Critics were concerned that the merger would increase the clout of the providers in an already concentrated market and lead to higher health care costs.
In 1964 healthcare was one-third the cost of an average family’s housing and utility bills. Today, healthcare is equal to housing and utility bills.
Maps of the modern plagues of health disparities — rural hospital closings, medical provider shortages, poor education outcomes, poverty and mortality — all glow along this Southern corridor.
Overtreatment can pose a huge harm to patients, with the complications worse than the original problem at times. Consider arthroscopic surgery for knee pain.
U.S. spending on health care alone is large enough to make it the world's fifth largest economy. A more thoughtful, evidence-driven approach to delivering care could curb such staggering statistics.
Can you imagine a lawyer stopping in the middle of a divorce deposition to type up everything that was just said? Why then do we ask doctors to do such rote tasks?
In Bakersfield, Calif., researchers found 30-day readmission rates dropped significantly when pharmacists where given a larger role in caring for patients.
AP journalist Meghan Hoyer provides an updated dataset and guide to help reporters better understand the role played by Medicaid in their local California communities.
There is a bizarre paradox in the culture of medicine: The system generates more data than ever, but questionable priorities are limiting our ability to effectively use it.
The death certificate helps tells a fuller story of Bill Paxton’s final days. Reporters should make a habit of seeking them out, since they can be revealing repositories of information.
