Friday, May 13, 2011

Hospital costs

What could me more confusing than hospital bills?

It's nearly impossible to get an idea of what a procedure will cost ahead of time. Even afterwards, bills are difficult to decipher, and insurance companies never pay what the hospital initially charges.

The Observer is doing research on medical costs. If you have concerns about your hospital bill, please write back here, send an e-mail to kgarloch@charlotteobserver.com, or call me at 704-358-5078.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

N.C. Medical Board discipline up in 2010

Every year, the N.C. Medical Board releases a report outlining its disciplinary actions for the past year.

In 2010, the board took "prejudicial" actions related to 226 doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. That was an increase over 218 individuals disciplined in 2009.

License suspensions were up to 59 in 2010, from 42 in 2009. Reprimands were up to 48 in 2010, from 38 in 2009. Public Letters of Concern, a fairly new tool for the board to use, remain the most prevalent type of public action. The board issued 77 letters in 2010, compared to 73 in 2009.

Here's the complete report:
http://www.ncmedboard.org/news/detail/board_action_video_news_release/

Monday, May 2, 2011

Daughters Win With Moms

Just in time for Mother’s Day, a newly released national survey shows mothers would overwhelmingly choose to move in with their daughters over their sons if they can't live alone. And mothers say their daughters will take better care of them as they age.

The survey, which polled 335 Americans over age 55, was commissioned by Senior Helpers, a provider of in-home care and creator of the Stay At Home Score Quiz.

Take the 8-question survey at www.stayathomescore.com.

The national survey shows:
70 percent of mothers with both a son(s) and a daughter(s) would choose to move in with their daughter over their son if they could not take care of themselves.

68 percent of mothers say as they age, daughters will take better care of them than their sons will.

65 percent of mothers say their daughters, more than their sons, would most likely want them to move in.

But it wasn't all bad news for men:

Nearly 80 percent of parents say their own children (both sons and daughters) will take care of them as well as they, themselves have taken care of their parents.

70 percent of mothers and fathers say their children (both sons and daughters) would pay out of their own pockets to care for them as they age.

94 percent of mothers and fathers say they would rather live in their own home as they age instead of moving in with any of their children or to a nursing home or assisted living facility.

Nearly 52 percent of fathers say they’d rather move in with their daughters while 48 percent say they’d rather move in with their sons.

57 percent of fathers said their daughters would want them to move in while 43 percent say their sons would want them to move in.

65 percent of fathers say their daughters will take better care of them while they age and 35 percent say sons will take better care of them.