health care

Smith talks with Dawn Dillard, 57, about a medical procedure at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Dillard has uterine cancer.

A Busy ER Doctor Slows Down To Help Patients Cope With Adversity

12:38pm July 09, 2013

by Annie Feidt

For 20 years, Linda Smith was a successful ER doctor. But she started to regret doing painful procedures on patients without having the time to sit down and talk with them. So she became a palliative care doctor, one of a growing number helping people deal with life-threatening illnesses.

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In the beginning of their project, Sara Hendren and Brian Glenney stuck their new design over existing handicapped signs around Boston.

New Handicapped Sign Rolls Into New York City

12:37pm July 09, 2013

by NPR Staff

A pair of guerrilla artists are on a mission to bring new momentum to the wheelchair-bound figure. It's an attitude that's already given some disabled people a voice they haven't had before.

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How does the doctor decide what to write on the prescription pad?

Health & Safety

Top Medicare Prescribers Rake In Speaking Fees From Drugmakers

5:38pm July 03, 2013

by Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica

Paying doctors to prescribe particular drugs is illegal. But drugmakers pay some doctors to talk with their peers about prescription drugs. The speakers say they aren't influenced by the money they get for promoting the drugs. But data show many of them are top prescribers of the medicines.

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White House Delays Key Piece Of Affordable Care Act

9:52am July 03, 2013

by Julie Rovner

The Obama administration has decided to delay the date companies with 50 or more full-time employees are required to comply with the Affordable Care Act. They'll now have until 2015.

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Health & Safety

Affordable Care Act's Employer Mandate Delayed

8:12pm July 02, 2013

by Julie Rovner

The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it's delaying a key part of the Affordable Care Act. Businesses will now have another year to prove that they are providing health insurance — or that their employees otherwise have health insurance from some other source. Companies had complained that the reporting requirements to prove this were too complicated and burdensome.

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Sound World Solution's hearing device lets a user customize its settings using a Bluetooth connection and a smartphone.

To Make Hearing Aids Affordable, Firm Turns On Bluetooth

10:38am July 02, 2013

by John Ydstie

Traditional hearing aids can be too expensive for many people. But a new type that uses Bluetooth technology costs only about $300. The company that makes the new devices aims to reach millions of people around the world who need hearing aids but have trouble paying for them.

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You Ask, We Answer: Demystifying The Affordable Care Act

10:25am July 02, 2013

by Julie Rovner

Think buying health insurance through the Affordable Care Act will be confusing? You're not alone. NPR listeners asked questions that have been bugging them about state insurance exchanges and other new options. NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner explains how it's going to work.

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Refugees fill cans with water inside a camp in Baalbek, Lebanon, for Syrians who have fled the fighting in their country.

As Doctors Leave Syria, Public Health Crisis Looms

3:44pm June 29, 2013

by Deborah Amos

As the civil war continues, a new study says Syria's health care system is near collapse. Outbreaks of disease are on the rise in the country, and refugees sheltered beyond the border are also at great risk.

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Health & Safety

Surgeons Nuland And Gawande Look To The Future Of Medicine

2:56pm June 25, 2013

As the Affordable Care Act rolls out and technology changes certain procedures, the role of doctors continues to shift. As part of TOTN's "Looking Ahead" series, Dr. Sherwin Nuland and Dr. Atul Gawande discuss the future of the practice and profession of medicine.

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Hospitals and organ banks could get more leeway in decisions about donations.

Proposed Changes In Organ Donation Stir Debate

11:55am June 24, 2013

by Rob Stein

Donation after cardiac death involves removing organs minutes after life-support has been stopped for patients who still have at least some brain activity. Is that enough time to make sure a person won't recover?

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