Friday, February 26, 2010

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

Package of suits cites poor hospital care

Posted:

2/24/2010 © Florida Times-Union
In an unusual tactic of packaging malpractice suits against one hospital, attorneys allege that five patients suffered gruesome bedsores and another was nearly blinded because of poor care at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville. 

Radical surgery saves quake victim's foot

Posted:

2/23/2010 © Orlando Sentinel
Eunice Francois was facing foot amputation after being trapped in the Haiti quake. Instead, an e-mail to a minister friend led to a series of events that ended with Orlando Health doctors saving her foot with a reconstructive plastic surgery normally reserved for breasts or noses.  

Patient 'vegetative'? Maybe not

Posted:

2/4/2010  © Washington Post
New research shows some patients diagnosed as in a "vegetative state" actually have normal brain activity as measured by a functional MRI. The results inevitably raised questions about the controversial case five years ago of a Florida woman, Terri Schiavo.

Jackson losing $14M a month

Posted:

2/3/2010 © Miami Herald
The giant Miami-Dade public health system actually lost four times as much as previously thought last year and is headed for disaster because of the huge increase in uninsured patients, board members were told.

Haitian baby has surgery

Posted:

2/3/2010 © USA Today
Doctors performed lifesaving surgery on an 11-month-old Haitian boy with severe hydrocephalus to relieve pressure inside the baby's skull, ending an ethical debate in which some questioned whether there would be follow-up care available when the shunt gives out. Florida doctors who helped in Haiti are troubled by what lies ahead. "The earthquake was their 9/11," said Dr. Mark Atkinson of the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Grant to help fund prenatal care

Posted:

2/2/2010 © Tallahassee Democrat
Expecting mothers in four North Florida counties will be able to receive prenatal care through a $75,000 grant awarded to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare by Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida.

Uninsured Mexicans find care

Posted:

2/2/2010 © Orlando Sentinel
When Josefina de la Rosa was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, she could not afford treatment. In stepped nonprofit Casa de Mexico, which finds doctors to help.

Cardiologists battle Medicare cuts

Posted:

1/30/2010 © Miami Herald
In a move to boost primary care doctors' pay, Medicare is trimming reimbursement for some cardiac services, prompting an outcry from cardiologists. A South Florida group filed a federal lawsuit and a bill to rescind the cuts has been filed in Congress.

Med-evacs to FL hospitals halted

Posted:

1/29/2010 © Orlando Sentinel
At Gov. Crist's request, the federal government has stopped the flow of injured Haitians to Florida hospitals. Still in question is who will pay bills for the 450 severely injured patients who are already here. In the Sun-Sentinel, basic medical supplies are running low. And in Tampa, eight doctors need a plane to get to Haiti.

Former doc gets life in prison

Posted:

1/29/2010 © Northwest Florida Daily News
David Willis Webb, a former Destin physician convicted of prescribing drugs to patients without monitoring them, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison. Three of his patients died.

Health insurance: $1,200 a month

Posted:

1/28/2010 © Orlando Sentinel
The insurance offered by Cindy Parker-Martinez's husband's employer costs $1,200 a month. Between hospital stays, health problems and routine doctors visits, they are $20,000 in debt and unable to pay the premiums.

'Trellis' zaps clot, hoovers it out

Posted:

1/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times
Doctors at Pepin Heart Hospital say that instead of forcing patients at risk of blood clots to take blood-thinner drugs in perpetuity, it's safer to put the dissolver directly on the clot and vacuum it out.

Haitian injured going statewide

Posted:

1/27/2010 © Health News Florida
(Corrected) As the trauma centers and hospitals in South Florida cope with hundreds of injured Haitians, state emergency operations staff are now directing military airlift flights to Orlando and Tampa, with Jacksonville soon to follow. Tampa got its first load of 17 patients last night, with most going to Tampa General. 

Patient or fetus -- whose rights prevail?

Posted:

1/26/2010 © Associated Press
The case of Samantha Burton, who was forced to remain in the hospital for the welfare of her fetus, is drawing attention to the question of whether pregnancy deprives patients of their rights.
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