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AMA backs healthcare reform bill March 19, 2010 The American Medical Association supports the sweeping $940 billion healthcare reform bill scheduled for consideration on the House floor on Sunday, AMA President J. James Rohack announced.
Detroit Medical Center, Vanguard sign letter of intent March 19, 2010 Vanguard Health System, Nashville, said it has agreed in a letter of intent to pay $417 million to buy all of the assets of Detroit Medical Center, a six-hospital system, and invest $850 million in the system within five years of purchasing it. The deal is contingent on establishing a special...
Leadership changes announced at Detroit Medical Center March 18, 2010 Detroit Medical Center announced three changes to its leadership team, with two current executives taking on new responsibilities and one new face joining the six-hospital system.
Ill. Supreme Court rules against Provena March 18, 2010 Ending a widely watched seven-year dispute, the Illinois Supreme Court has agreed with the state's decision to strip 202-bed Provena Covenant Medical Center of its property tax exemption.
Reform package cost pegged at $940 billion March 18, 2010 Senior House Democrats said that a legislative package aimed at changing the way healthcare is delivered and paid for would cost roughly $940 billion over 10 years and extend insurance coverage to some 32 million people who currently go without.
AMA endorsement brings swift response March 19, 2010 This is reason enough to drop out of the AMA if you belong, or refuse to join if you don't. How can an organization representing such a small percentage of physicians attempt to speak for the majority of physicians who are against this bill?
Joint Commission approves new bylaws standard March 18, 2010 The Joint Commission said it has approved a new standard for constructing, writing and implementing medical staff bylaws. The new standard goes into effect March 31, 2011.
Simplicity, sense of fairness put Danes ahead in IT March 19, 2010 In response to reader commentary on Joseph Conn's "Danish docs, specialists all use EHRs: report":Single payer, as practiced in Denmark and other capitalist democracies in Western Europe and Asia, provides an infrastructure that delivers high marks for quality of care, clinical outcomes, costs and...
Broadband plan aims to improve HIT infrastructure March 19, 2010 The Federal Communications Commission has laid out an ambitious 10-year plan for drastically improving broadband connectivity and usage that, among other goals, aims to improve healthcare delivery, patient outcomes and control medical costs nationwide.In a chapter dedicated to healthcare...
AFL-CIO backs reform package March 18, 2010 The AFL-CIO has decided to support the Democrats’ sweeping health reform legislation, its president Richard Trumka said during a teleconference.
Letter tells CMS to set more specific EHR goals March 18, 2010 To successfully implement the broad use of electronic health records, the CMS needs to make its health goals and targets more explicit, according to public comments submitted by healthcare leaders from 56 organizations on the agency's meaningful-use rule.The Markle Foundation, the Center for...
Votes will be there, Democrats say March 19, 2010 House Democrats waxed optimistic that healthcare reform legislation will pass their chamber this Sunday, as more undecided lawmakers in the party climbed aboard the $940 billion bill that aims to provide insurance coverage for 32 million more Americans.
Danish docs, specialists all use EHRs: report March 17, 2010 Denmark residents pay slightly more out-of-pocket for their healthcare, on a percentage basis, at 13.8% of total household per capita healthcare spending, than do Americans, at 12.2%. But Danes are guaranteed health insurance from one of just two taxpayer-funded, government-run plans, while we...
Healthcare reform vote expected Sunday March 18, 2010 House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer outlined a rare weekend schedule for lawmakers in the House, with a vote on a $940 billion health overhaul package expected Sunday afternoon.
Consumers see jump in hospital prices March 18, 2010 Consumer hospital prices jumped 1.3% in February, the largest one-month increase since comparable figures were first reported in February 1997.
HCA ending inpatient care at Texas facility March 17, 2010 HCA Corp.'s Gulf Coast division said it will end inpatient hospital operations at its 160-bed Spring Branch Medical Center in Houston by no later than May 1, 2010. The campus will continue to provide its outpatient programs, which include radiation oncology, imaging services and emergency care. The...
Seton hospital system eliminating 150 jobs March 18, 2010 The Seton Family of Hospitals is eliminating about 150 positions in a budget-cutting move. Greg Hartman, president of University Medical Center Brackenridge, said Wednesday that the positions include 74 that are vacant. The rest of the job cuts involve full-time and part-time workers.
GOP blocks ‘doc fix,’ COBRA package February 24, 2010 A measure to stave off a 21% Medicare physician pay cut has been blocked by Senate Republicans wary that the legislative package containing the provision would add to the federal debt.
It was a nice run but times have changed March 18, 2010 We the physicians are like the unions representing the steelworkers of the '60s, and the auto workers of the '80s, blind to the fiscal realities of the business that we are in.
Nurse workforce educated, diverse but still aging: study March 18, 2010 A new federal survey of U.S. nurses finds the country's 3.1 million registered nurses are more educated and ethnically diverse than ever, but the group's average age continues to approach 50 even as the number of nurses has grown.
GOP maps strategy to fight reform March 18, 2010 House and Senate Republicans met to strategize on killing the Democrat's $940 billion healthcare package that's slated for a final vote in the House this weekend.
Obama-Fox sitdown gets testy March 18, 2010 With his healthcare initiative hanging in the balance on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama told Fox News that he and other Americans don't care much if the House uses an unusual mechanism to avoid a direct vote on the Senate's version of healthcare reform.
Cost estimates can be based on flawed ideas March 19, 2010 The Congressional Budget Office can only work with the data that are given to them. They can't say, “Wait a minute, your premise is flawed because...”
Fish retiring from St. Joseph's; Coffman taking over March 19, 2010 David Fish will retire as president and CEO of St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls, Wis. Joan Coffman, the hospital's chief operating officer for the past two years, will assume leadership of the 102-bed hospital April 15.
St. Vincent’s receives emergency loans March 02, 2010 St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan in New York again received emergency loans from the state and its creditors, but one lender said that may be the end to its aid.
N.J. hospital agrees to $6.35 million settlement March 19, 2010 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (N.J.) agreed to pay $6.35 million to settle allegations that the 270-bed reported inflated charges to Medicare from 1998 to 2001 in order to get higher payments from Medicare's outlier program, the U.S. Justice Department announced.
La. hospital shuts doors February 19, 2010 Doctor’s Hospital, Shreveport, La., has closed its doors, a spokesman for the Louisiana Health and Hospitals Department confirmed.
Francisco Partners completes QuadraMed purchase March 19, 2010 Health information technology company QuadraMed Corp., Reston, Va., has completed its previously announced sale to Francisco Partners, a private-equity firm focused on technology. The agreement's terms indicate that QuadraMed's common stockholders are entitled to receive $8.50 in cash, without...
Undecideds feeling the pressure on Obama bill March 17, 2010 Boston Globe Pressure is building on dozens of uncertain Democrats in the House this week as broad healthcare overhaul legislation appears headed for a climactic vote, perhaps by this weekend.
AMGA official sees reform passing March 19, 2010 Near the end of a more than one hour discussion on federal healthcare reform legislation at the American Medical Group Association's annual meeting in New Orleans, AMGA Vice President for Public Policy and Political Affairs Chester “Chet” Speed predicted a reform bill would bill would...
Gawande ties quality, affordability March 19, 2010 Most of what happens in healthcare can be measured on a bell curve, Harvard School of Public Health Associate Professor Atul Gawande told attendees at the American Medical Group Association meeting in New Orleans, and usually, the places leading the curve on quality are in the middle or bottom half...
Building momentum March 15, 2010 After a brutal year that saw numerous projects put on the shelf, experts believe the healthcare construction industry is now on something of a rebound, but add that it probably won't be back in full swing until late this year at the very earliest.
Health IT adoption easier with single-payer system March 18, 2010 In response to Joseph Conn's "Danish docs, specialists all use EHRs: report":This is an extremely useful article and should be read by all healthcare workers and healthcare policy activists. The implicit message is: If we had a single-payer system like Denmark, the rollout and effective use of...
Carolinas team up on access March 15, 2010 Some providers in the Carolinas are working together on a new, coordinated push to serve the uninsured, thanks to long-term support from the Duke Endowment in Charlotte, N.C., and the South Carolina Hospital Association, among others.
NBGH study examines hospital cost-shifting March 18, 2010 Some hospitals shift costs to commercial payers to make up for low Medicare reimbursement rates, but there are hospitals that provide high-value services to commercial payers and Medicare, concludes a study released Thursday.
Podcast: Southwind CEO John Deane discusses physican-hospital relationships March 01, 2010 In an exclusive interview, Modern Healthcare reporter Vince Galloro talks with John Deane, CEO of Southwind, a physician practice management consultancy. Deane discusses the reasons that physicians and hospitals are seeking deeper relationships with each other, how these relationships might enable...
Look to aviation on safety, ‘Sully' says March 04, 2010 US Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger urged the healthcare industry to improve patient safety by learning from the U.S. commercial airline industry.
Big Pharma urges FDA to adopt new rules for web marketing March 18, 2010 Big Pharma is making one last push to the Food and Drug Administration urging the regulatory agency to quickly adopt new guidelines for marketing on the web and using social-media tools.
Lab guidance update upstaged by certification rule March 11, 2010 Part one of a two-part series:At the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society convention last week, the big news of the show came in the keynote speech by David Blumenthal, head of HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, when he announced the release...
Unions slam NYC congressman over healthcare vote March 17, 2010 The Obama health insurance overhaul has Democratic Rep. Mike McMahon caught between conservative constituents who oppose reform, and unions threatening to derail his political career if he rejects it.
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