Seven secrets of the emergency room, Medicare, and much more.

From time to time, this blog pauses to look at some of the healthcare and emergency medicine issues buzzing around the web. The past few days have offered some interesting topics to chew on.

We'll start with this breaking news: The Senate voted 62-36 Wednesday to approve a $138 billion bill that would temporarily prevent Medicare payment cuts to doctors as well as extend federal Medicaid assistance and COBRA premium subsidies.

"This week's bill helps those who have been hit the hardest. Among other things, we're going to extend unemployment benefits to those looking for work, cut taxes for families and businesses, and protect Medicaid so low-income families can afford healthcare," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said in a written statement. The bill now heads back to the House. You can visit modernphysician.com to read the entire story.

And now onto the healthcare reform debate...

President Obama took to the road this week to make the case for a health-care overhaul that still awaits an uncertain fate in Congress. This story originally published in the Washington Post, outlines the White House's strategy of using health insurance company rate increases to rekindle the fire for reform.

If you're wondering what the president is saying out there, you can read excerpts of Mr. Obama's speech, as well as view a brief video here.

And of course in politics, every action has a reaction. To counter the White House's health care efforts, hundreds of business groups have launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign designed to stop health care legislation and fire back at the president's efforts to win support for a plan Obama says would expand insurance coverage to 31 million people.

On another topic, it's been just about a year since H1N1 arrived in the U.S.  A story in today's Health Leaders Media, "One Year Later: What Have We Learned From H1N1?" does a good job of assessing how our healthcare system responded to the frenzy - and poses the question as to whether our country is prepared for the next pandemic. 

We're all getting older. And now it appears more hospitals across the country are expecting to offer geriatric emergency departments as the nation's 76 million baby boomers reach their senior years. These sites are staffed by doctors and nurses with geriatrics training care. But will they remain viable with Medicare cuts to physician payments, or will hospitals use them to draw in patients for more profitable procedures? St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson New Jersey has become one of the first hospitals in the nation to open a geriatric emergency department. It seems to be working well - you can read about it here.

If you work in emergency medicine, you know the ins and outs of life in the ER. The New York Times has posted an interesting article on the "seven secrets of the emergency room".  Perhaps you recognize them - or maybe you have some secrets of your own you'd like to share??

Have a comment?  Please feel free to share!