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Child life specialists can minimize the trauma caused by a hospital stay. They're also costly, but experts says they help doctors be more efficient and can pay dividends far into the future for a sick child.

Most family doctors don't do the math to figure out whether their patients are obese. It's one reason among many that doctors on the front lines are unlikely to be the solution for country's weight problem.

Transporting reams of athletes' medical information has become a major burden for the U.S. Olympic Committee. So the committee has decided to transition from paper to electronic records to track the complex medical care of Olympians.

Though they may be well-meaning, not to mention more affordable than trained interpreters, relying on accidental interpreters, such as family members, during medical treatment isn't the best idea, research has found.

Insurers and employers are looking to stem the rising costs of expensive specialty drugs. One approach is to vary the copayment depending on the health value they calculate the drugs provide.

Trimming the rise in obesity in the U.S. by just 1 percent over the next two decades would reduce health care costs by by $85 billion. The fight isn't likely to be cheap. But new researchers shows that even a small dent in obesity rates could pay off.

Under some state laws, a patient's positive test for alcohol can mean that insurers won't pay hospitals and doctors for care after an accident. To sidestep the potential problem, hospitals often don't screen patients for alcohol use.

Nonprofit hospitals pay no federal, state, or local taxes. In return, they are expected to offer a community benefit, including free and discounted care for low-income patients. But a study by the Congressional Budget Office found that, on average, not-for-profits are providing only slightly more uncompensated care than for-profit hospitals.

Will the administration's health law survive the Supreme Court? A majority of bettors think not. Over at Intrade, a "prediction market" for current events, the betting gave chances of about 58 percent that the court will disallow the mandate.

A change in guidelines for psychiatric diagnoses would add problem gambling as an addictive disorder. The designation would clear a path to add other behavioral problems — such as sex or Internet addiction — in the future.