The Health care supervisor
-
Antitrust issues affect the insurance industry, hospital industry, and physicians. The authors explore the history of antitrust issues in the health care field and implications for future developments. ⋯ With the failure of the Health Security Act, health care reform will be left to private industry. Will there be increasing or decreasing antitrust activity by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission?
-
Delegation--or empowerment--represents the essence of the supervisory task: getting things done through people. The terms are no different from each other; empowerment is simply delegation done properly. ⋯ Under either name it is an imperfect process requiring subjective judgments and chronic risk. Although either label is acceptable--the few differences between delegation and empowerment are semantic only--the significant constant that must be present is a sense of task ownership on the part of the empowered employee.
-
Much needless anxiety and misinformation about AIDS exists today. Many people are concerned that they can "catch" AIDS in the workplace through casual contact with co-workers. AIDS is hard to get. ⋯ Managers of corporations should institute AIDS policies, addressing discrimination, confidentiality, infection control, and education, before the first cases of the disease emerge in the organization. It is predicted that about 90 percent of HIV-positive individuals are presently in the labor force; every American employer will have to come in contact with HIV/AIDS-infected employees in the near future. Any attempt to communicate positive messages--and reduce fear and confusion--leads to a more productive work environment, less discrimination, and more sensitivity regarding AIDS issues.
-
Due to changes in the medical field introduced by the biotechnological revolution that enable physicians to prolong a patient's life artificially, courts are increasingly being called on to resolve disputes between the families of incompetent patients and the hospitals and medical personnel who are caring for them. This article discusses the significant court decisions involving the right to die and analyzes the various legislative responses to this issue. It concludes that an individual who desires to determine the timing of his or her own death should execute a living will, coupled with a durable power of attorney or proxy directive. This method is the best currently available to control medical care, even in the event of future incompetence.
-
Comparative Study
Patient satisfaction in VA medical centers and private sector hospitals: a comparison.
For the first time, we have data that can validly compare the satisfaction level of inpatients in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and private sector hospitals. It shows the satisfaction levels to be very similar. Since the VA will soon be changing its survey, this has been a very short time window. ⋯ For example, satisfaction with VA physicians, who are salaried and assigned to patients, is just as high as satisfaction with private physicians who are paid by fee and selected by the patient. This would seem to be critical information in the debate over U. S. health care reform.