Charity-FEMA Award has Broad Implications
An arbitration panel’s ruling that FEMA must pay Louisiana $474.7 million for hurricane damage to Charity Hospital paves the way for a replacement facility and boosts the state’s efforts to increase the physician workforce...Read More



Current Louisiana Medical News

Charity-FEMA Award has Broad Implications | FEMA, Charity Hospital, Veterans Affairs, LSU, University of Alabama at Birmingham, New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina
Charity-FEMA Award has Broad Implications
An arbitration panel’s ruling that FEMA must pay Louisiana $474.7 million for hurricane damage to Charity Hospital paves the way for a replacement facility and boosts the state’s efforts to increase the physician workforce.

 
LSU-Lake Deal Will Train More Physicians | LSU, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Woman’s Hospital, Baton Rouge General, Bobby Jindal, Medicare, Earl K. Long Regional Medical Center, Level 1 Trauma Center
LSU-Lake Deal Will Train More Physicians
Shifting LSU’s medical education and hospital from Earl K. Long Medical Center to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center could double the number of residents trained in Baton Rouge, hospital officials said.
LSU now has around 75 residents at Earl K. Long and 25 or so at the Lake, said Dr. Larry Hollier, chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. Within the next five years, the Lake could have as many as 250 LSU residents in training.

 
Finding Money in the Microbiology Laboratory
While several laboratory sections are very straightforward in coding and billing, such as chemistry and hematology, the micro lab has numerous “add on” procedures that are routinely performed to complete the culture report. Frequently, add on charges are never captured.
 
Practice Management Focus

Delta Doctors J-1 Visa Program Helps Fill Critical Needs | Foreign physicians, J-1 VISA waiver, Delta Regional Authority, Greg Siskind, immigration law, Northern Louisiana Medical Center
Delta Doctors J-1 Visa Program Helps Fill Critical Needs
An 18-mile drive to see the doctor might not sound like anything to worry about for most people. But in rural Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) of Louisiana, for people who don’t have a car or whose handicaps don’t allow them to drive, it might as well be 100 miles. They just can’t get there.

 
Disruptive Behavior is Bad for Patients | Disruptive behavior in medicine, American College of Physician Executives, Barry Silbaugh, Gerald Hickson, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy
Disruptive Behavior is Bad for Patients
Survey Reveals Troubling Conduct in the Healthcare Environment
Being a good member of a team means playing well with others, but a recent survey by the American College of Physician Executives reveals that disruptive behavior by professional members of healthcare teams compromises patient safety, undermines cooperation and makes going to work a miserable experience.

 
Oncology Focus

GPS Your Way Through the Lungs | inReach™ by superDimension, electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, fiducial placement in lungs, VATS, CyberKnife, dye marking in lungs
GPS Your Way Through the Lungs
Locating Peripheral Lung Lesions Is Now Safer and More Accurate with the inReach™ System
The next time you use a GPS to mark a favorite fishing hole, you are using the same electromagnetic principles that power the inReach ™ System (superDimension, Inc.) of guided bronchoscopy, used for guided navigation to peripheral lung lesions beyond the reach of traditional scopes, as well as for locating and staging suspect lymph nodes in the surrounding mediastinum.

 
Guest Writers

Book Review: Medicine in Translation by Danielle Ofri
For several months now, you’ve been keeping a tight eye on Washington. This healthcare debate has your attention and you’ve got definite opinions.
You’ve also got questions. How, for instance, will reform affect you and your family? Will insurance be cheaper or more costly, better or worse? And how will it affect your wallet when your taxes are used to insure the uninsured?

 
Legislative Affairs: Louisiana Health Care Commission Meeting
The Louisiana Health Care Commission met Friday January 29, 2010, in Baton Rouge. The commission meets under the auspices of the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Created under former Commissioner Jim Brown, the commission makes recommendations to the Department of Insurance relative to public policy issues.
 
Physician Spotlight

Dr. Perri B. Prellop
Dr. Perri B. Prellop
Doctor/Mom Faces Challenge of Balancing Work/Family
For second-time mom, Dr. Perri B. Prellop, balancing career and family is a constant challenge. By day, she practices full-time as a radiation oncologist, dealing with life and death firsthand on a daily basis. After work, she goes home to a brand new baby boy, an active three-year old daughter, and a husband with a full-time job. The circle of life continues to revolve.

 
In The News

In The News February

 
In The News March
 

Pill Kills Hard-to-Treat Head Lice
Title: Pill Kills Hard-to-Treat Head Lice
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2010 10:40:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 10:40:47 AM Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST

Cancer Deaths Down Since 'War on Cancer'
Title: Cancer Deaths Down Since 'War on Cancer'
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2010 10:26:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 10:26:52 AM Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST

Cardiac Catheterizations: Too Many Performed?
Title: Cardiac Catheterizations: Too Many Performed?
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2010 10:14:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 10:14:51 AM Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST

Salmonella Risk Prompts Wider Food Recall
Title: Salmonella Risk Prompts Wider Food Recall
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2010 10:09:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 10:09:13 AM Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST

Health Tip: What's Behind Childhood Obesity
Title: Health Tip: What's Behind Childhood Obesity
Category: Health News
Created: 3/10/2010 10:10:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST

Health Tip: Help Prevent Athlete's Foot
Title: Health Tip: Help Prevent Athlete's Foot
Category: Health News
Created: 3/10/2010 10:10:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2010 Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 1:00 am CST


Coroner: Post-Katrina hospital death not homicide - CNN

Coroner: Post-Katrina hospital death not homicide
CNN
(CNN) -- After reviewing the case of a woman who died at New Orleans, Louisiana's Memorial Hospital in the days after Hurricane Katrina, coroner Frank ...

and more »
Posted Thursday, March 11, 2010 2:55 pm CST

J&J Pushed Risperdal for Elderly After US Warning, Files Show - Bloomberg

J&J Pushed Risperdal for Elderly After US Warning, Files Show
Bloomberg
Louisiana officials cited the document and dozens of other internal J&J files in its lawsuit claiming the company marketed Risperdal to the elderly and ...
Did J&J Plan to Break Rules?BusinessWeek

all 4 news articles »
Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 3:30 am CST

Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic In Florida - TransWorldNews (press release)

Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic In Florida
TransWorldNews (press release)
Allowing prescription drugs to remain in a medicine cabinet makes it easier for the addicts to get a hold of them. Narconon Louisiana specializes in ...

and more »
Posted Wednesday, March 10, 2010 2:40 pm CST