health care

Some doctors say clinicians can now get much more information from newer technology than they can get from a stethoscope. Clinging to the old tool isn't necessary, they say.

The Stethoscope: Timeless Tool Or Outdated Relic?

7:23pm February 26, 2016

by Taunya English

Why is a 200-year-old icon of the medical field still in wide use in the digital age? Some say modern tools are more informative and worth the extra cost, but the stethoscope has staunch defenders.

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Health & Safety

Study Finds Most Young Men Aren't Aware Of Emergency Contraception

10:59am February 26, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Although 84 percent of teenage boys and young men said they believed avoiding a partner's pregnancy was important, only 42 percent had heard of emergency contraception, researchers in Colorado found.

"The people that I know who have lost spouses, children, some of them are so ashamed that they wouldn't even acknowledge it as a cause of death," says A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.

Treating Addiction As A Chronic Disease

4:26pm February 25, 2016

by NPR Staff

Reframing addiction as a chronic illness would help people get appropriate treatment and benefit the health care system, says A. Thomas McLellan, co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.

Each year, between 8,000 and 9,000 people nationwide complain to the government about nursing home evictions, according to federal data. That makes evictions the leading category of all nursing home complaints.

Nursing Home Evictions Strand The Disabled In Costly Hospitals

12:57pm February 25, 2016

by Ina Jaffe

Federal rules mostly prohibit nursing homes from refusing to readmit residents after a hospital stay. But states rarely enforce the regulations. Some California families are now suing the state.

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Can Baltimore Provide Addiction Treatment On Demand?

5:43pm February 24, 2016

Andrea Towson, who has used heroin off and on for 30 years, is eager to get treatment. "I just want to wake up and eat breakfast and be normal, no matter what that might be," she says.

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Burnout and low pay can make it tough to retain counselors in the field of addiction services. "You take on your clients' pain," explains one former counselor.

Shortage Of Addiction Counselors Further Strained By Opioid Epidemic

4:30pm February 24, 2016

by Emily Corwin

Counselors in the field of substance abuse rehabilitation earn roughly $40,000 a year, surveys show, and the work can be emotionally draining. Employee turnover is high, and likely to get worse.

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Is Venezuela's Collapsing Health System Ill-Equipped To Handle Zika?

4:18pm February 24, 2016

by John Otis

The scale of the Zika virus outbreak in Venezuela is unclear. The government is reporting more than 5,000 cases with three related deaths. But independent Venezuelan physicians fear it could be as many as 400,000 infections. The outbreak is occurring in a country with a collapsing medical system, an economy in tatters and no funds to buy mosquito repellant, contraception or medicine.

Most women get prenatal care from the doctor they expect will deliver the baby, which can make it difficult if the doctor and hospital are far away.

More Rural Hospitals Are Closing Their Maternity Units

11:37am February 24, 2016

by Michelle Andrews

Facilities for delivering babies are expensive to run and hard to staff. But when small rural hospitals close their birthing units, pregnant women must travel much farther for care.

Health & Safety

Study Finds HPV Vaccine Has Lowered Number Of Women With Disease

6:31pm February 23, 2016

The HPV vaccine has lowered the number of women with HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cancer, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics. NPR's Audie Cornish talks to Dr. Joseph Bocchini from Louisiana State University to get his read on the results.

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Ratings on patient satisfaction and quality of care often don't match.

Conflicting Ratings For Home Health Agencies Can Be Puzzling

5:33pm February 23, 2016

by Jordan Rau

Medicare compiles ratings of agencies' quality and of patients' perceptions. But the stars assigned by the government often don't align.