Health Industry

Latest California Healthline Stories

¿Será tu celular tu próximo consultorio médico?

La yema del dedo presionada contra la lente de la cámara de un celular puede medir la frecuencia cardíaca. El micrófono, colocado junto a la cama, puede detectar apnea del sueño. Incluso el altavoz está siendo modificado para monitorear la respiración usando tecnología de sondas.

Doctors at UC Hospitals Want Stronger Protections in Contracts With Faith-Based Hospitals

The public university’s health system is renewing contracts with outside hospitals and clinics even as some doctors and faculty say clearer language is needed to protect physicians performing abortions and gender-affirming treatments.

Hospitals’ Use of Volunteer Staff Runs Risk of Skirting Labor Laws, Experts Say

Hospitals using volunteers is commonplace. But some labor experts argue that deploying unpaid workers to do work that benefits the organization’s bottom line lets for-profit hospitals skirt federal labor laws, deprives employees of work, and potentially exploits the volunteers.

Behavioral Telehealth Loses Momentum Without a Regulatory Boost

As flexible treatment options spurred by the covid pandemic wane, patients relying on medications classified as controlled substances worry that without action to extend the loosened rules, it’ll be harder to get their meds.

California Senate’s New Health Chair to Prioritize Mental Health and Homelessness

California state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton has been appointed chair of the Senate’s influential health committee. A licensed social worker, Eggman said she will make mental health care and homelessness front-burner issues.

Listen: Noise Pollution, a Private Equity Lawsuit, and College Health Fees

California Healthline journalists report on a lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare, the medical insurance and health service fees charged by colleges, and how our increasingly noisy lives may harm our health.

KHN-NPR’s ‘Bill of the Month’ at 5: A Treasury of Solutions for Confounding Medical Bills

Readers and listeners shared more than 1,000 personal stories of medical billing problems with KHN-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” investigative series this year, helping us illuminate the financial decisions patients are pressed to make in their most vulnerable moments.

ER Doctors Call Private Equity Staffing Practices Illegal and Seek to Ban Them

Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.