Senate committee moves closer to agreement on health care reform
Lawmakers in the Senate say they are close to agreement on a $1 trillion health care reform bill but still have not reached an accord on the issue of including a public health plan option. The legislation would be funded by tax increases, reductions in Medicare, and penalties for employers that do not offer health insurance. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the committee aims to produce a bill shortly after the July Fourth recess.
ED wait times are not top concern for patients
Reducing wait times in hospital emergency departments improves patient satisfaction, but a survey found that for many people their top concern was communication. The customer satisfaction survey of 1.4 million patients found that top priorities were how well people were kept updated about delays, how well staff cared about them as people, and how well their pain was controlled.
Knee replacement is cost-effective for older adults
A U.S. study involving Medicare patients age 65 and older found that total knee replacement surgeries are “highly cost-effective” compared with other bone-related procedures, especially when experienced surgeons are involved. Patients who underwent the surgery experienced a better quality of life for more than a year after the procedure than those who did not, the study showed.
Medical-home model gaining traction
The medical-home model - a key part of health care reform that focuses on coordinated care, prevention and reducing complications - is winning the support of medical groups, health care providers and families. For the Odom family of Durham, N.C., it has meant getting comprehensive treatment and disease management for multiple medical conditions, keeping family members out of the hospital and reducing health care costs.
Retiring the idea of retirement
Here’s some bad news for businesses targeting the retiree market: Retirement as we know it may be going away. Demographic trends are colliding with economic realities, forcing more people to work well beyond retirement age. Despite the presumed political difficulty of delaying retirement, polls show that many older workers would actually prefer to stay on the payroll in some capacity.
What is your leadership mindset?
Some workers think their leadership potential is limited by their talents, their circumstances or some other factor beyond their control. But a person’s leadership potential comes from their ability to manage others, to take risks and to push themselves forward, and it’s limited only by their attitude. Leadership is a journey, and it’s to be undertaken by everyone.
Planning for your own promotion
If your boss is asking you to come with a map for your promotion entirely on your own, he’s either dishonest or incompetent, David Silverman contends. He shares three strategies for getting the information you need.
Farewell to Michael Jackson
Most of us grew up with Michael Jackson and sang, danced and had fun to his music. As you know, Michael passed away Thursday, June 25, at the age of 50, following an apparent heart attack. In tribute to his life, radio stations across the country played his music. NPR had a great segment on its program “All Things Considered” and showed how fans of Michael Jackson came from all corners of the world.
By Anne Llewellyn, RN-BC, MS, BHSA, CCM, CRRN
