Neil McLaughlin, managing editor March 23, 2009 We have been living in a second Gilded Age in America, in which the accumulation of personal wealth has taken precedence above all other values. One problem with that behavior—other than the resulting economic bubble—is that the “he who dies with the most toys wins” philosophy leaves society as a... ... FULL STORY
Rebecca Vesely March 23, 2009 It has become a familiar American story. An uninsured, unemployed father of two children sustains an injury, say a hernia, and can’t afford the procedure to correct the problem, which typically runs between $10,000 and $15,000. ... FULL STORY
Neil McLaughlin March 23, 2009 There has been more news recently about Big Pharma, Big Money and conflicts of interest in the medical profession. It all amounts to a big story of greed and influence that won’t go away. ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 A former Los Angeles hospital executive is the third conspirator to plead guilty in a scheme to fill hospital beds with homeless people and bill Medicare and Medicaid for care they didn’t need. Dante Nicholson, 51, admitted in federal court that he coordinated kickbacks paid for the referrals while... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 The New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. said it will cut 400 jobs by July 1 as part of a bid to slice $105 million from its budget. The 12-hospital public system said Medicaid cuts, an 8% jump in uninsured patients, and the rising cost of wages, benefits and supplies prompted the move. Layoffs... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 States will be able to use an additional $268 million authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help disproportionate-share hospitals care for uninsured patients, HHS announced. Disproportionate-share hospitals, or DSH facilities, serve a disproportionate share of... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 HHS named the members of its new Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, established to oversee and manage $1.1 billion in research funds allocated through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The council was formed to make recommendations to the HHS... ... FULL STORY
Rebecca Vesely March 23, 2009 It has become a familiar American story. An uninsured, unemployed father of two children sustains an injury, say a hernia, and can’t afford the procedure to correct the problem, which typically runs between $10,000 and $15,000. ... FULL STORY
Jean DerGurahian March 23, 2009 Covenant Health System is building a free-standing emergency department near one of its hospitals in Lubbock, Texas, as that state continues to debate legislation that would require more regulation of such facilities.The $5.8 million facility under construction by project developer Hammes Co.,... ... FULL STORY
Neil McLaughlin, managing editor March 23, 2009 We have been living in a second Gilded Age in America, in which the accumulation of personal wealth has taken precedence above all other values. One problem with that behavior—other than the resulting economic bubble—is that the “he who dies with the most toys wins” philosophy leaves society as a... ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson March 23, 2009 When a fresh-eyed Patricia Cahill entered the workforce in 1960 as a middle-school teacher outside Boston, there was scarcely any hint in her lessons on French-speaking skills that she could go on to one day head up the nation’s largest integrated Roman Catholic health system. “I was a French... ... FULL STORY
Ed Finkel March 23, 2009 They pioneered the concept of multispecialty group practice, and one that paid physicians a flat salary, giving doctors every incentive to stay true to the oft-repeated mantra: Put the needs of the patients first. They developed aseptic surgery techniques that led to low mortality rates. They... ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond March 23, 2009 It’s fitting that former Memorial Hermann Healthcare System President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Wilford, a retired National Football League official, would name Tom Landry, Bill Walsh and Mike Ditka as his favorite NFL coaches, and keep a quote by the iconic Vince Lombardi in his office for... ... FULL STORY
Neil McLaughlin March 23, 2009 There has been more news recently about Big Pharma, Big Money and conflicts of interest in the medical profession. It all amounts to a big story of greed and influence that won’t go away. ... FULL STORY
Charles Evans March 23, 2009 Abigail Adams once said, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” With the challenges facing our hospitals and healthcare organizations, this type of dedication and commitment to learning on the part of healthcare executives, medical... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 We are the organization that first defined the problems created by now more than 40 mostly anonymous physician rating sites. Medical Justice is the organization that detailed a way to slow the epidemic of online defamation. We read your March 16 editorial (“Thumbs down on this one,”). Guess what?... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 A list of the nation's largest healthcare executive search firms, ranked by total number of U.S. placements made for senior-level (senior VP and above) healthcare executives in 2008. Source: Modern Healthcare's 4th annual Executive Search Firms Survey. Published March 23, 2009. ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 First Dick Cheney, now Joel Anderson. The vice president’s official residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington famously was blurred out on Google Earth and Google Maps while Cheney held the office. Now, Anderson, a California assemblyman, has introduced a bill mandating that Google... ... FULL STORY
March 23, 2009 Adults who only use wireless phones are always accessible—at home, in the office, on vacation. But researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say these people are not accessible when their availability is needed: in important health surveys that rely on land-line numbers. ... FULL STORY
