Latest California Healthline Stories
A Dearth Of Hospital Beds For Patients In Psychiatric Crisis
A California Assembly bill would require creating a mandatory registry for available psychiatric hospital beds, but the state hospital association calls it unworkable.
Covered California Imposes New Quality, Cost Conditions On Plans
In a sweeping overhaul of its contracts, the state’s insurance exchange will require health plans to hold doctors and hospitals accountable for quality and cost.
Major Employers Decry Sutter Health’s Tactics In Dispute Over Prices
Sutter Health, with dominant market share in Northern California, is insisting that employers sign arbitration agreements or face sharply higher out-of-network rates.
CT Scans For Minor Injuries On A Rapid Rise In California Emergency Rooms
Researchers say they’re reporting the facts, but not taking a stand on CT “overuse.”
Hackers Seek Ransom From Two More Southern California Hospitals
A malware attack against two Prime Healthcare hospitals in South California, which federal authorities are investigating, comes soon after a case in which hackers demanded ransom from a Los Angeles hospital.
California Insurance Marketplace Wants To Kick Out Poor-Performing Hospitals
Providers and insurers are balking at a Covered California proposal to eject hospitals with inordinately high costs and low quality from its networks.
For Parents Of Preemies, Life Starts With A Complex Fight For Survival
About 380,000 babies are born too soon every year in the United States, a preterm birth rate that’s far higher than most high-income, developed countries. Even with so many families facing the realities of a premature child, predicting the long-term health of a baby is difficult, and doctors have an even tougher time talking about those predictions with parents.
In Caring For Sickest Infants, Doctors Tap Parents For Tough Calls
Doctors were once unquestioned authorities on how aggressively to treat the sickest and most premature babies. Now, they increasingly include parents in these wrenching choices.
R2D2’s Next Assignment: Hospital Orderly
A gleaming new hospital in San Francisco has a fleet of robots dropping off meals, picking up trash and saving some money in a very 21st century way.
The Agonizing Limbo Of Abandoned Nursing Home Residents
Even when the state orders nursing homes to readmit residents who have been in the hospital, its orders have no teeth.