Modern Healthcare back issues from February 2008:
Is this really their Legacy? Shelton's new company has handful of board members with potential conflicts.(Opinions Editorials)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: David Burda We're still scratching our heads over this one. In what industry other than healthcare would it be acceptable for the chief executive officer of one company to serve on the board of a new company competing in the same industry? But that's exactly the ...
Other voices.(Opinions Editorials)
Feb 04, 2008 ... "Last year, more than 900 prospective students applied to the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. The school was able to accept 88. School officials estimate that 640 of the rejected applicants were qualified. ... It's happening at nursing programs nationwide in large part because ...
Proactive medicine; The benefits of an EMR in locations without one.(From the C-Suite)(Electronic Medical Records )(Survey)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: J. Marc Overhage A recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive survey indicated that a majority of Americans believe electronic medical records can reduce healthcare costs while improving patient care. Yet, the number of physicians using EMRs still hovers below ...
Letters of support; Proposal would expand number of agencies that can back tax-exempt bonds.(Strictly Finance)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Byline: Cinda Becker The hospital industry's supposed recession-proofing is being tested as the credit markets melt around it, but perhaps none of the various meltdowns has reached closer to home than the credit crisis embroiling the bond insurers. Still, there might ...
INTEGRATING EFFICIENCY; Verispan's annual ranking of the top integrated health networks shows improved operating margins along with expanded services.(Special Report)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Melanie Evans The nation's best performing healthcare systems continue to improve efficiency and have the bottom lines to show it, judging from results of a yearly survey of integrated health networks. Improved occupancy, well-integrated information systems ...
On the move...(NewsMakers)(Kevin Scanlan has been elected as a president of Hospital & Healthcare Association)(Pamela Stephenson has been appointed as a chairwoman of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital)(Frederick Dunlap has been appointed as a CEO of XLHealth Corp.)
Feb 04, 2008; ... ASSOCIATIONS Kevin Scanlan, 58, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, was elected chairman of the Conference of Metropolitan Hospital Associations through December 2008, replacing Linda Quick, president of the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare ...
Stay the course; Doubtful any big changes coming.
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Matthew DoBias With California failing in its attempt to get healthcare reform passed this year, the outlook for large-scale changes on the national level is equally dim. President Bush, in his State of the Union address last week, said little about healthcare reform, ...
VA feels heat over Marion deaths; Officials apologize to families, say fixes to come.(The Week in Healthcare)(Veterans Affairs)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Matthew DoBias A senior Veterans Affairs Department official told lawmakers last week that his confidence in the quality of care that veterans receive has been shaken and that parts of the veterans health system that once were bragged about now seem outdated or in need ...
Georgia Controversy; State divided on surgical specialist ASC issue.(Regional News)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Byline: Andis Robeznieks While it seems just about every medical association in Georgia is taking sides, participants agree that the latest fight between hospitals and physicians won't spill across state lines. Most recently, the Georgia Hospital Association has ...
Outliers; Asides & insides.(false-billing cases of Presbyterian Hospital)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Dallas hospital's eating disorder program at center of lawsuit Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas was hit last week with a second wave of false-billing allegations by former patients of its eating disorder program. Eleven more women filed suit, saying the hospital led ...
FDA's device inspection lacking; Two reports point to technology, staffing as key culprits.(The Week in Healthcare)(Food and Drug Administration)(Report)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Shawn Rhea Healthcare supply-chain experts said they are troubled by two government reports showing the Food and Drug Administration is unable to properly inspect and monitor medical-device manufacturers, but most experts are uncertain what, if anything, group purchasing ...
ACP asks candidates for pledge.(The Week in Healthcare)(American College of Physicians )(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The American College of Physicians asked the presidential candidates to take a pledge that promotes certain policies the organization believes will make the U.S. health system second to none. But in the ACP's view, the success of the request ...
Health workers saying, `union, yes'; New federal government statistics show 10.4% bump in '07 membership.(The Week in Healthcare)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Melanie Evans Labor's efforts to organize healthcare made inroads last year among the industry's highly skilled-and higher paid-workers. Union membership among professional and technical healthcare workers-registered nurses, laboratory technologists, physician ...
Back to the drawing board; Hospitals, insurer support not enough to save California's universal coverage plan; lack of physician backing hurt chances.
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Rebecca Vesely The defeat of a comprehensive healthcare reform plan in California last week may signal bad news for other states looking to expand coverage of the uninsured, because many had hoped Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan could be replicated across the country. ...
Another bite at the Orange; Third round of bidding for Anaheim Memorial.(The Week in Healthcare)(merger of Memorial Health Services Inc. and Integrated Health Systems Inc.)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Vince Galloro It won't take much to make the third time the charm for Memorial Health Services, Huntington Beach, Calif. Crossing the finish line on a sale of 223-bed Anaheim (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center would seem to suffice. The not-for-profit system is ...
Midwest.(Loyola University Health System plans to aqcuire Gottlieb Memorial Hospital)
Feb 04, 2008 ... MELROSE PARK, Ill.-Loyola University Health System, Maywood, Ill., last week offered the first details on its plans to acquire 266-bed Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in the neighboring western Chicago suburb of Melrose Park. In December Loyola filed a letter of intent with the Illinois Health ...
South.(Regional News)
Feb 04, 2008 ... GREENSBORO, N.C.-Moses Cone Health System reported a 12.9% increase in operating income for fiscal 2007, ended Sept. 30, 2007, compared with fiscal 2006, but its net income fell 6.8%, as fiscal 2006 included a $26.1 million gain related to the sale of a laboratory subsidiary. The health ...
Northeast.(Regional News)(Albert Einstein Healthcare Network)
Feb 04, 2008 ... PHILADELPHIA-Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and Jefferson Health System, Radnor, Pa., said they are negotiating the terms of "an amicable separation'' after 10 years, concluding that they can better serve their respective communities independently. Timing and terms of ...
West.(Regional News)(Exempla Healthcare filed a lawsuit against Leavenworth Health System)(Peninsula Health Services will open a hospital in San Carlos )
Feb 04, 2008 ... DENVER-Exempla Healthcare filed a second lawsuit as part of its effort to block one of its co-owners, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, from buying out its partner, the Community First Foundation of Arvada, Colo. In a letter sent to staff, Jeff Selberg, president and ...
Former Social Security exec dies; Hall of Famer Ball served from '62 to '73.(The Week in Healthcare)(Social Security Administration)(Obituary)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Gregg Blesch Robert Ball, the former Social Security commissioner known as the chief architect of Medicare, died Jan. 29 at age 93. Ball joined the Social Security Board in 1939 as a field assistant in New Jersey and ended up serving as commissioner of the ...
And then there's the rest ... Alternative list looks at other high-scoring networks.(Special Report)(Company rankings)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Melanie Evans For the second year, Verispan has singled out high-scoring systems that did not make the top 100 in its "Best of the Rest" ranking. The alternative list includes 57 health systems in four geographic regions that scored well but still fell short ...
Garcia picked for HHS post.(The Week in Healthcare)(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Melanie Evans Joxel Garcia, senior vice president and senior medical adviser to Maximus Federal Services, has been nominated to be HHS assistant secretary. Garcia, 45, a director of the National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives, has also been nominated ...
CMS lab demo meets resistance; Scripps, Sharp and Internist against three-year project.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Gregg Blesch It may have looked desperate when a couple of Southern California healthcare systems and a small, independent laboratory went to court last week to stop an imminent federal program in its tracks. But other efforts to throw a lawsuit in front of a rolling CMS ...
Doc business school survey.(Opinions Letters)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Modern Healthcare invites you to participate in the sixth annual survey of the top business graduate schools that offer programs targeting physician-executives. To qualify, the school must offer long-distance learning programs that award MBAs or similar degrees that focus on physicians, ...
CMS says Medicare Part D costs lower than expected.(Late News)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008 ... The overall cost of the Medicare Part D program to beneficiaries and taxpayers is lower than previously estimated and customer satisfaction is high, CMS officials announced. Kerry Weems, acting CMS administrator, indicated in a teleconference that the cost of the Part D program will be ...
Amerinet changes its lineup; Execs promoted from within to fuel restructuring of company.(The Week in Healthcare)(appointments)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Shawn Rhea A series of recent upper-management changes at group purchasing organization Amerinet, St. Louis, is part of a growth plan set in motion last May, according to Amerinet President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Ebert. "When I assumed ...
Leavitt announces 14 areas for Chartered Value Exchanges.(Late News)(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008 ... HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt designated 14 communities as the country's first Chartered Value Exchanges-partnerships of providers, employers, insurers and consumers that offer innovative methods to improve healthcare at the local level. "Together we are building the foundation of a ...
Tenet to sell Fla. hospital to Holy Cross.(Late News)(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, said a subsidiary signed a definitive agreement to sell 391-bed North Ridge Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Holy Cross Hospital, a 450-bed Fort Lauderdale hospital owned by Catholic Health East, a 24-hospital Catholic system based in Newtown ...
AmeriHealth Mercy buys Pa. managed-care company.(Late News)(mergers of AmeriHealth Mercy and Community Behavioral HealthCare Network )(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008 ... The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies, a national Medicaid managed-care company, purchased Community Behavioral HealthCare Network of Pennsylvania, a behavioral-health managed-care company, for an undisclosed sum. Community Behavioral, based in Harrisburg, serves 3.4 million people ...
Calif. wants another slice of UnitedHealth pie; PacifiCare violations could cost insurer up to $1.3 billion.(The Week in Healthcare)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Jessica Zigmond UnitedHealth Group could find itself paying more hefty fines for alleged claims-handling violations. Last week, the California Department of Insurance, which regulates PPOs, and the California Department of Managed Health Care, which regulates ...
Change, but not in dollar bills; FDA needs more than money to fix problems: Congress.(The Week in Healthcare)(Report)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Members of Congress last week resisted pressures to funnel more money into the ailing Food and Drug Administration, which, according to new analyses, is foundering in its responsibility to keep drugs and medical devices safe. For years, the ...
Plea to end fee-for-service plans; Providers say flaws in Medicare plan too costly.(The Week in Healthcare)
Feb 04, 2008; ... Byline: Matthew DoBias Federal lawmakers last week pocketed some additional ammunition in the battle over reimbursement to Medicare's private fee-for-service plans. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, healthcare providers and policy analysts testified that the ...
Fla. governor proposes repeal CON law for hospitals.(Late News)(Brief article)
Feb 04, 2008 ... Florida Gov. Charlie Crist proposed repealing the state's certificate-of-need law for acute-care hospitals to "increase competition and efficiency in the healthcare marketplace,'' according to a plan included in the governor's fiscal 2008-09 budget. The proposal suggests licensing as an ...
Corrections & clarifications.
Feb 04, 2008 ... A News Makers item in the Jan. 28 issue, p. 34, incorrectly identified the ...
`We are going to do the job for them'; Pierce works to keep services, trauma care strong in Florida healthcare district.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Stanley Pierce)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Linda Wilson The staff at the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, Fla., has learned to gauge the length of a trustees' meeting based, in part, on the number of sticky notes clinging to Stanley Pierce's board packet. "At one time, I had a color code ....
More doubts over reporting; New study shows medical-error reporting systems can lead to confusion, frustration among patients and some providers.(Information Edge)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jean DerGurahian States might be ahead of the curve when it comes to medical-error reporting systems, but consumers still don't seem enthusiastic about using the information provided to make healthcare choices. Reporting systems have benefited from the digital ...
Sponsorship.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(leadership qualities of hospital trustees)(Brief article)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jim Gauss Passion. Vision. Experience. Influence. These are but a few of the leadership traits that voters in the 2008 primary elections look for in candidates seeking to become our next president. Similarly, such characteristics are prized in hospital and ...
Outliers; Asides & insides.(health coverage policy for diners in San Francisco)
Feb 11, 2008 ... Diners in San Francisco fight battle of bill bulge for uninsured How much is health coverage worth to a gourmand? In San Francisco, where fine dining is practically a competitive sport, restaurants are finding out as they grapple with how to pay for the city's new ...
Baylor wins NQF quality award; Corrigan: System `stood out as an exemplary model for raising the bar'.(The Week in Healthcare)(Baylor Health Care System wins National Quality Forum's 2008 National Quality Healthcare Award)
Feb 11, 2008 ... The Baylor Health Care System in Dallas was named the recipient of the National Quality Forum's 2008 National Quality Healthcare Award. The 15th annual award recognizes a healthcare organization that successfully uses performance measures to drive quality improvement in patient care. ...
Hospitals as budget target; Bush's proposed budget has hospitals crying foul over a 'savings' plan that reduces Medicare, Medicaid funding by $200 billion.
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jennifer Lubell President Bush's plan to get fed-eral entitlement spending under control by carving into provider payments was denounced by executives representing hospitals and other providers last week. While the Bush administration budget request for HHS is ...
Clinton wins healthcare `vote'; Democratic primary voters rank issue as a top concern.(The Week in Healthcare)(Hillary Rodham Clinton)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Matthew DoBias Democratic voters kept healthcare near the top of their concerns when voting last week on Super Tuesday, with Sen. Hillary Clinton coming out the apparent winner on that issue, national exit poll data show. Healthcare was the third-ranking ...
Easing path for critical access; CMS revisions make it easier for hospitals to rebuild.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
Feb 11, 2008 ... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Rural healthcare officials like those at Minnesota's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care are finding relief for improving critical-access care by way of revised guidance from the CMS. The Minnesota office recently took steps toward its goal ...
After the fall; Former HRDI members regroup; some continue to sell expertise to vendors.(The Week in Healthcare)(Healthcare Research & Development Institute)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Cinda Becker One year after the Healthcare Research & Development Institute was disbanded under an antitrust settlement agreement with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, it has morphed into a much smaller, more intimate organization called the Healthcare ...
SCHIP, more and/or less.(State Children's Health Insurance Program)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jennifer Lubell In what seems to be a softening of its previous stance, the Bush administration in its just-released budget proposal last week offered to funnel more money into the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Yet, there seems to be few strings ...
Sinking a lifesaver; Feds need to get out of the way of ICU checklist.(intensive care units)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Charles S. Lauer A recent news story about intensive-care units is a lesson in just how hard it is going to be to reinvent the U.S. healthcare system. Even for someone who is used to witnessing the difficulty with which providers struggle to improve care, the story is ...
The industry responds on privacy; Coalition of healthcare companies is working on new protections for patient data.
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jonathan Roberts, Kimberly Gray, Paul Connelly and Jonathan Moore Regardless of where you sit in the healthcare industry-provider, health plan, pharmacy, pharmacy benefit manager, manufacturer, employer or consumer-the advent of health information technology is changing ...
Q: Who will follow the leader? A: Good question; Leadership survey reveals hospitals aren't doing enough to groom future top execs.(The Week in Healthcare)(Survey)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Melanie Evans Hospitals do not do enough to prepare for top-level vacancies, train and track future leaders or adopt measures to promote cultural diversity, results of a survey of healthcare executives show. The results, from a National Center for Healthcare ...
Bad debt hits HCA; 4th quarter saw increase in uninsured.(Late News)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Vince Galloro HCA has sliced $1.1 billion off the debt it took on in its $33 billion leveraged buyout. But another kind of debt-the debt that uninsured patients rack up when they can't afford to pay their bills-continued to shoot up for HCA in the first full year of its ...
QIOs must show and prove: CMS; New standards to raise quality groups' accountability.(The Week in Healthcare)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Medicare's quality improvement organizations will more closely scrutinize specific hospitals' surgical prowess as they begin their ninth contract under the gun from the CMS to prove their worth as quality inspectors. Under the new contract, ...
`An important thing to be part of'; Obenauer helps guide rural North Dakota hospital through tough times.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Christie Obenauer of Sakakawea Medical Center )(Occupation overview)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Linda Wilson Shortly after her first, tumultuous, five-hour board meeting in 2003 at then-struggling Sakakawea Medical Center in Hazen, N.D., Christie Obenauer discovered she was pregnant with her third child. Obenauer, 35, who also is a vice president at ...
Lessons from a debacle; Calif. reform defeat, the latest in the states, spells trouble for universal coverage.(Opinions Editorials)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Todd Sloane After a stunning defeat in California, a major political movement may have stalled. And I am not talking about Mitt Romney. Instead, a bold effort by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some Democrats to add coverage for millions of uninsured residents has ...
Judgment day for NCFE; Defense cites sluggish government reimbursement.(The Week in Healthcare)(National Century Financial Enterprises Inc.)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Cinda Becker The federal government's notoriously glacial pace for reimbursing cash-strapped healthcare providers apparently will be on trial along with five former executives of the defunct National Century Financial Enterprises, judging by opening arguments. ...
Briefly.(Late News)(financial report of LifePoint Hospitals Inc.)(arbitration sought in Exempla Healthcare system takeover)(uninsured pay more than medicare)
Feb 11, 2008 ... LifePoint profits fall 20%; volume drop blamed LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., said volume losses of 15% in a half-dozen markets fueled a 6% decline in admissions for the fourth quarter of 2007 that helped sink its profits by 20%. Bad-debt expense, as a percentage of net ...
On the move ...(NewsMakers)(Richard Henley resigned from Pocono Health System)(Tom Arnold appointed at Piedmont Hospital)(Kathleen Kuck appointed at Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare)
Feb 11, 2008 ... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Richard Henley, president and CEO of Pocono Health System and Pocono Medical Center, East Stroudsburg, Pa., resigned last month "to pursue other opportunities.'' Henley, 51, a "Star Student'' in the Modern Healthcare Up & Comers Yearbook, class of 1993, ...
How we did it.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)
Feb 11, 2008 ... Some 68 nominations were received for this year's competition, co-sponsored by executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. Nominations were accepted from early October through early December 2007. Two winners were chosen in each category-healthcare organizations with more than $75 million in ...
Familiar faculty; Many former HRDI members have found work at C-Suite Resources.(The Week in Healthcare)(Gary Mecklenburg of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare)(Richard Davidson of American Hospital Association)(Alan Abramson of Health Partners )
Feb 11, 2008 ... Alan Abramson, Senior vice president and chief information officer, HealthPartners, Bloomington, Minn. Richard Blair, Chairman, Essentia Health, Duluth, Minn., and former chief financial officer, Allina Health System, Minneapolis John Bluford III, President and chief ...
Other voices.(Opinions Editorials)(Brief article)
Feb 11, 2008 ... "Five sweeping healthcare reform proposals sent to the Colorado Legislature all shared one thing in common: The state can't afford to pay for them. ... Gov. Bill Ritter and key lawmakers thanked the commission for its work, praised it for giving them food for thought, and quickly admitted ...
Healing a hospital; Berman helps N.Y. facility find stability.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Occupation overview)
Feb 11, 2008; ... Byline: Linda Wilson In his nearly three years as board chairman for Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., Richard Berman possessed the ideal background-politics and healthcare administration-to rehabilitate a financially ailing organization. Berman-who has ...
There almost every day; Driscoll sees ups, downs at Maine facility.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Occupation overview)
Feb 11, 2008 ... John Driscoll, 83, has stuck with 25-bed Down East Community Hospital in Machias, Maine, through good and bad times-for both the institution and himself. "He is there almost every day, even on Saturday and Sunday," even after a number of illnesses have left him usually reliant ...
Familiar faculty; Many former HRDI members have found work at C-Suite Resources.(The Week in Healthcare)(C-Suite Resources appoints Richard Davidson and Thomas Priselac as faculty advisers)
Feb 11, 2008 ... ***** Correction: Richard Davidson, the retired former president of the American Hospital Association, and Thomas Priselac, president and chief executive officer of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and chairman-elect of the AHA board of trustees, are not faculty ...
The hope of HIPAA 2; Data stewardship must replace minimal compliance.(From the C-Suite)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act )
Feb 18, 2008; ... Byline: Reid Cushman What do the phrases "federal regulation'' and "HIPAA compliance'' bring to mind? If you work in healthcare-particularly in healthcare information technology-probably not much that's positive. That's too bad, because the Health Insurance Portability and ...
Grad school survey request.(The Week in Healthcare)(Brief article)
Feb 18, 2008 ... Modern Healthcare is looking for participants for its sixth annual survey of the top business graduate schools that offer programs targeting physician executives. To qualify, the school must offer long-distance learning programs that award MBAs or similar degrees that focus on physicians, ...
Stop those rebate checks! To stimulate the economy, invest in healthcare, where the jobs are.(Opinions Commentary)
Feb 18, 2008; ... Byline: Uwe Reinhardt As the nation's political leaders ponder how to keep the American job machine going in the years ahead, they might do well by studying the Sept. 26, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek. That issue's cover features a nurse flexing her biceps, along with the headline: ...
West.(Regional News)(Brief article)
Feb 18, 2008 ... SEATTLE-Swedish Medical Center said it completed an agreement to buy nearly 18 acres in Issaquah, Wash., to build a new hospital and health complex. The purchase price was not disclosed. Construction will begin in 2010, with an 80-bed facility to open in 2012. The hospital will ramp up to ...
Showdown at the Tulsa hoosegow; Two hospitals sue Okla. jail to recover nearly $650,000 in inmate medical bills.(Regional News)
Feb 18, 2008 ... Byline: Vince Galloro Two Oklahoma hospitals have gone to court to take advantage of a recent court ruling that puts local jails on the hook for inmates' hospital bills-even for conditions that predate their incarceration. Hillcrest Medical Center, a 409-bed hospital, ...