Friday, May 10, 2013
On average, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital bills Medicare less than the U.S. average for treatments.
When a patient arrives at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington needing a major joint replacement, the hospital bills Medicare $44,897, according to a massive federal database of national health care costs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services made public Wednesday. On average, Advocate Good Shepherd bills Medicare less than the U.S. average for treatments, according to a database compiled by New York Times, which is searchable by ZIP code or state. Data for Highland Park and Glenbrook Hospitals were not available. For the first time people can see in detail how much the vast majority of American hospitals charged for the top 100 most common procedures billed to Medicare. The database covers claims filed within fiscal …
Friday, April 5, 2013
New Medicare database shows how hospitals across serving the Chicago area — and the rest of the nation — compare for care. Wait times at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital are double the state average.
If you go to the emergency room at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, how long will it take before you see a health-care professional? The federal government says 66 minutes on average. That's worse than both the state and national average, according to a new database causing some hospital officials nationwide to cringe. The state average wait time is 33 minutes. Key measures of ER efficiency have been posted from hospitals taking part across the country, according to a report by Cheryl Clark, now senior quality editor for HealthLeaders Media. “With precious little fanfare, Uncle Sam...rolled out a big, fat database with seven measures comparing a service that many people — healthcare providers and patients alike — consider the most critical…
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The trained dogs visit patients, staff and families to help brighten up an otherwise stressful day.
There is a lot happening in the Volunteer Department of Good Shepherd Hospital—and not all of the volunteers are the two-legged kind. Meet Ruby, one of the therapy dogs at the hospital. Each Monday, Ruby makes the rounds to see patients, families and staff to help them feel calm and loved. "I'm here usually once a week for treatment," said patient Jane Hiller. When asked if the dogs help her experience at the hospital, she answered, "Oh yeah, the time goes by really quickly." Ruby’s Handler, Betty Gallagher knew from the moment she got Ruby as a pet that she’d be perfect for this type of job. "She passed her testing and I decided to call the hospital and see if they needed anybody, and sure enough they were testing so we thought we'd …
Diane Nowik
12:31 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
Thanks for the story on the Therapy Dogs so good to see them bringing happiness to the patients. more ›