Innovations

Latest California Healthline Stories

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Hospitals and medical practices are battling outdated stereotypes and sometimes their own doctors to hire certified nurse midwives.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.

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.

New Southern California Medical School To Tackle Doctor Shortages

The Claremont Colleges plans to open a medical school in 2022, one of four to be announced or established in Southern California in recent years. It’s part of an effort to bring more physicians to underserved areas.

California Clinic Screens Asylum Seekers For Honesty

As new federal policies make it harder to gain asylum in the U.S., foreign applicants try to improve their chances by having doctors evaluate their conditions — perhaps bolstering their stories of torture and violent persecution back home.