Andis Robeznieks July 13, 2009 Intense competition for physician services, failing economic conditions, crushing medical school debt, and myriad other positive and negative forces are having a curious side effect: More young doctors are considering rural areas for their first place to practice. But the biggest news relating to... ... FULL STORY
Gregg Blesch July 13, 2009 A century-old hospital straddling predominantly Latino and black neighborhoods in the heart of Chicago this month severed ties with Ascension Health, the largest Catholic healthcare system in the country. Rather than marry up with a new benefactor, St. Anthony Hospital will go it alone and, its... ... FULL STORY
Neil McLaughlin
July 13, 2009 From the Dow Jones Newswires, we learn that the financial industry is considering running “Harry and Louise”-style ads to turn public opinion against the Obama administration’s proposed consumer financial products watchdog agency. It’s only natural that the industry that... ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson, Melanie Evans, Jennifer Lubell, Shawn Rhea and Jessica Zigmond July 13, 2009 A string of departure and retirement announcements regarding executives in the top position at hospitals and health systems continued last week, amid continued financial pressures in the hospital industry (June 29, p. 6). ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 The CMS added readmission rates as one of the measurements of hospital performance on its Hospital Compare Web site. The site now includes 30-day readmission rates for patients who were admitted to hospitals for heart failure, acute myocardial infarction and pneumonia. Visitors to the site can look... ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 A subsidiary of Catholic Healthcare Partners, the largest system in Ohio, agreed to purchase 209-bed Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, for about $180 million in a deal that still needs regulatory approval. The purchase price includes an undisclosed sum that will go to fund Jewish Hospital’s... ... FULL STORY
Gregg Blesch July 13, 2009 A century-old hospital straddling predominantly Latino and black neighborhoods in the heart of Chicago this month severed ties with Ascension Health, the largest Catholic healthcare system in the country. Rather than marry up with a new benefactor, St. Anthony Hospital will go it alone and, its... ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias July 13, 2009 Congressional efforts to reshape the U.S. healthcare system were delayed last week by squabbles and financial roadblocks. As a result, lawmakers trampled previously set deadlines and some returned to the drawing board. ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans July 13, 2009 The federal government is trying to make it easier for not-for-profit hospitals to refinance their tax-exempt debt by loosening a requirement to qualify for backing from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson July 13, 2009 An aura of optimism surrounded the announcement of an accord between hospital groups and the White House to limit Medicare rate cuts in reform legislation to $155 billion over 10 years. But in many quarters, news of the deal landed with a thud. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond July 13, 2009 If accepted, a proposed deal to reduce $155 billion in federal healthcare reimbursement in the next 10 years could signal the end of physician-owned hospitals. ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Getting a healthcare institution to embrace meaningful clinical automation takes dedication, drive and deep knowledge of what clinicians need. For the past 10 years, the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems has recognized outstanding achievement in applied medical informatics. ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s hospitals had a clinical computer system from one vendor that they really liked. More than half its physicians used a system from another vendor that they really liked. The two did not work together, which stymied the development of a unified... ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 The Fallon Clinic in Worcester, Mass., has managed to lick a problem that defeats many a clinical computing effort: getting many disparate computer systems to talk with each other. ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 The health information technology professionals most interested in integrated health system Kaiser Permanente's enormous electronic health-record system tend to be from outside the U.S., says Andrew Wiesenthal, associate executive director of the Permanente Federation, the organization of the... ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Of all the ways clinical computing can improve medical care, built-in practice guidelines are one of the most powerful, as a recent computerized physician order-entry project at WellStar Health System made abundantly clear. Under the direction of Jonathan Morris, WellStar Kennestone Hospital added... ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Most people agree that projects like electronic health records, physician order entry, and the adoption of practice guidelines can't go anywhere in a healthcare organization without a physician champion to talk everyone into them and keep the momentum going. Family physician Cynthia Herzog played... ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Adopting computerized physician order entry is like entering a pool of cold water—painful to do quickly, but so much more painful to do slowly. OB/GYN Matt Sprunger, who doubles as CMIO at Dupont Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind., decided that the hospital's obstetrics unit would be CPOE's first... ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Michael Dominguez is one of those normally unsung heroes of computing: the very first user of a major new product. “I didn't know that when I did it,” the physician says. ... FULL STORY
Elizabeth Gardner July 13, 2009 Steve Margolis, a head and neck surgeon who was lured by the siren song of medical informatics and has been at Orlando (Fla.) Health since 2003, has an enviable track record: 85% computerized physician order entry in Orlando Health's emergency rooms (and close to 100% among residents), 80% CPOE in... ... FULL STORY
Andis Robeznieks July 13, 2009 Intense competition for physician services, failing economic conditions, crushing medical school debt, and myriad other positive and negative forces are having a curious side effect: More young doctors are considering rural areas for their first place to practice. But the biggest news relating to... ... FULL STORY
Neil McLaughlin
July 13, 2009 From the Dow Jones Newswires, we learn that the financial industry is considering running “Harry and Louise”-style ads to turn public opinion against the Obama administration’s proposed consumer financial products watchdog agency. It’s only natural that the industry that... ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 A list of the nation's largest children's hospitals, ranked by number of staffed beds, 2008. Source: National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. Published July 13, 2009. ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 The World Health Organization may have announced a global flu pandemic just last month, but there are some scientists who say the world’s population has been living in a pandemic for nearly 100 years. ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 For a journalist, the heart of a civil lawsuit is its “prayer for relief”—that section at the end of a legal complaint where the litigant asks what he or she wants the judge to do. ... FULL STORY
July 13, 2009 So you're relaxing under a summer sky in Newport this August, enjoying the jazz stylings of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the view of the blue, blue water of the bay. And of course, you're thinking … patient safety. ... FULL STORY
