancer in new video series
Teens and young adults with cancer talk about their experiences with the disease – from treatments and hair loss, to dealing with school, friends and family.
Washington state bill would require insurers to cover abortions
“Reproductive Parity Act” would require private and public insurers that provide maternity coverage to cover abortion services as well.
Only about half of recommended preventive services offered during annual checkups
Doctors offer or suggest only about half of the screening tests and other preventive services that guidelines recommend doctors offer to patients during their routine medical checkups, a new study finds. That’s not so bad, say some experts, given how little financial support there is to promote prevention.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
Is overnight sleep testing overprescribed?
The use of overnight sleep testing has soared. One reason, critics say: testing is a lucrative business for doctors.
Small steps to big health change
Want to lose weight? Quit smoking? Get fit? It can be done, but you’re more likely to reach your goals if you take a slow, step-by-step approach, experts say.
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