Word: patient
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Doctors are having a hard go of things. Squeezed by falling reimbursements, soaring malpractice insurance and punishing patient loads, they shouldn't have much to fear from the likes of Wal-Mart. But the fact is, the greeter in the red vest is increasingly going toe-to-toe with the doctor in the white coat - and winning - thanks to the growing phenomenon of retail health clinics...
...clinics - which are typically staffed by nurse practitioners and are positioned in stores that also sell prescriptions - will be inclined to misdiagnose and overprescribe. Worse, they are not built to provide long-term care for chronic conditions such as hypertension, and they threaten the ideal of a lasting doctor-patient relationship, denying consumers a so-called "medical home...
Brad Fisher, spokesman for DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, says emergency room congestion is a definite concern. Already, the one at his hospital is seeing an increase in patient volume and upper respiratory issues. "Normally, we'd expect to see 180 to 190 patients a day in August, and that's blowin' and goin'," Fisher says, using a local expression for quick in-and-out cases. "The past few days, it's been 220, 262, 240. It's a lot busier than usual. We have those numbers during traditional flu season, but not during shirtsleeve weather...
...looked forward to going to see him because he was very warm, very good-hearted. He's not getting a fair shake at this. He's the most beautiful man you would ever know." - Ex-patient Donna Digiacomo to People...
...identified the groups that should get the very first doses, and the list did not contain many surprises: pregnant women, children between 6 months and 4 years of age, anyone in a household who has contact with kids younger than 6 months old, health-care workers who have direct patient contact and all kids ages 5 to 18 who have underlying medical problems. "[Prioritization] is a very important step for planning vaccinations in the fall," says Anne Schuchat, director for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. The elderly, who usually get first dibs on seasonal flu shots...