When a patient is treated and released from the hospital, doctors don't want to see that patient again. Not that they are cold or cruel - a patient who leaves the hospital and doesn't return, at least not within the next 30 days, is a patient who is ably managing their health condition. However, a patient who is treated and then readmitted to hospital before the end of the month hasn't…

American President Barack Obama this week encouraged those Americans paying high prices for health insurance, as well as the uninsured, to sign up for cover under his new Affordable Care Act. On a trip to California, Obama encouraged the recruitment of Hispanics in particular to the new healthcare scheme that is designed to help uninsured Americans afford health insurance.

California…

Of all the changes that Obamacare has made to health insurance in the United States, one of the earliest and most well-known bits of legislation kept young adults on their parents' health care plans longer. Starting in 2010, insurance plans that extended coverage to dependents of the main beneficiaries were required to continue covering those dependents until they had reached the age of…

A food co-op is a place you go to buy organic groceries in a non-corporate, community-run environment. A housing co-op is a place where neighbors work together to create, alter or govern a place of residence. A banking co-op is an institution controlled by members. And, a health co-operative? The role of a health co-op in the United States is still being…

Webster's Dictionary defines an inpatient as: "a hospital patient who receives lodging and food as well as treatment." An outpatient, on the other hand, it: "a patient who is not hospitalized overnight but who visits a hospital, clinic, or associated facility for diagnosis or treatment."

If you're staying overnight in hospital, you're an inpatient. If you're out before…

Of the 264 people injured in the Boston Marathon Bombings, at least 13 have suffered the loss of all or part of a limb. Already there have been stories of perseverance and strength - one husband and wife, standing together at the finish line, both lost the lower part of their left legs. They are recovering as well as can be expected, and the experience of these and other amputee survivors…

This week, an article published by Kaiser Health News called attention to the issue of colon cancer. Excluding lung cancer, colorectal cancers are responsible for the most cancer-related deaths…

In the world of health care, fast food is a common topic of discussion for its links to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. However, it turns out that fast food may be affecting the health of the United States in a different way altogether: by insuring, or not insuring, its employees.

Every year, 650,000 Americans are released from jail. Upon departure, there are few reasons to be nostalgic - except when it comes to health care.

In prison, an inmate is guaranteed access to health services, thanks to the eighth amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. National Commission on Correctional Health…

It's been three years since the Affordable Care Act (also known as the ACA or simply Obamacare) was signed into law, but according to a recent study, most Americans still don't understand it: 48 percent of people in the United States are unsure if their state has chosen to expand Medicaid, nearly half believe that Obamacare will allow illegal immigrants to buy insurance, and two-thirds…