Paul Levy reports that despite months of pleading, too many doctors and nurses at Beth Israel Deaconness still aren't complying with hospital guidelines on handwashing. He quotes a memo from the chief of one (unnamed) hospital department:

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY INTOLERABLE!

It is bad patient care.

It increases our post op infection rate.

We should be setting the example for the students and nurses.

WBUR had an interesting report this morning on the widespread over-the-counter availability of prescription antibiotics, anti-viral drugs and even heart medications at Boston-area convenience stores catering to immigrant communities:

COUKELL: This woman buys antibiotics many times a year from local Haitian stores. She uses them not just for sore throat, but on a monthly basis, a so-called "cleansing" regimen that others also say is common.

You can now see infection rates for a variety of types of patients at Mt. Auburn Hospital. Beth Israel Deaconess CEO Paul Levy, of course, posted his medical center's "central-line" infection rates back in February - and challenged other local hospitals to do so.

Via White Coat Notes.

Don't be surprised if your doctor Googles right back at you.

Betsy Baumgartner is a nurse at a Boston teaching hospital. She writes about an elderly patient who came back to her unit last week after a month and a half at a rehab facility following surgery:

... The awful thing as that he looks like one giant, necrotic bedsore. When he left us for rehab he didn't look like that. Granted his nutrition is poor and I'm sure he wasn't ignored for nearly two months, but something that looks like the current state should have never progressed that far. ...

The Herald reports the state is looking to set up a Web site where the public could look at hospital infection rates as part of a $1 million program to reduce those rates.

Mike Mennonno on the news that the state now thinks a lot of people who already have health insurance will have to buy even more under the state's new health-coverage law: Mass. "Universal Health Coverage" is the new Big Dig.

Which probably represents the first time ever that Mennonno and the Margolis Boys agree on something.

As the Outraged Liberal notes, if you have bad news, best to release it on a Friday, since fewer people pay attention to the news on Saturday. In this case, the bad news is the initial outlines of the state's new mandatory health-insurance plan: If you don't have insurance, you will be required by law to buy bare-bones coverage - for $4,560 a year (plus a $2,000 deductible - or $4,000 per family - should you actually require care).

A few weeks ago, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center replaced its old-fashioned paper-towel dispensers with new automatic dispensers designed to save money and reduce the chances of infections spreading. Beth Israel CEO Paul Levy reports the new dispensers - more specifically, the towels - were awful: