California news and information

The upstart National Union of Healthcare Workers failed for a second time to win the prize of representing 45,000 workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California.
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Three California measures that would expand the roles of nonphysicians working in primary care easily passed their first committee test Monday.
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The Medical Board of California is backing measures to combat prescription drug abuse in the wake of a report that found a link between physician-prescribed narcotics and overdose deaths.
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OAKLAND, Calif.— The percentage of California employers that offer healthcare coverage to their employees has plummeted in the past decade. In 2012, 60% of California employers offered coverage to their employees, down from 71% in 2002, according to a survey by the California...
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The Medical Board of California would be stripped of its power to investigate physician misconduct under a sweeping reform plan by legislators who say the agency has struggled to hold problem doctors accountable.
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The Ensign Group, Mission Viejo, Calif., has earmarked $48 million toward a tentative settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that would resolve allegations that it overbilled Medicare.
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Pacific Partners Management Services and its 803-physician Individual Practice Association Medical Group of Santa Clara County have agreed to collaborate with UCSF Medical Center and create an integrated healthcare system in the San Francisco area, according to a news release.
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Jim Noble has been promoted from senior VP and CFO to executive VP, COO/CFO of Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, Calif. Effective immediately, Noble is in charge of Huntington's acute operations, information technology, finance, ambulatory services and physician strategies.
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The Calif. doctors lobby rolled out a package of five bills Tuesday to address the physician shortage in California without allowing optometrists, pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants to expand the services they can offer patients.
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A U.S. attorney in California is investigating allegations that a hospital executive paid kickbacks to physicians so they would refer their patients for spine surgery at his facility.
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