By: James Pitt  Mar. 28, 2019

Sepsis contributes to up to half of in-hospital deaths. New York State launched the Sepsis Care Improvement Initiative in 2014, after the tragic death of 12-year-old Rory Staunton in Queens.

It's working. Sepsis is killing fewer children and adults at New York hospitals.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 28, 2019

Dr. Christopher J. Evanich is a top-ranked orthopedic surgeon who practices at the Orthopedic Institute of Wisconsin. James Pitt interviewed Dr. Evanich about his practice, his method of patient education, what's good and bad in EHRs, and how his time as an engineer helped him in medicine. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 17, 2019

Dr. William C.L. Wu performed more stent procedures on Medicare inpatients than any other doctor in Texas over a five year period from 2013 to 2017. This also placed him among the top 30 stent procedure surgeons in the entire United States over this period.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 16, 2019

Dr. John M. Luber has practiced at CHI Franciscan St. Joseph for twenty years, following five years as Cardiothoracic-Surgeon-in-Chief at Albany Medical Center. He is also an accomplished scientist, a principal investigator on over 30 clinical trials.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 08, 2019

Four cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons affiliated with Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Meyers, FL were among the highest-ranked doctors in the state in their specialties.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 07, 2019

Health insurance can save you a lot of money. But even if you have insurance, you'll still pay some money out-of-pocket on healthcare. The average out-of-pocket expenditure was $747 (in 2016, among middle-income Americans who spent any money out-of-pocket on healthcare), according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

By: James Pitt  Jan. 07, 2019

Dr. Christopher J. Magovern & Dr. John M. Brown, two Cardiac Surgeons affiliated with Morristown Medical Center (an Atlantic Health System hospital), topped New Jersey state rankings for two major categories of cardiac procedures.

By: James Pitt  Dec. 19, 2018

Gastrointestinal hemorrhage contributed to 3% of hospitalizations and 2.35% of in-hospital deaths among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma as a primary or secondary diagnosis, according to a Dexur analysis of 2013-2017 Medicare claims data.

By: James Pitt  Nov. 28, 2018

Sepsis is a major killer of hepatocellular carcinoma patients. In the last five years, 22% of in-hospital deaths among Medicare inpatients with HCC involved severe sepsis.

The percentage of HCC deaths that involve severe sepsis appears to exceed the percentage of overall cancer deaths that involve severe sepsis. According to Williams et. al (2004), 8.5% of cancer deaths overall involve severe sepsis.

By: James Pitt  Nov. 21, 2018

Key Statistics on Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver cancer.

• As of 2016, there were approximately 40,000 cases in the US and over a million worldwide.
• Incidence is three times higher in men than women.
• More than 80% of patients with HCC have preexisting cirrhosis.
• Between 1% and 8% of patients with cirrhosis develop HCC per year, according to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.