Latest California Healthline Stories
States Push For Caregiver Tax Credits
Families often spend thousands of dollars caring for ailing loved ones at home. Lawmakers in California and at least seven other states want to provide some financial relief with state income tax credits.
Aspiring Doctors Seek Advanced Training In Addiction Medicine
Once a tiny specialty that drew mostly psychiatrists, addiction medicine is expanding its accredited training to include primary care residents and “social justice warriors” who see it as a calling.
FDA Announces Sweeping Plan To Review Safety Of Surgical Staplers
The FDA said it might reclassify the widely used devices featured in a recent Kaiser Health News investigation.
Lonely? Anxious? Depressed? Maybe Your Dentist Can Help
An Oakland dental clinic has started screening its patients for depression, and referring them to a mental health counselor down the hall for immediate care if necessary. The program at Asian Health Services could be replicated elsewhere, and make help for mental health problems more accessible to hard-to-reach populations.
Students With Addictions Immersed In The Sober Life At ‘Recovery’ High Schools
At one Seattle public school, students earn their diplomas while attending daily support groups and meeting with counselors to help them stay off drugs and alcohol. There are about 40 similar schools around the country, both public and private, and more are on the drawing board.
Call The Midwife! (If The Doctor Doesn’t Object)
Hospitals and medical practices are battling outdated stereotypes and sometimes their own doctors to hire certified nurse midwives. Research shows that women cared for by certified nurse midwives have fewer cesarean sections, which can produce significant cost savings for hospitals.
The Electronics Industry Sees Money In Your Health
Although many device makers at the annual Consumer Electronics Show targeted real health issues, some are looking to solve problems that people didn’t realize needed solving.
An Underused Strategy For Surge In STDs: Treat Patients’ Partners Without A Doctor Visit
For over a decade, federal health officials have recommended the practice, known as expedited partner therapy. It is allowed in most states, but many doctors don’t do it — either because of legal or ethical concerns, or because they are unaware of it.
Novel Measures Test Cities’ Power — And Will — To Tame Health Care Costs
Union-backed initiatives in Palo Alto and Livermore, Calif., aim to cap charges by hospitals and doctors, seeking to build on national furor over rising medical bills. The measures arise in health care markets that are among the most expensive in the nation.
Hospitals Battle For Control Over Fast-Growing Heart-Valve Procedure
Medicare limits payments for valve replacement via a catheter to hospitals with large numbers of heart procedures. But smaller facilities are crying foul.