Patients are often told to be smart consumers and shop around for health care before they use it. But even when you do so, estimates from insurers, hospitals and doctors can be unreliable.
The loss of the longtime hospital in Fort Scott, Kan., has forced a change in the way ER care is provided, including a greater reliance on air ambulances.
Recruiting doctors to come to work in rural hospitals has always been a challenge, especially in a hot job market. But some hospitals in remote areas are finding ways to lure much-needed talent.
The administration's rules would require hospitals to provide far more detail about the actual prices they charge insurers for medical care. Would patients welcome the data, or feel overwhelmed?
Sepsis, the body's overreaction to infection, strikes more than a million Americans a year and kills more than 250,000. Evidence suggests that regulations can improve its diagnosis and patient care.
Under federal law, people sexually assaulted don't have to pay for their medical forensic exams. Yet some have trouble getting the hospitals or collection agencies to stop dunning them for payment.
After an investigation by journalists found the Methodist hospital system had filed 8,300 lawsuits in five years, the hospital announced it will be "reviewing" its policies in the next 30 days.
As the rural town of Fort Scott, Kan., grapples with the closure of its hospital, cancer patients bear a heavy burden. They now have to go elsewhere for treatments they used to get locally.
A nonprofit hospital network in Memphis has taken its own workers to court over unpaid medical bills. Some of them earn as little as $12.25 an hour but still see their wages garnished.
A broad executive order issued Monday is supposed to help consumers get better estimates of health care costs. But whether it will be a game changer depends on the details, say health care analysts.
Workers in nursing homes, hospital ERs and other health facilities are required by law to notify police whenever they notice likely signs of physical or sexual abuse. But that's often not happening.
California's Santa Clara County argues that if the rule goes into effect in July, the county will suffer irreparable harm in terms of patient care and staffing costs.
The administration's proposed adjustment to the wage index, a key factor used to set hospitals' Medicare payments, could help rural facilities while hurting those in cities.
More than half of Americans contacted about an overdue bill said it related to medical debt. Some consumer advocates say newly proposed limits on debt collectors don't do enough.
Nitrous oxide is making a comeback for pain relief during childbirth. But charges for the option vary from free at some hospitals to thousands of dollars at others.
Strikes by the government and its allies have dealt a devastating blow to Idlib province in the north, where the conflict has escalated since late April.
Civica Rx has plans to become an alternative source of generic drugs at reasonable prices for hospitals. The company's first medicines will be the antibiotics vancomycin and daptomycin.
People in Fort Scott, Kan., depended on their local hospital for more than a century. In December, the hospital closed. Fort Scott residents now are trying to cope with life without it.
Caps on shift lengths for medical residents were implemented to improve patient safety. Given the effects of sleep deprivation on emotional capacity and residents' well-being, why risk longer hours?
A bipartisan group of senators has been working on a plan to protect patients from unexpected medical bills. Disagreements within the health care industry could thwart those efforts.
A public hospital in Los Angeles gets over 1,000 unidentified patients a year. Most are quickly ID'd, but some require considerable gumshoe work — a task often complicated by medical privacy laws.
Hospital-owned clinics that are miles away should be reimbursed at the same rates as an independent doctor, but not more, Medicare says. That new rule could save taxpayers $380 million in 2019.
U.S. hospitals are under mounting pressure to address violence against health care staff by patients and visitors. Nearly half of emergency doctors say they've been physically assaulted at work.
Celina, Tenn., has long lured retirees, with its scenic hills and affordability. These newcomers help fuel the local economy. But a recent hospital closure makes the town a harder sell.
