Illinois Physicians Profiled on State’s New Web Site

The physician profiles available at www.idfpr.com provide that information and much more data that previously wasn’t available in one place on the Internet, such as doctors’ specialties, education, hospital affiliations and whether they accept Medicaid, All Kids or certain types of private insurance. That information is reported by doctors, who must keep it current to continue practicing. The site also lists information the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation previously hadn’t made public, such as any felony convictions for the past five years, serious misdemeanor convictions, and the most controversial data — the most recent five years of malpractice judgments and settlements.

Please click on the link below to read the Journal Register article:

http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/28268.asp

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Medical Tourism Soars as Americans Seek Major Savings on Health Care Abroad

When James Payne found out he needed a liver transplant, he first tried to arrange the surgery at a top local hospital in South Florida. Doctors there told him that they couldn’t schedule the procedure for a few months and that it would cost $450,000, a fortune for the uninsured former investment banker. So the 55-year-old and his wife, who planned to donate half her own liver to her husband, bought plane tickets to India instead. There, at one of New Delhi’s premier hospitals, a transplant specialist did the surgery for $58,000—a price tag that included their 10-week hospital stay. “If you want to live, this is where you come,” said a smiling Payne, who planned to return home to Florida this week and said he would recommend his experience to anyone suffering similar problems. The number of Americans heading abroad for medical procedures is surging as the country’s 46 million people without health insurance look for treatment they can afford and cash-strapped U.S. companies struggle to find cheaper ways to provide high-quality medical care to their employees, according to the American Medical Association.

Please click on the link below to read the Chicago Tribune article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-medical-tourism_goeringmar28,1,5552555.story

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Health Stores: Doctor’s Prescription for Ailing System

As an internal medicine doctor who works in an emergency room, Richard McCauley takes care of the sick. As owner of the WellnessMart in a Thousand Oaks strip mall, he’s all about the healthy. “If you cough, you’re in the wrong place,” he said inside a business billed as the antidote to traditional healthcare. Because his preventive healthcare business is different, it’s almost easier to explain what it isn’t. It’s not a doctor’s office. It’s a retail store designed to operate more like a Kinko’s, where people walk in and get what they need. There’s no waiting rooms, no receptionists and few if any appointments. People walk in to find a doctor and a medical assistant standing behind a long counter, poking at life-sized anatomy mannequins or using computers to demonstrate how plaque builds up in arteries. The store doesn’t sell vitamins or medication but markets preventive health services like screenings that may tell a 33-year-old man he has a 17 percent chance of a heart attack over 30 years. It sells annual checkups, weight management, vaccinations and travel immunizations. Customers can buy programs that give them 24-hour, seven-day-a-week access to a doctor and help in compiling electronic medical records.

Please click on the link below to read the Ventura County Star article:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/apr/03/health-store-doctors-rx-for-ailing-system/

For more information on defending medical malpractice, nursing home and general liability matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at Citron & Associates, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.