Melanie Evans June 08, 2009 Healthcare providers have little to worry about when it comes to the pledges offered by six major industry players last week to try to help the White House curb healthcare costs: The pledges offer little that’s new and target existing quality and cost-cutting programs. But Congress is ramping up... ... FULL STORY
David Burda June 08, 2009 When my kids get in trouble, their first line of defense to avoid being punished by me or my wife is to make certain promises. They’ll swear to do their homework every night. They’ll vow to make their beds. They’ll insist they will keep their rooms clean. They’ll hustle to empty and load the... ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson and Vince Galloro June 08, 2009 Not-for-profit hospital systems lived up to their names in 2008, with heavy investment losses dragging overall net incomes at the systems well below zero, according to the results of Modern Healthcare’s annual Hospital Systems Survey. The 33rd annual survey, comprising data from 203... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 Richard Petersen was named president and CEO of 557-bed Maine Medical Center in Portland, following more than a year in which he held the two roles on an interim basis. The board of trustees at not-for-profit corporate parent MaineHealth on June 4 unanimously offered Petersen the role, effective... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 Heart hospital operator MedCath Corp., Charlotte, N.C. said in a news release that Chief Financial Officer Jeff Hinton’s “employment with MedCath has ended immediately.” Hinton has served in the position since June 2008. Art Parker, the company’s senior vice president of finance and development,... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 US Oncology, the Woodlands, Texas, announced an offering of $465 million in senior secured notes with the proceeds slated to pay off its senior secured credit facility, which matures in quarterly installments starting in September 2010. Standard & Poor’s said the company owes $437 million under the... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 Expecting future growth in the need for Medicaid pharmacy management services, Magellan Health Services, Avon, Conn., is buying a pharmaceutical benefits administration firm from insurer Coventry Health Care, Bethesda, Md. Magellan agreed to buy First Health Services, a Coventry subsidiary based in... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) introduced companion legislation to a bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) that would elevate the powers of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. The nonpartisan independent body currently has an advisory role in making recommendations to Congress on... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 In a joint letter to the CMS, four healthcare organizations urged the agency to reconsider what the groups see as a substantial policy change regarding physician supervision outlined in the 2009 outpatient prospective-payment system, or OPPS, rule. The American Hospital Association, Association of... ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans June 08, 2009 Healthcare providers have little to worry about when it comes to the pledges offered by six major industry players last week to try to help the White House curb healthcare costs: The pledges offer little that’s new and target existing quality and cost-cutting programs. But Congress is ramping up... ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias June 08, 2009 For months the White House has tied its goal of fixing the U.S. healthcare system to an effort to mend the overall economy. Early last week, Obama administration officials connected the dots. ... FULL STORY
Gregg Blesch June 08, 2009 Lawmakers trying to get sweeping healthcare legislation passed this summer have made a point—and a show—of keeping disparate industry and advocacy groups engaged in the discussions. The only ones with no seat at the large table are those who believe private insurance companies should lose theirs,... ... FULL STORY
Jean DerGurahian June 08, 2009 The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System said it is cutting 245 jobs to save an estimated $15 million to $20 million a year, following the results of a performance review. ... FULL STORY
Rebecca Vesely June 08, 2009 A public district hospital north of San Diego is in turmoil, with the board of directors suspending nine top administrators; physicians in revolt over how the hospital is being run; patient census and revenue dropping; and investors, donors and the public spooked. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson June 08, 2009 Twin Cities health systems are hemorrhaging jobs by the hundreds, but observers in Minnesota say the state’s hospitals are likely to slash payrolls even deeper if state funding cuts are allowed to stand or grow even larger. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond June 08, 2009 Not long after learning about a new stream of federal funding, the Indian Health Service was chided by the Government Accountability Office last week for continuing to lose millions of dollars in lost and stolen property. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond June 08, 2009 A midgame rule change from the CMS could mean a no-win situation for long-term-care hospitals, experts said last week in response to announced payment changes for the remainder of 2009 and all of 2010. ... FULL STORY
Andis Robeznieks June 08, 2009 Profits were down in 2008 at the American Medical Group Association, based on its Internal Revenue Service Form 990 tax filing. The association took in more money in 2008 than it did the year before, but it also spent more. ... FULL STORY
Shawn Rhea June 08, 2009 Just two weeks after being sworn in as the Food and Drug Administration’s new commissioner, Margaret Hamburg is being prodded to address a number of structural issues dogging the agency including improving transparency, implementing a medical-products-safety surveillance system and modernizing the... ... FULL STORY
Jennifer Lubell June 08, 2009 Cindy Mann will have a lot on her plate when she takes the helm of the CMS’ Center for Medicaid and State Operations as its director, scheduled for June 8. ... FULL STORY
Gregg Blesch June 08, 2009 A revitalized General Motors Corp. may indeed emerge quickly from bankruptcy, if the measured optimism from Detroit and Washington comes true, but the automaker will be much smaller no matter how successful, and the health benefits it pays employees and retirees will be less comprehensive. ... FULL STORY
Vince Galloro June 08, 2009 Nearly two years after Community Health Systems acquired Triad Hospitals, six of the eight joint ventures that Triad had with not-for-profit systems at the time of the deal have been unwound. ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 The Continua Health Alliance turns 3 years old this month. The not-for-profit consortium, touted at its launch in San Francisco in June 2006 as the “convergence of the healthcare and consumer electronics industries,” set as its primary goal the development of a set of nonmandatory, consensus... ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson and Vince Galloro June 08, 2009 Not-for-profit hospital systems lived up to their names in 2008, with heavy investment losses dragging overall net incomes at the systems well below zero, according to the results of Modern Healthcare’s annual Hospital Systems Survey. The 33rd annual survey, comprising data from 203... ... FULL STORY
David Burda June 08, 2009 When my kids get in trouble, their first line of defense to avoid being punished by me or my wife is to make certain promises. They’ll swear to do their homework every night. They’ll vow to make their beds. They’ll insist they will keep their rooms clean. They’ll hustle to empty and load the... ... FULL STORY
Christine Nutty and Kathy Warye June 08, 2009 As we weather the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, the consistent response from institutions across America has been to tighten belts. ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 First let me preface this by stating I favor a single-payer system. That said, such an option would be too radical for our Congress to propose since 40 of the senators will oppose it and the Democrats will split on a conservative “public option” and only a few will feel willing to promote a... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 We are doing everything we can to protect public health and teach children how they can stay healthy and safe. Elmo, Gordon, Sesame Workshop, and the Ad Council are delivering an important message to our kids.” ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 While glowing monkeys always catch Outliers’ attention, we are now being told they might not be a good thing. At least according to the good folks at the Center for Genetics and Society, who are perturbed by what Japanese researchers have wrought at the Central Institute for Experimental... ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga may have an idea for the federal comparative-effectiveness study that was funded in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: wheelchair tai chi. ... FULL STORY
June 08, 2009 Back when Outliers was young—before portable music and movie devices, and before automakers installed TV screens in the back seats of cars to help distract kids during long trips—there was a game we played called I Spy. Our parents would point out a scene and tell us to name everything we... ... FULL STORY
