CrisisID

Penal Health Care California Style

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:19:57 +0000

Paying for the cost of prisoner’s health care has been debated since 1774, when the British parliament pasted the Health of Prisoners Act. In the United States prisoners have a constitutional right to health care via the Eighth Amendment concerning cruel and unusual punishment.

As the result of a 2001 class action law suit (Plata v. Schwarzenegger) brought against the State of California over the quality of medical care in the state’s 33-prison system the California Prison Health Care Receivership was established to oversee the care. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson appointed Clark Kelso as “receiver” to administer prison health care. For 2009 Kelso is demanding at least $8 billion to construct new facilities. (more…)

Check-Ups

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:07:13 +0000

In keeping with the latest health care trend, the annual physical is dead. Taking its place is the periodic health examination (PHE). What’s the difference? The PHE is a customized exam based on each individual’s personal health history.

You feel fine: no aches or pains, no shortness of breath, nothing out of the ordinary. So why should you see your doctor? Well, there are several reasons. A regular checkup, now being referred to as a periodic health examination (PHE), can help prevent diseases before they ever take hold or catch health problems at early stages when they’re easier to control or cure. Another great benefit of such visits is that over time you and your doctor develop a rapport and mutual trust. (more…)

Accompanying Your Child to the Doctor

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:05:39 +0000

As a parent, you want to get the best medical care possible for your child, and you want your child’s experience getting medical care to be as pleasant as possible. You can do a lot to make going to the doctor a good thing. For children from toddler to teenager, the experience of going to the doctor begins at home. Talk about the upcoming visit at least a day in advance, if possible.

When You Talk With Your Child Before the Visit:

Be open. No matter what their age, tell your children in advance when they are going to the doctor and why. –> They need to know what to expect. It helps even young children to know that a “shot” can protect them from getting sick or that a test will let the doctor know which medicine will make them well.

Hospital Emergency Departments -What You Need to Know Before You Go

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:01:53 +0000

In 2005, the latest data from the Center for Disease Control, approximately one-fifth of the U.S. population had made one or more ED visits within the past 12 months. From 1996 through 2006 the number of hospitals EDs decreased from 4,019 to 3,833, thus added to the annual number of visits per ED.

Under normal conditions, on average most patients would see a physician in less than an hour with 70% spending less than 4 hours at the ED. But what happens when a deepening of the swine flu (H1N1) forces additional school closings in the United States. According to the New York Daily News the wait for care at some hospital emergency rooms was growing dramatically - up to 10 hours in some places.

So what are some of the things you can do? (more…)

How to Save on the Cost of Medications

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:09:34 +0000

The cost of medications continues to skyrocket, so savvy consumers must use money-saving strategies.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but prices of prescription drugs have been escalating, adding to the already prohibitively high cost of health care. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, prescription drug expenditures grew at double-digit rates during almost every year since 1980, accelerating to 14.1% in 1997. Senior citizens who depend on Medicare, which does not cover outpatient prescriptions, shell out the most. But even people whose health insurance pays for medications may find they have hefty co-payments or deductibles. The prescription drug costs of private insurers are rising even faster than the overall total costs, increasing 17.7% in 1997, after growing 22.1% in 1995 and 18.3% in 1996. Here are some tips to help you stretch your prescription-drug dollar: (more…)

May 4, 2009 - Have Your Medical Records Become an American Export!

admin — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:58:27 +0000

20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:59:14 +0000

Medical errors are one of the Nation’s leading causes of death and injury. Rates of medication errors and adverse drug events for hospitalized children were comparable to rates for hospitalized adults in a 2001 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, the rate for potential adverse drug events was three times higher in children, and substantially higher still for babies in neonatal intensive care units. Studies of medical errors outside the hospital are just getting underway.

This fact sheet is intended to help parents help their children avoid medical errors. (more…)

Making Drugs Available

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:11:27 +0000

Get the Medications you need!

Lack of Health Insurance Growing?

According to Kaiser Foundation researcher Catherine Hoffman, Scd, “”Even in the mid-1990s, when the economy was booming, we saw the number of uninsured Americans grew by about a million a year. And that is because there was never any control over health costs. We just don’t have a solution.”

With economy of the United States having been identified as being in an economic crisis the world has officially been declared to be in a recession. The unemployment rate has jumped from about 4.7 percent last December, when the recession began, to 6.7 percent today. Economists estimated in a Kaiser Family Foundation report that each 1 percent gain in the unemployment rate adds 1 million people to the Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program. (more…)

My Personal Worksheet

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:01:05 +0000

To use this form simply start typing in the first box (Name) When finished use the TAB key to move to the next box until all boxes required are filled. To skip a box simply TAB thru. Use the Print Form box when done. Follow directions to print the back side of the sheet.

Never Events and You

admin — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:11:22 +0000

You don’t expect to pay for something that was done wrong. Starting October 1, 2008 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have said they won’t either. The CMS will use its financial clout to improve patient safety and control costs by no longer paying for what are known as “Never Events”. Defined by several national quality measurement organizations, “never events” include surgical errors such as procedures performed on the wrong body part or on the wrong patient. In addition to wrong-site surgery and serious medication errors, “never events” also include a variety of other complications. Initially they started with 8 events but now have expanded the list to 11. (more…)