Blogs

California abandons experiment with medication-dispensing machines

By Emily Bazar | February 16, 2012

California is quietly abandoning a pilot project that would have brought automatic medication dispensers into the homes of thousands of Medi-Cal recipients, saying the experiment would cost more than it would save.

In an analysis of the potential costs, the state Department of Health Care Services determined that the pilot wouldn’t come close to saving the $140 million annually that legislators banked on when they approved it last year. 

“There was a great risk that not only would it not achieve the savings, but it might actually generate costs,” said Norman Williams, DHCS spokesman.

Doctor seeks better health safety net, as it grows bigger

By John Gonzales | February 15, 2012

The federal government gives hospitals that care for uninsured and low-income patients more than $11 billion in funds annually, with California hospitals receiving more than $1 billion.

These hospitals, designated as Disproportionate Share Hospitals, can often be found in blue-collar, sometimes blighted, neighborhoods that have profound medical need:  Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, San Francisco General Hospital & Trauma Center, and Tulare District Hospital in rural California, to name a few.

Patient's persistence nearly eliminates $72,000 medical debt

By Kelley Weiss | February 14, 2012

Andy Gee says he never thought he would see his crushing medical debt basically disappear.

We profiled Gee, of San Francisco, as part of a KQED series on medical debt in the fall. When I interviewed him he wasn’t working. And he had trouble sleeping at night because he was so worried about how he would possibly pay off $72,000 in debt to San Francisco General Hospital and the SFGH Medical Group.

He was hit by a car in October 2010 and was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital for emergency surgery. After a six-day hospital stay he was on the hook for $72,000. Gee says the most shocking thing about all of this was that he had health insurance.

Doctor who suffered his own medical tragedy responds to stories

By Emily Bazar | February 13, 2012

Last month, we chronicled the story of Jerry Magner, a Northern California man who suffered a massive stroke as a result of a surgery that was intended to prevent stroke. Magner’s loved ones, still struggling with their loss, questioned whether the procedure should have been performed in the first place.

Shortly after the stories ran and aired, I received this letter from John Maa, a surgeon and assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco:

Whooping cough vaccination success – Why did it work?

By Richard Kipling | February 10, 2012

It’s a triumph, no doubt about it.

There was not a single California death from whooping cough in 2011, one year after a record 10 infants died from the disease. This is truly good news, the first time since 1991 that no one in the Golden State has succumbed to the highly infectious illness.

So how did California go from such an awful record to such a good one? Let’s turn to the experts for an explanation.

Feds announce plan to reduce early elective births

By Emily Bazar | February 8, 2012

Now the feds are jumping in.

This morning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a national campaign to reduce elective deliveries of babies before 39 weeks of pregnancy, saying the effort will improve care and save millions.

Under the “Strong Start” initiative, the government will work with hospitals across the country that have joined the Partnership for Patients, a voluntary effort to reduce preventable injuries and complications.

Report reveals threat of 'C.diff' infection

By Deborah Schoch | February 7, 2012

Most people have never heard of the infection nicknamed “C.diff.” Others heard of it first at the worst of times—during a hospital stay, or at the bedside of an ailing relative or friend.

I first learned about the severity of Clostridium difficile last spring while writing a story about Tony Lewis, whose broken femur brought him to a Sacramento hospital. Within days, he was diagnosed with the infection that killed him. 

Rethinking the definition of 'term' pregnancy

By Emily Bazar | February 6, 2012

Obstetricians hear it from their pregnant patients all the time: My back hurts. I’m swollen. I’m exhausted. Get this baby out of me!

“Why do I have to wait for 39 weeks if 37 is good enough?” some have asked Elliott Main, chairman of the ob-gyn department at San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center. “Women think it’s fine to deliver at 37 weeks,” he said.

Who can blame them? Technically, a “term pregnancy” is one between 37 and 42 weeks of gestation.

Small hospitals targeting early births, too

By Emily Bazar | February 2, 2012

Not all of the California hospitals cracking down on early elective births are urban behemoths that deliver thousands of babies a year.

Small ones are taking action, too.

Banner Lassen Medical Center in the rural Northern California town of Susanville is a 25-bed hospital that delivers about 250 babies a year. In 2010, it implemented a policy prohibiting doctors from scheduling deliveries between weeks 37 and 39 of pregnancy without a medical reason, trying to put an end to deliveries scheduled for convenience.

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