What's the trouble? How doctors think.

by JEROME GROOPMAN, The New Yorker
On a spring afternoon several years ago, Evan McKinley was hiking in the woods near Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. McKinley (a pseudonym) was a forest ranger in his early forties, trim and extremely fit. He had felt discomfort in his chest for several days, but this was more severe: it hurt each time he took a breath. McKinley slowly made his way through the woods to a shed that housed his office, where he sat and waited for the pain to pass. He frequently carried heavy packs on his back and was used to muscle aches, but this pain felt different. He decided to see a doctor. Read more...

S.C. hospitals launching patient safety initiatives

By JOHN MONK
The national debate about what the public should know about hospital errors and quality is intensifying. But hospitals, citing patient privacy, still are hesitant to release much internal data about patient safety and their staffs’ performance.
“You’re flying blind,” said Lynn Bailey, a longtime Columbia health care economist who says people can learn far more about the Fords and Toyotas they drive than about local hospitals.
But change is in the works in South Carolina. Read more...

Patients piling medical costs on credit cards

By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff January 22, 2007
Some doctors and hospitals are teaming up with financial-services companies to market credit cards to patients, reducing healthcare providers' dependence on bill collection, and causing more low- and middle-income consumers to pay interest on their medical debts. Read more...