Health Care Reform Shaping Up to be as Divisive as Stimulus Package
from Dallas Business Journal
 Health care reform is still on the agenda this year in Congress, despite the departure of President Barack Obama’s point man on the issue. Tom Daschle’s withdrawal as Obama’s health czar and nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services is a glitch, not a fatal blow, to the push for comprehensive health care reform, according to most observers. The chairmen of the two Senate committees with jurisdiction over health care reaffirmed their plans to pursue reform this year.
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SHCA Online voting is open through Monday, March 9, 2009
Your responsibility as an SHCA member is vitally important in ensuring our future. Your participation in the election process guarantees that you have a voice in the vision and future of SHCA and our profession.
Click here to view the candidates biographies.
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State Hospital Association Creates Web Site on Patient Quality and Safety
from KFSM – Ft. Smith/Fayatteville, AR
The Oklahoma Hospital Association has started a Web site giving patient quality and safety information for 80 Oklahoma hospitals. Association President Craig Jones says the site will also help hospital officials learn ways to improve medical care.
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Doctor, Is This Test Necessary?
from The Post-Standard
In my last column, we reviewed one reason patients are given so many medical tests. We learned that doctors will order many more tests than necessary because, if a problem occurs, the test documentation may later provide a defense against a resulting lawsuit. It's called defensive medicine. There are additional reasons we are subjected to so many tests. First, tests can substitute for time spent with patients. It takes doctors less time to review extra test results than it takes to ask us questions, listen to our answers, then determine exactly which tests are really necessary. More
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SHCA Online Education
Webinars That Speak to Your Needs; professional development for your whole staff at a low price!
Competencies of Patient Advocacy
Defining Advanced Standards of Practice - *FREE
Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 1:00 p.m. CST
*This webinar is FREE to SHCA members. $49.99 for non-members. Details coming soon!
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MRSA Cases Dropping in Hospital ICUs
from U.S. News & World Report
Blood infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have dropped significantly in hospital intensive care units, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. MRSA, a type of staph bacteria that's resistant to certain antibiotics, can cause severe infections in people in hospitals and other health-care facilities. It can also cause serious skin infections in healthy people who haven't recently been hospitalized. The tough-to-treat blood infections have caused the most concern, but the new CDC numbers suggest that hospital prevention efforts may be turning the tide against MRSA. More
Doctors, Lawyers Partner in Hospitals for Patient Health
from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Anika Porter was taken aback when her 16-year-old son invited his girlfriend into the house earlier this month to meet the parents before heading out to a dance. Porter's son, Dannell Wise, was all smiles, sporting slacks, a tie and a vest. Porter just cried. More
State Hospital Association Wants Codes Standardized
from The Wenatchee World
Central Washington Hospital may take longer than other hospitals in the state to standardize its emergency codes, hospital officials say. That's because the hospital is in the middle of a massive effort to switch from paper to electronic records, and officials decided that it's less costly and less confusing to wait until the change is complete. The Washington State Hospital Association announced this week that it wants all hospitals in the state to adopt by October the same emergency codes — such as Code Red for a fire and Code Blue when a patient's heart or breathing has stopped. More
Coalition of Pain Experts Offers Guidance on Measures to Prevent Misuse and Abuse of Pain Medications
from The Clinical Advisor
An ad hoc coalition of leading pain specialists and representatives from key clinical and patient advocacy organizations convened in November 2008 to address the growing problem of misuse and abuse of pain medications, and to strengthen support for recognizing chronic pain as a distinct disease state—an important step toward improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients with pain. More
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