FDA approves first autonomous telemedicine robot for use in hospitals
The robot is ready to diagnose you.
Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: A debt collector at bedside.Jessica Silver-Greenberg of The New York Times • In the lede of an article analyzing Minnesota attorney general Lori Swanson’s recent allegations that a debt collection firm has been stationing its employees in hospital emergency rooms. Employees for Minnesota-based Accretive Health would allegedly disguise themselves as hospital staff, request up-front payment from patients, and — if patients did not have a credit card on-hand — were instructed to reply, “If you have your checkbook in your car I will be happy to wait for you.” Accretive declined to comment on whether or not their practices were being investigated, but did release a short statement saying, “We have a great track record of helping hospitals enhance their quality of care.” source (via • follow)
If you’re an unemployed smoker, don’t bother trying to be a nurse. Around the country, hospitals are implementing no-smoking-allowed policies for their employees, subjecting new applicants to urine tests and treating smoking as a terminable offense. This isn’t entirely without merit: an average smoker costs their employer about $3,391 per year in health costs and lost productivity. On the other hand, it may set a troublesome precedent for other lifestyle choices that result in higher-than-average health costs (skiing, eating meat from Taco Bell). Oddly, though both the SEIU and the tobacco lobby have voiced opposition to the law, neither are aggressively campaigning against it. (thanks for the tip, toutlejour) source
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