Results tagged “hospitals”

It's a downright scary hassle when your wallet is stolen--the wrongdoer now has access to your ID, credit cards, family photos, and more. We've heard the identity theft spiel a thousand times over, but now hospitals and insurance companies are fearing the worst--a rise in medical ID theft. A reported 3,000-6,000 medical ID theft cases a year are showing up, with mysterious charges of medical procedures billed to the unassuming insured. With a spike soon to come--thanks to the rising number of the unemployed and uninsured--local hospitals and clinics will be requiring photo ID in an effort to step up ID theft prevention.

The drug-resistant infection MRSA--a potentially deadly "superbug"--had to face the bacteria-fighting Washington legislature on Monday, as they unanimously passed a bill requiring Washington hospitals to screen (via nasal swabs) for MRSA in high-risk patients. The MRSA bill now awaits Gov. Chris Gregoire's signature. If passed, hospitals would begin screening on January 1, 2010. Washington would become the fifth state to mandate MRSA nasal swabbing...err, testing.

The voter-approved Death With Dignity act, known as Initiative 1000 in November 's election, means that hospitals now have to figure out how to implement the new law--or if they want to offer the option at all. So far, Harborview and the UW Medical Center are the two major hospitals in Seattle who have decided to participate, meaning their physicians would provide the life-ending medication and would be present during the dose administration. It looks like many of the state's hospices will not be formally participating, but would still work with patients and their families who could obtain the prescription elsewhere before and after the act itself.

The state has finally caught on to the truth, thanks to dogged and brave investigation from the Seattle Times: MRSA, a potentially fatal, antibiotic-resistant strain of staph scourging the nation's hospital patients and other sufferers at exponentially increasing rates, is a big deal and pretending it's either inevitable or non-existent won't make it go away. We're not sure why it took so damn long for this to become a rule, but the Times announces that it is at last now mandatory for Washington hospitals to report MRSA incidences.

• Burien is busy branding--and the city is using très fancy technology to do so. B-Town Blog posted the latest video and offered a bullet-point summary of the very nice branding elements you will see, should you choose to spend minutes of your life watching a YouTube about all the wonders Burien has to offer.
• PhinneyWood would like you to donate your watches to charity via Jody Laine of the Tiempo Watch and Clock Shop. Why not? You probably use your cell phone for time-keeping already, anyway.
• Care for some Irish Knockers? Why, yes, thank you for asking! Magnolia Voice had the skinny on the new menu at Mulleady's, including photos of the restaurant's interior (they have a very inviting fireplace!).