Hospitals ask patients to pay upfront NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Get ready to whip out your credit card before you are wheeled into the operating room or undergo an MRI. Hospitals are increasingly asking patients to pay for procedures either upfront or before they are discharged. That’s because Americans are shouldering a greater portion of their…

The federal government today launched a highly anticipated website detailing at least $3.5 billion in financial ties in a five-month period between medical device and drug companies and physicians and teaching hospitals. The Open Payments websiteis the first public repository of national data describing financial relationships between industry and healthcare providers. Critics of these payments…

SF Chronicle opposes Prop. 46 as “flawed,” “misdirected” and “decidedly cynical” The editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle has taken a position of “NO” on Proposition 46, stating “voters should reject this flawed measure.” In opposing Prop. 46, the Chronicle joins every other major daily newspaper in California to take a position on Proposition…

If you have stairs or a sturdy box in your home and a backpack, timely relief for plantar fasciitis may be possible, according to a new study of low-tech treatments for the condition. Plantar fasciitis, the heel pain caused by irritation of the connective tissue on the bottom of the foot, can be lingering and intractable. Arecent…