Jessica Zigmond May 04, 2009 Soon after Congress allocated upward of $19 billion in health information technology funding as part of the economic recovery package, a commentary from the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative of 35 free-standing facilities said that the law would leave rural hospitals to make “the best of a bad... ... FULL STORY
David May May 04, 2009 When public health alarms started ringing over an influenza outbreak, the scenario was supposed to involve the avian flu, not the swine variety. Regardless, as the confirmed flu cases started mounting quickly last week—along with the death toll—the world’s public health guardians seemed on top of... ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias May 04, 2009 Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius took over as HHS secretary last week amid the country’s biggest test of its pandemic-fighting capabilities since at least 2005, and as Congress takes the first steps to try to drastically change the way healthcare is provided and paid for in this country. ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 The Federal Trade Commission will wait another three months to enforce the regulation known as the “red flags” rule—a second reprieve announced on the eve of the May 1 deadline, itself pushed back from Nov. 1, 2008. The rule requires financial institutions and creditors to adopt written policies... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 The CMS wants Medicaid payments to acute-care hospitals to remain largely flat for fiscal 2010, but officials warn that notable payment decreases are planned for 2011 and 2012. For 2010, the CMS proposes a 2.1% annual inflation increase in Medicare payments to acute-care hospitals, which would be... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 A CMS proposed case mix refinement for skilled-nursing facilities would decrease overall Medicare payments by about 1.2% in fiscal 2010. The proposed decrease is intended to recalibrate a 2006 case-mix adjustment. That adjustment resulted in unforeseen increases in Medicare payments to nursing... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 In a case that could cast doubt on hundreds of National Labor Relations Board decisions, a long-term-care facility in Georgia successfully convinced federal appeals judges in Washington that the NLRB could not issue legitimate decisions in 2008 because it lacked a three-member quorum. Laurel Baye... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 Medicare Advantage plans this year will receive $11.4 billion in extra payments above the cost of traditional fee-for-service Medicare, a 34% increase over 2008, according to a report released by the Commonwealth Fund. Since Medicare Advantage plans became available in 2004, the federal government... ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond May 04, 2009 A day after HHS declared a public health emergency in the U.S.because of the global flu outbreak, Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made a comment that he repeated throughout the week: “What we call this,” he said, “matters less... ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias May 04, 2009 Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius took over as HHS secretary last week amid the country’s biggest test of its pandemic-fighting capabilities since at least 2005, and as Congress takes the first steps to try to drastically change the way healthcare is provided and paid for in this country. ... FULL STORY
Jennifer Lubell May 04, 2009 The American Hospital Association has developed a new tool that seeks to bulk up its lobbying power in proposing any changes to Medicare’s controversial Recovery Audit Contractor, or RAC, program. ... FULL STORY
Rebecca Vesely May 04, 2009 The term “medical home” has become a catchphrase, tossed around by lawmakers, insurers and health policy experts. ... FULL STORY
Shawn Rhea May 04, 2009 An Institute of Medicine report aimed at reining in financial relationships between physicians and industry is expected to exercise significant influence among lawmakers drafting legislation and policymakers at academic medical centers. ... FULL STORY
Andis Robeznieks May 04, 2009 Some big names have been recruited into the Hospital Energy Alliance, a U.S. Energy Department-led coalition seeking to promote energy efficiency and renewable technologies in hospitals, but it could be one of the group’s smallest organizations that pushes the effort forward. ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans May 04, 2009 Bank distress continues to hinder access for healthcare borrowers and threatens costly volatility for those already in the market, despite demand from short-term investors for municipal bonds. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson May 04, 2009 Despite exhortations to precisely justify their tax exemptions, many not-for-profit hospital systems are not planning to voluntarily submit information for the 2008 tax year that would disclose under penalty of perjury how much they spend on community benefits. ... FULL STORY
Vince Galloro May 04, 2009 When times were good and credit was cheap, going private was all the rage. Healthcare services were a little slow to come around, but, eventually, a solid handful of companies took the plunge.HCA made headlines with its $33 billion leveraged buyout in November 2006. Triad Hospitals arranged a... ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond May 04, 2009 Soon after Congress allocated upward of $19 billion in health information technology funding as part of the economic recovery package, a commentary from the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative of 35 free-standing facilities said that the law would leave rural hospitals to make “the best of a bad... ... FULL STORY
David May May 04, 2009 When public health alarms started ringing over an influenza outbreak, the scenario was supposed to involve the avian flu, not the swine variety. Regardless, as the confirmed flu cases started mounting quickly last week—along with the death toll—the world’s public health guardians seemed on top of... ... FULL STORY
Elisabeth Belmont, Peter Leibold and Michael Osterholm May 04, 2009 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. had 109 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in 11 states with one fatality as of the morning of April 30. The World Health Organization has raised its global pandemic alert level to Phase 5, which indicates human-to-human... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 Regarding the story “Not much progress” (April 20, p. 8): America’s hospitals have significantly improved the quality of care provided to heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and surgical patients. On many measures, Joint Commission-accredited hospitals have achieved extraordinarily high levels... ... FULL STORY
Allan Field May 04, 2009 The Federal Trade Commission on April 13 issued a favorable clinical integration advisory opinion letter—the third ever issued—to TriState Health Partners (April 20, p. 14). TriState is a physician hospital organization in Hagerstown, Md., composed of 217 community physicians and the Washington... ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 A list of the nation's most profitable critical-access hospitals, ranked by operating margin. Source: American Hospital Directory. Published May 4, 2009. ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 Retiree health benefits are going the way of the dodo bird, and healthcare premiums for everyone keep rising. But 324,000 lucky California state workers, retirees and their families are getting a break from the bad news in what’s being called a “premium holiday.” ... FULL STORY
May 04, 2009 So it seems anyone who is anyone tweets—Oprah Winfrey, San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson and skateboarder Tony Hawk, according to a quick pass at the latest news—but how many tweet with their brain? ... FULL STORY
