Fancy Flourishes At Hospitals Don’t Impress Patients, Study Finds

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from kaiserhealthnews.org

As Dr. Zishan Siddiqui watched patients and some fellow physicians in Baltimore move from their decades-old building into the Sheikh Zayed Tower, the internist saw a rare opportunity to test a widespread assumption in the hospital industry: that patients rate their care more highly when it is given in a nicer place.

For decades, hospital executives across the country have justified expensive renovation and expansion projects by saying they will lead to better patient reviews and recommendations. One study estimated $200 billion might have been spent over a decade on new building. Hopkins’ construction of the tower and a new children’s hospital cost $1.1 billion. Patient judgments have become even more important to hospitals since Medicare started publishing ratings and basing some of its pay on surveys patients fill out after they have left the hospital.

Siddiqui’s study, published this month by the Journal of Hospital Medicine, contradicts the presumption that better facilities translate into better patient reviews. Siddiqui examined how patient satisfaction scores changed when doctors started practicing in the new tower, which has 355 beds and units for neurology, cardiology, radiology, labor and delivery and other specialties.

This KHN story also ran on NPR...
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Wisconsin senate approves right-to-work bill

The Wisconsin Senate [official website] on Wednesday approved Senate Bill 44 [text], commonly known as the right-to-work bill. In general, the legislation provides that employees cannot be required to join a labor organization. Without financial support, unions are limited in their ability to bargain and recruit new members. Wisconsin would be the twenty-fifth state to enact a right-to-work law, giving the trend towards enacting right-to-work laws momentum throughout the country. Many individuals are concerned for what this will mean for workers' wages, benefits and other assistance that unions offer to their members. Individuals that oppose the laws are concerned that worker training and safety could be limited with the restrictions placed on funding.

Twenty-one states passed right-to-work laws [JURIST backgrounder], either by statute or state constitutional amendment, before the year 2000. As of 2009, 10 were a result of state constitutional amendment. A report published by the Congressional Research Service in December 2012 acknowledged [PDF] the difficulty of accurately assessing right-to-work laws and the economic outcomes of individual states. The report reviewed studies that focused on the effects of right-to-work laws on job growth and wages, and found that the results of the studies are mixed and do not support any one particular theory or trend. Many early-adopter states of right-to-work laws had below average unionization rates, and such...

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Who’s to Blame for the Exploding Oil Trains?

A week after a CSX train hauling crude oil derailed and exploded 30 miles southeast of Charleston, W.Va., on Feb. 16, its mangled, charred tank cars were still being hauled from the crash site. Of the 27 cars that derailed, 19 had been engulfed in flames. The wreckage burned for almost three days. “It’s amazing no one was killed,” says John Whitt, whose home is one of a handful clustered near the crash site, along the banks of the Kanawha River. Some were within 30 yards of the site. One home was destroyed.

Exploding oil trains—this was only the latest in a series—have emerged as a dangerous side effect of the U.S. energy boom. A lack of pipelines connecting new fields in North Dakota and Texas to refineries and shipping terminals has led to an almost 5,000 percent increase in the amount of oil moved by trains since 2009. Much of it is carried in tank cars designed a half-century ago that regulators have long deemed inadequate for hauling the highly flammable types of crude coming out of North Dakota.

The West Virginia accident came less than a month after the U.S. Department of Transportation sent a proposal for new safety standards to the White House for approval. The rules were supposed to have been submitted at the end of last year but were delayed amid...


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N.J. agrees to $250M pollution settlement from Exxon; state had sought $8.9B By Scott Fallon and James O'Neill staff writers |  The Record Print The Christie administration reportedly has settled for pennies on the dollar an 11-year-old lawsuit that addresses contamination around the Bayway Refinery in Linden, once owned by Exxon, as well as at a site in Bayonne. ASSOCIATED PRESS The Christie administration’s reported settlement of an $8.9 billion lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. for just $250 million drew a wide range of criticism Friday against a governor who has leaned heavily on the fossil fuel industry for money to boost his national stature. Lawyers for the state reportedly settled an 11-year-old lawsuit last week just before a state Superior Court judge was set to rule on the amount Exxon would be penalized for contaminating more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes and meadows in Bayonne and Linden, where it ran oil refineries for decades. AP Why would the Christie administration settle a 10-year-old lawsuit against Exxon Mobile for a reported $250 million when it was seeking almost $9 billion in damages? The former state official who brought the lawsuit against Exxon in 2004 called the reported settlement a “betrayal of environmental law enforcement” because state courts had already found Exxon liable for the damage. The only issue remaining was the amount the oil giant would be compelled to pay. “If these reports are true and...

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21 new cases of mesothelioma in Iron Range miners - KMSP-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Minnesota health officials have discovered 21 new cases of mesothelioma in a group of 69,000 mine workers that have been monitored since the late 1990s. 80 cases of the rare lung cancer had previously been discovered the group of miners, bringing the total number of cases reported to 101. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers. It's almost always fatal. The workers monitored by MDH and the University of Minnesota were employed in the state's iron mining industry between the 1930s and 1982. All 101 cases occurred in miners who worked with multiple companies across the Iron Range, so the mesothelioma cases are not limited to one location or company. These 21 new cases were not unexpected, but rather a matter of time. “This form of cancer has an extremely long latency period,” said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Minnesota Commissioner of Health. “The interval between exposure to the agent that causes the cancer and the time when the cancer appears can be as long as 40 or 50 years, possibly even longer. We have always expected to see additional cases as time went by, in people who were exposed many years ago. We expect to see still more cases going forward.” Health officials are stressing that the spike mesothelioma cases in northeastern Minnesota is most likely an occupational health concern, and there is not any increased risk for the general public.

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Nearly One Third Of Workers’ Comp Claims Caused By Ice & Snow

(WLNS) – Last year’s snowy and icy winter in the Midwest caused slips and falls that accounted for nearly one third of all workers’ compensation claims. That’s according to the Accident Fund and United Heartland, two large workers’ compensation carriers. Their researchers found that winter-related slips and falls claims doubled in 2013-2014 over the previous year, representing 29 percent of all workers’ compensation claims. By state, the numbers peaked at: • Indiana – 37 percent • Wisconsin – 33 percent • Michigan – 32 percent • Illinois – 32 percent • Minnesota – 29 percent “Winter-related slips and falls have a significant negative impact on American businesses each year, resulting in time off work, temporary employee costs, overtime for existing employees and increased insurance costs,” said Mike Britt, president of Accident Fund Insurance Company of America. Tips for Winter Safety To help avoid injury when walking on ice and snow, Accident Fund and United Heartland offer simple tips: • Walk slowly and deliberately and wear boots or other slip-resistant footwear • Be prepared for black ice formation after melting occurs • Exercise caution when getting in and out of vehicles • Watch for slippery floors when entering buildings • Avoid carrying items, keep hands empty so arms are free to move for stabilization – use backpacks if possible The...

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NJ Beta On-Line Calculations Program Available - OscarCalc

NJ has now released an on-line Beta version of its calculation program, OscarCalc. The announcement was made today by Director and Chief Judge Peter J. Calderone.

Click below to access the Beta version of the online program.

OscarCalc