Hospital unplanned readmission

Rural hospitals lose money, close

How to use your microwave power level button

Are medications from Canada safe?

How much does health care really cost?

Cancer Unplanned Readmission Rates

30-day unplanned readmission rates of 11 cancer hospitals.

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute had the lowest rate of 30-day unplanned readmissions for cancer patients of all prospective payment system-exempt cancer hospitals between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023, according to CMS data published Feb. 19. 

Roswell Park was the only cancer hospital to report a 30-day unplanned readmission rate that was significantly lower than the national rate of 20.2. 

Eleven cancer hospitals are required to participate in the PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting Program.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Institute in Seattle had the highest rate @ 25.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/oncology/30-day-unplanned-readmission-rates-of-cancer-hospitals

Half of Rural Hospitals are Losing Money

As more and more rural hospitals find their operations dropping into the red, the rising enrollment of rural residents in Medicare Advantage plans could pull these providers under, healthcare advisory services firm Chartis warned in a new report.

The group’s analysis found that half of the nation’s rural hospitals are losing money from their operations, up from 43% last year. The 50% total is the highest percentage of the past decade as well as the largest single-year jump, Chartis claims.

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/half-rural-hospitals-are-losing-money-rising-ma-enrollment-likely-wont-help-them-chartis

More than HALF the hospitals in Georgia are losing money and 18 are in danger of closing.

Georgia has lost 9 hospitals since 2010, making us third in the nation.

60% of hospitals lose money on Medicaid patients.

Now for something completely different . . .

What Does Your Microwave Power Level Button Do?

Just like the knobs on your stove allow you to adjust the heat beneath your pots and pans, the power-level button adjusts the temperature at which food cooks in your microwave.

“All microwaves default to cooking at full power [level 10]. However, the power-level button enables you to cook certain foods more gently,” explains Chen. “For most standard microwaves, the power-level function actually pauses the microwaves for short periods of time to allow the food to cook at a slower rate. You can even hear the microwave’s magnetron switch on and off if you listen closely.”

Here’s how this works: “During this ‘off’ period, the residual heat that’s generated in your food from the full-power cooking continues cooking your food without the more intense direct microwave heat,” says Chen. “This means that when you set your microwave to power level five, or 50% power, there are waves bouncing around inside only 50% of the time, allowing the food to cook more gently.”

She adds that microwaves that use inverter technology are the exception to this rule.

https://www.rd.com/article/microwave-power-level-button

Is buying prescription drugs in Canada safe?

If you purchase brand name or generic prescription drugs from Canada legally, there’s little reason to worry about safety. In most cases, the drugs will be the same ones you would get from American pharmacies, and they’ll be just as rigorously tested for safety as they would be in the U.S.

https://www.singlecare.com/blog/ordering-medications-from-canada

CANADIAN PHARMACY SERVICE - New Addition to My Resource List

Canadian Pharmacy Service has a team of board-certified medical professionals that are here to help you achieve your health goals. This starts with information that is reviewed to ensure it is up-to-date, accurate, comprehensive and easy to understand so that you can make the right decisions for your health.

At Canadian Pharmacy Service, all medications come from approved sources. These include certified Canadian and international pharmacies and fulfillment centers. Most come from countries that regulate drug prices to make them cheaper. That way, we can offer discount prescription drugs to people in the United States of America and other countries worldwide! In turn, we are proud to maintain a great reputation that holds to this day. In fact, we are considered to be one of the most trusted Canadian and international prescription service providers.

https://www.canadianpharmacyservice.com/

The Real Price of Health Care

Canadian health care is not free and it has two prices: the taxes Canadians pay for it and the wait times that make Canadians pay in the form of service rationing.

Canada’s publicly provided health care system actually requires rationing in order to contain costs. Because services are offered at no monetary price, demand exceeds the available supply of doctors, equipment, and facilities. If the different provinces (which operate most health care services) wanted to meet the full demand, each would have to raise taxes significantly to fund services. To keep expenditures down (managing the imbalance from public provision) and thus taxes as well, the system relies on rationing through wait times rather than prices.

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-wait-is-the-price-quiet-rationing-in-canadian-health-care/

Fan Mail . . .

Bob

Thank you for all your work watching over us.  Globally politics have been bent to the point of not knowing who you can trust and how news or opinions can be verified.  I used to trust media such as (XXX) but years ago they became rabid.  I have a (relative) that works for the DC office as an executive and can't express a conservative view without being verbally attacked.  Where's Walter Cronkite?  I remember when we could disagree without hating each other but then I wouldn't have met you if I wasn't getting oldish.  Again thank you and please keep up the fantastic service you provide for us.  Even you are entitled to have an 

opinion

Your fan

Scott

In closing . . .

I hope this newsletter finds you well and looking forward to the (long, hot) days of summer. Here is what I consider to be an outstanding information source for a variety of interests.

https://join1440.com/

We are almost half way through the year and the fall Medicare open enrollment is just around the corner. I have no idea what to expect in the 2026 plans but hopefully it won’t be as drastic as this year has been.

This newsletter is making some shifts to provide a broader perspective on health care plus a few non-related news items (like your microwave power level). Feel free to share this with your friends.

Take care,

Bob & Rachel