Joe Carlson June 15, 2009 The pitfalls of joint operations between secular and religious hospital groups was made clear in Denver last week when an arbitrator ruled that one foundation trying to get out of such a deal could not accept a $311 million buyout. ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans June 15, 2009 The nation’s jarring credit shakeout has rapidly altered healthcare financing’s landscape for the majority of U.S. hospitals. Significant investors in the tax-exempt bond market disappeared during the past year, as did major players in healthcare finance. Gone are the leveraged investors, such... ... FULL STORY
David May June 15, 2009 By almost all accounts, this country stands ready to redouble its work on wellness promotion and illness prevention. As health reform bills begin to roll out, it’s clear that this is going to be one area where Congress plans to vigorously attack healthcare costs. ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 Leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the World Health Organization’s declaration of the world’s first pandemic in 41 years will not change the day-to-day activities within the U.S., which has been acting as if in a pandemic. Also, the June 11 announcement means the... ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias June 15, 2009 The Obama administration said it has identified an additional $313 billion in savings, primarily from Medicare, which will translate into lower federal payments to hospitals. The lion’s share of the cuts will come from measures that would pay hospitals less as they become more efficient, reductions... ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 The Senate Indian Affairs Committee hosted a hearing to learn about suggestions for improving the nation’s American Indian healthcare system. According to Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who opened the hearing, estimates show that the Indian Health Service, an HHS agency, is funded at about 52% of need. ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 Former CMS official Thomas Valuck has joined the National Quality Forum as senior vice president of strategic partnerships. Valuck, a physician, served previously as medical officer and senior adviser at the CMS’ Center for Medicare Management. In that capacity, he was announced in March as a... ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson June 15, 2009 The pitfalls of joint operations between secular and religious hospital groups was made clear in Denver last week when an arbitrator ruled that one foundation trying to get out of such a deal could not accept a $311 million buyout. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond June 15, 2009 Just as a hospital’s vision could lead to consolidation in Denver, it has led to separation in Philadelphia, where the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network last year broke away from the Radnor, Pa.-based Jefferson Health System. ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans June 15, 2009 As not-for-profit hospitals prepare for more detailed public disclosure of their charity care, a major healthcare finance association offered ideas on how hospitals might determine whether a patient’s unpaid account counts as charity care or bad debt. ... FULL STORY
Jennifer Lubell June 15, 2009 The CMS is attempting to clarify the role of new federal contract audits being performed under Medicaid that providers fear will operate in a similar fashion to the controversial Recovery Audit Contractor program in Medicare. ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias June 15, 2009 Three healthcare reform bills are on a collision course in Washington, with President Barack Obama urging lawmakers to stick to an aggressive timeline that could result in votes next month. ... FULL STORY
Vince Galloro June 15, 2009 In February, Tenet Healthcare Corp. was able to push back the due dates on about $1.4 billion in bonds, and the company paid for the privilege in higher interest rates on the new bonds. This month, the Dallas-based hospital operator managed to extend its debt maturities even further and gained... ... FULL STORY
Rebecca Vesely June 15, 2009 A slew of new laws enacted last week in Maine change the funding mechanism for its universal healthcare program, tighten certificate-of-need rules and boost surveillance reporting on hospital-acquired infections. ... FULL STORY
Jennifer Lubell June 15, 2009 Galichia Heart Hospital in Wichita, Kan., recently decided that it could break into a market monopolized by overseas hospitals—and offer high-quality, more-convenient care to patients. In conducting research of medical tourism options in other countries, “we visited hospitals in Singapore, India... ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans June 15, 2009 The nation’s jarring credit shakeout has rapidly altered healthcare financing’s landscape for the majority of U.S. hospitals. Significant investors in the tax-exempt bond market disappeared during the past year, as did major players in healthcare finance. Gone are the leveraged investors, such... ... FULL STORY
David May June 15, 2009 By almost all accounts, this country stands ready to redouble its work on wellness promotion and illness prevention. As health reform bills begin to roll out, it’s clear that this is going to be one area where Congress plans to vigorously attack healthcare costs. ... FULL STORY
Richard Clarke June 15, 2009 The signs of healthcare payment reform seem to be everywhere. Federal healthcare reform seems more likely than at any time since the inception of Medicare. But where should provider organizations focus their attention? ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 It is not surprising to us that the research reported in the June 1 issue doesn’t find significant correlation with patient satisfaction (“The bottom line on happiness,” supplement, p. 8). In our opinion, the researchers were not using the right variables. The researchers failed to account for the... ... FULL STORY
Martin Hauser June 15, 2009 As the president of a healthcare plan in Ohio, I am used to answering for the shortcomings of our industry. When neighbors vent to me at the grocery store that medical bills are driving them to the poorhouse, it never seems to matter that our plan, SummaCare, has been named one of the nation’s top... ... FULL STORY
Martin Hauser June 15, 2009 As the president of a healthcare plan in Ohio, I am used to answering for the shortcomings of our industry. When neighbors vent to me at the grocery store that medical bills are driving them to the poorhouse, it never seems to matter that our plan, SummaCare, has been named one of the nation’s top... ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 A list of the nation's largest healthcare finance companies, ranked by amount of syndicated loans in the healthcare sector underwritten in 2008. Source: Thomson Reuters. Published June 15, 2009. ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 Duke University Health System, Durham, N.C., said that Kevin Sowers was named CEO of its flagship hospital, Duke University Hospital, Durham. Sowers, 47, has been interim CEO of the hospital since June 2008 when its former CEO, William Fulkerson, was promoted to head the Duke system... ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 Anthony Tersigni, president and CEO of Ascension Health, St. Louis, was named vice chairman and chairman-elect of the Catholic Health Association’s board of trustees at the CHA membership assembly in New Orleans. Colleen Scanlon, senior vice president of advocacy for Catholic Health... ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 One statistic stuck out for Outliers in the text of Vermont’s new law putting more limits on gifts that pharmaceutical sales reps can offer doctors: The top individual recipient in 2008 was an internist said to have received $15,794 in food for him or herself and any nonprescribing... ... FULL STORY
June 15, 2009 “This is WHO finally catching up with the facts. ... I think a lot of people think we’re done with swine flu, but you can’t fall asleep at the wheel. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next six to 12 months.” ... FULL STORY
