Modern Healthcare articles from April 2004

Modern Healthcare archives from April 2004

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Health care industry)
April 5, 2004... * UPMC Health System in Pittsburgh plugged into the ubiquitous General Electric Co. to find its new CFO. Robert DeMichiei, 39, will begin overseeing the finances of the far-reaching system on May 3. He takes over many of the duties of UPMC's...

Keehan, who led D.C. revival, to change posts.(News Makers)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Sister Carol Keehan, who presided over Providence Hospital in Washington as it transitioned from a money loser to one of the area's largest hospitals, is leaving the facility to become the full-time board chairwoman of...

St. David's leader dies; CEO Neal Kocurek worked for Texas community.(The Week in Healthcare)(Obituary)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Neal Kocurek, an Austin, Texas, civic leader who helped craft a controversial partnership between St. David's HealthCare System and investor-owned hospital chain HCA, died last week after suffering a stroke. ...

Stripping away mandates; States allow lower-cost policies with fewer benefits.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Health insurers have long argued that a key reason behind rising premiums and the growing ranks of uninsured is the long list of benefits they're forced by law to cover. Now, a new Texas statute will test that...

In Memoriam.(News Makers)(Maxine Haynes)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Maxine Haynes, a nurse who broke racial barriers in her hometown of Seattle, has died at age 85. Born Maxine Pitter to one of Seattle's early black families, she enrolled at the University of Washington in 1936 when there were fewer than...

Inside investors; Inpatient Okla. project first to be funded by doc bonds.(The Week in Healthcare)(Duncan Regional Hospital)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic A hospital in rural Oklahoma has become the first to finance an inpatient construction project by selling bonds to its admitting physicians. Duncan (Okla.) Regional Hospital, which operates 98 beds, closed a...

Over-the-top outsourcing; Going outside has advantages, but overreliance is lazy management.(Opinions-Editorials)(Editorial)
April 5, 2004... Byline: David Burda, Editor In January, I served as one of about 140 screeners in the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards competition. My category was "best single article'' from publications with less than $3 million in...

On the move ...(News Makers)(United BioSource)
April 5, 2004... INSURERS Health Partners, a Philadelphia-area Medicaid and Medicare managed-care plan, has named Paul Alexander, as senior vice president and chief medical officer. Alexander, 44, replaces Sharad Mansukani, who left to join the CMS as a...

Late News; Acute-care prices drop.(acute-care hospital prices)
April 5, 2004... Wholesale acute-care hospital prices fell 0.2% in February after a 1.7% rise in January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index. Physician prices rose 0.4%, after a 0.7% increase in January. Compared with 12...

Subpoena for Scully sought.(The Week in Healthcare)(Tom Scully)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Democrats continued to beat the Medicare cost drum last week, calling for subpoenas of former CMS Administrator Tom Scully and White House health policy adviser Doug Badger, who both declined to testify before the...

A love story; Wife's illness reveals what's really important to speechwriter.(Publisher's Letter)(Editorial)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Love is so precious. Some of us have experienced it while others only hope that someday, somehow it will happen to them. One of life's great mysteries is how two people come together and truly fall in love. There...

The scandal continues; McKesson's ex-CFO pleads not guilty to fraud.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Criminal charges last week against a seventh executive in connection with an accounting scandal at McKesson Corp. continue a sequence of prosecutions, guilty pleas and new indictments that has kept the federal...

Getting feedback; CMS will let execs, docs speak out on reporting plan.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 5, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Hospital executives, physicians and other provider representatives will get a chance to have their say about the direction of a public-private hospital quality reporting initiative in five "listening sessions''...

Life after bankruptcy; Magellan reinvents itself with disease management.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski Magellan Health Services is ready to begin competing for business again and has a new vision now that it has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and put its financial house in order. The nation's largest...

CareFirst cares enough to sue Va. doc group over trademark.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
April 5, 2004... CareFirst cares enough to sue Va. doc group over trademark In its decade of existence, First Care PC, an 11-physician group in Chesapeake, Va., has never seen a patient covered by CareFirst Blue Cross and Blue Shield. And CareFirst admits...

Outsourcing everything; Accelerating use of outsourcing adds to public policy debate while raising questions about hospitals' 'charitable' status.(Special Report)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Outsourcing has swept like a tsunami across much of corporate America, and healthcare--a longtime practitioner--is on the leading edge of the upheaval. The $1.7 trillion industry is growing increasingly dependent on...

Off into the sunset; Early retirement of CEOs poses growing problem.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly When Dennis Barry announced plans to retire after 25 years as president and chief executive officer of Moses Cone Health System, the healthcare veteran became one of a growing number of CEOs who have recently decided...

Legal tender? Judge's ruling could mean windfall for 600 hospitals.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor A federal court decision in Washington, D.C., last month could open the door to more than $100 million in retroactive disproportionate-share reimbursements for 600 hospitals, healthcare lawyers said. On March 26,...

Protection in eye of beholder; Courts send mixed messages about the sanctity of medical files in the face of federal subpoenas for patients' abortion records.
April 5, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Federal courts in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania are sending hospitals conflict- ing signals about the privacy of patient medical records in recent rulings relating to lawsuits involving so-called...

Moral obligations; Pope: Catholic hospitals must feed vegetative patients.(Late News)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly Many of the nation's 600-plus Roman Catholic hospitals may have to rethink their standards for end-of-life care after Pope John Paul II said hospitals are morally obligated to continue artificial feeding and...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)
April 5, 2004... "Florida hospitals wonder why the public doesn't see them as good guys. They save lives and give away tons of charity care each year. So why are patients angry? Here's one reason: Juan Torres. He was billed almost $7,300 for four hours in the...

Dr. Intimidation; Surly prescribers increase risk of errors: survey.(The Week in Healthcare)
April 5, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey If hospitals want to reduce medication errors, one challenge is to get their physicians and other medication prescribers to react without condescension and intimidation to questions and concerns from the...

A different perspective; Wreck, grueling recovery give N.Y. hospital execdeeper appreciation of healthcare delivery.(Healthcare Profile)(New york hospital)(Maimonides Medical Center)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Pamela Brier and her husband, Peter Ashkenasy, were coveting a few relaxing days at their second home in upstate New York before submerging themselves into their respective careers when, "in the twinkling of an eye,''...

Conducting a dissonant symphony; NQF is working to bring more healthcare players into harmony on quality.(Opinions-Commentary)(National Quality Forum)
April 5, 2004... Byline: Kenneth Kizer The quality of American healthcare is neither as good as generally believed nor as good as it could and should be given the vast resources we spend on it. In response to the now clearly identified quality problem,...

Briefly: Hospitals.(The Week in Healthcare)(NYU Hospitals Center)(Hospital for Joint Diseases/Orthopaedic Institute)(Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Merger in N.Y. planned * Two New York hospitals-734-bed NYU Hospitals Center and 157-bed Hospital for Joint Diseases/Orthopaedic Institute-said last week that they have agreed to a full-asset merger to spur growth in an already...

Putting IT in family medicine; Specialty society suggests changes similar to IOM.(Physician Affairs)(Institute of Medicine )(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The second-largest U.S. medical specialty society announced a plan to reinvent family medicine last week by using the ubiquitous deployment of healthcare information technology, retooled and IT-intensive residency and continuing medical...

Peer-review study may lead to pay for performance.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... An Indianapolis employers' healthcare coalition has prepared a list of 500 physicians it plans to invite to participate in a peer-review quality improvement process that could provide pay bonuses to physicians who meet standards of excellence....

Better medical groups are spending more money.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Successful medical groups are spending money to make money, according to a new study from the Medical Group Management Association. In an analysis of more than 1,200 responses, the association found that about 81% of better-performing...

2003 Physician Executive award winners selected.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... Physicians Harold Ray and Samuel Nussbaum are the winners of the 2003 Physician Executive awards, sponsored by the American College of Physician Executives and Modern Physician. Ray, senior vice president and chief medical officer of...

Senate to consider limits for some malpractice suits.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 5, 2004... The Senate plans to vote this week on a bill limiting noneconomic damages to $250,000 in malpractice lawsuits against obstetricians, gynecologists and trauma doctors, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) told an audience at an American Medical...

Late News.(Health care industry)
April 12, 2004... Resident programs exempt? An 11th-hour addition to the Pension Funding Equity Act could end a 2-year-old antitrust challenge of the National Resident Matching Program, Modern Healthcare has learned. President Bush is expected to sign the...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(appointment of corporate vice president of advocacy for Premier)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Margaret Reagan became corporate vice president of advocacy for Premier, replacing Herb Kuhn, who joined the CMS last month as director of the Center for Medicare Management. Her new position became effective April 1. Reagan, who joined...

A brand new bag; Trauma-care revolution among benefits touted as blood substitute enters critical phase of clinical trials.(Medical Advances)(PolyHeme, an oxygen-carrying blood substitute)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker A small, unprofitable company that has been in business for nearly 20 years seems to be within striking distance of achieving its single-minded but elusive goal: to develop a human blood substitute. But don't...

Everybody's doing it; Pending Anthem deal opens door for more mergers.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko The pending megamerger between Anthem and WellPoint Health Networks, announced last September, appears to have set the stage for a new round of managed-care acquisitions this year. Since January, at least a...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Health care industry)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... "When people suffering from mental illness don't get the help they need, they tend to `decompensate,' or relapse. When that happens, they often become the problem of the criminal justice system.... Better funding for mental health treatment at...

More docs disciplined.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano The number of doctors who faced serious disciplinary actions by state medical boards jumped 10% last year-the largest increase in almost a decade, a new national survey shows. In its annual compilation of...

Moving money; Survey may cause regional shifts in Medicare dollars.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Significant Medicare dollars may move around the country next fiscal year when the CMS begins using recently collected employment data to help even out payments. The CMS' so-called occupational mix survey, which...

Seeking strong, silent type; Be it business or pleasure, good listening skills can go a long way.(Publisher's Letter)(Editorial)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer There is no worse sin in the sales world than when one seller interrupts another during a meeting with a client. Even more troubling is when the person being interrupted is the sales manager. Interruptions of any...

Scaling the cliff; Post-acute providers report healthier numbers despite Medicare challenges.(Special Feature)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Susanna Moon The second wave of nursing home bankruptcies forecast by some in the industry never materialized last year. The so-called Medicare cliff-the sunset of two reimbursement add-ons in October 2002-did not mean the end of...

On the Move.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System named Anthony Armada, 44, as president and CEO of Henry Ford Hospital and Health Network, effective May 10. Armada will oversee Henry Ford Hospital, the 634-bed flagship of the four-hospital urban system,...

Outliers: Canadians worry drug exports could threaten their supplies.(Outliers)
April 12, 2004... The debate over importing prescription drugs from Canada saw two conflicting developments in the past two weeks, leaving Outliers to wonder where this issue is headed. New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson made his state the latest to link its...

Veteran Boston CEO is out.(News Makers)(Chief executive officer)(Michael Collins)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly Michael Collins, the longtime president and CEO of Boston's Caritas Christi Health Care, has resigned, the Archdiocese of Boston announced. Collins, 48, joined Caritas Christi in 1986 as vice president of...

wrangling in texas; four parkland trustees resign after dispute with CEO.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Four board members of Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas resigned last week after clashing with longtime Chief Executive Officer Ron Anderson, marking the second split in a month between a Texas public...

Concierge critique; Warning doesn't worry docs at boutique practices.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano A recent warning from federal officials about "concierge'' medical practices hasn't exactly sent shudders through the small community of physicians around the country charging annual membership fees for personalized...

Past as prologue; Tax-exempt? Ardent wants to deal.(The Week In Healthcare)(Ardent Health Services)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Ask David Vandewater about his days with Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., and he might quote John F. Kennedy saying, "Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.'' But Vandewater, who...

The HIPAA headache; It just won't go away. An exclusive survey of privacy officers says full compliance with the 1-year-old regulations is still elusive.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 )
April 12, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey One year after federal regulations took effect on the confidential handling of personal health information, fewer than one in four healthcare organizations are in full compliance with the many requirements to protect...

The Health Plan Challenge; Watching to see if industry rhetoric on quality, costs is backed by action.(Opinions)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane In popular culture, the term "HMO'' has for years been little more than a profanity. Sometimes it's an adjective, as in "HMO bastards,'' sometimes a noun, such as "@#*&%&! HMOs.'' Watching an old rerun of my favorite...

Not over yet; Malpractice bill takes a third fall.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Federal malpractice legislation became a three-time loser last week, but if the Senate majority leader keeps his word, it won't be the last time the issue surfaces in Congress this year. For the third time in less than a...

Shock to the system; problems may force VA to forsake computer project.(The Week In Healthcare)(Veterans Affairs)
April 12, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Amid problems at one of its facilities in Florida, the Veterans Affairs Department now finds itself possibly having to shelve a $472 million test computer system that was slated to go nationwide in two years. Last...

By the Numbers.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... More than 20% of terminally ill patients in the U.S. die in expensive intensive-care units, although nine out of 10 Americans say they would prefer a low-tech approach to death, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of...

Preventive medicine; Lawmakers seek to avert future cuts to docs' payments.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Leadership on the House Ways and Means Committee asked the CMS earlier this month to take administrative action to avert future cuts to doctors' reimbursements. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003...

Outpatient medical errors more common: study.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... More patients are harmed by medical errors stemming from care received in physicians' offices than in hospitals, a new study concludes. The research by the Robert Graham Center in Washington was published in the April edition of the...

Data-mining business put on market by MGMA.(Physician Affairs)(Medical Group Management Association)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... The Medical Group Management Association, based in Englewood, Colo., is placing its three-year-old practice management data-mining business, Physcape, on the sale block April 16, but the trade group also plans to show up and join the bidding,...

Ind. system plans to join information exchange.(Physician Affairs)(Indianapolis)(St. Vincent's Health System)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health, owned by Ascension Health in St. Louis, will join the Indiana Health Information Exchange by late summer or early fall, according to St. Vincent Chief Executive Officer Vincent Caponi. The 16-hospital...

Signs of Success.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 12, 2004... Authors of a Medical Group Management Association article concluded that larger practices are often less efficient in using resources than smaller ones. The report said successful practices excel in several financial categories.

Alegent Health's new chief seeks docs' help.(News Makers)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski Wayne Sensor, who helped to pump up the financial muscles of Christus Schumpert Health System, Shreveport, La., in more than five years as top executive, is preparing to take on the challenge of leading another...

Outliers: AMA misses a chance to promote diversity coalition.(Outliers)(American Medical Association)(workforce diversity)
April 19, 2004... The American Medical Association's long-entrenched policy of keeping the press at bay can't fully explain the organization's decision earlier this month to bar the media from its second Federation Task Force on Disparities in Healthcare, a...

Paring down to turn around; St. Vincent will close two hospitals in New York.(Late News)(St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski Eight-hospital St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers said it would close two hospitals as part of a turnaround plan by new management hired to nurse the New York system's ailing finances through recovery. The...

Tenet finds buyer for Redding.(Late News)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
April 19, 2004... In the first known case of a hospital being divested to avert its exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid, Tenet Healthcare Corp. found a buyer for 238-bed Redding (Calif.) Medical Center. Tenet said Hospital Partners of America, Charlotte, N.C.,...

Kansas eyes hospital tax.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Kansas is expected to become the latest state to enact a tax on hospital revenue in order to increase its federal Medicaid funding. The Kansas Hospital Association supported the 1.83% tax on net inpatient...

Under scrutiny in N.C. $414 million in hospital payments questioned.(The Week In Healthcare)(North Carolina)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic North Carolina's state auditor charged last week that the state's Medicaid program surrendered control of disproportionate-share payments to Carolinas HealthCare System, the state's biggest Medicaid provider,...

Rough and unready; Billions have been spent on terror preparedness, without much result.(Opinions)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane Recent polls show that the 9/11 commission hearings, the bombings in Spain and the worsening situation in Iraq have left Americans ever more jittery about their personal safety. So now might be an excellent time to ask...

Changing the subject; Tenet names six new CMOs to reinforce patient safety.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)(chief medical officers)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly Plagued by federal investigations into outlier payments and physician recruitment and an additional two new inquiries announced last week, Tenet Healthcare Corp. made a move to shift the spotlight to patient safety...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... "The U.S. healthcare system is one of the most technically advanced industries and one of the most backward.... We have diagnostic tools that can produce 3-D images of brain tumors in real time, but it still takes two hours for the film to be...

In the Spotlight.(News Makers)(St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers of New York)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... The financially beleaguered St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers in New York has appointed turnaround expert David Speltz as the system's president and CEO. Tim Weis, Speltz's partner in the firm Speltz & Weis, has been named CFO. The firm has...

Pilot Crashes; Lawsuit by four N.J. hospitals shuts down experimental gain-sharing program designed to reward docs for controlling costs.(New Jersey)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Four New Jersey hospitals that have successfully shot down a high-flying but limited experiment in physician "gain-sharing'' may also have shot themselves in the foot. In response to a lawsuit filed earlier this...

The nurse of the future; fewer workers, new technologies and older patients place RNs at center stage.(Opinions)(Registered Nurse )
April 19, 2004... Byline: Karen Haase-Herrick Partnerships of healthcare providers, educational institutions and workforce development councils are trying to increase the diversity of our nation's healthcare workforce as well as the number of students in...

Price-fixing probe; FTC investigates three N.M. hospitals and their IPAs.(The Week In Healthcare)(Federal Trade Commission)(independent practice associations)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Three rural hospitals and three independent practice associations in New Mexico have been snared in a 2-year-old national Federal Trade Commission probe investigating alleged physician price-fixing, Modern Healthcare...

On The Move.(News Makers)(Association of University Programs in Health Administration)
April 19, 2004... ASSOCIATIONS It has been a hectic time on the association front. Jeptha Dalston, 73, is stepping down as president and CEO of the Arlington, Va.-based Association of University Programs in Health Administration. In an e-mail to friends and...

Try, try again; GOP pushes to clamp down on Medicaid abuse.(The Week In Healthcare)(Grand Old Party)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong A year after the Bush administration failed to recast Medicaid as a block-grant program, the White House and congressional Republicans are once again trying to reform the health insurance program run jointly by the...

From Front Lines To Front Office; Nurses draw on patient-care experience, interdepartmental knowledge as they graduate to top executive positions.(Special Report)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly When Ginger Irsik became administrator at Prattville (Ala.) Baptist Hospital after 12 years as a nurse, little did she know that her job would require her to oversee a major change in operations just one week into...

Don't make their lives too easy; Spoiling kids by giving them everything can backfire when they enter adulthood.(Publisher's Letter)(Editorial)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I heard this story on an early morning radio show, and I have no idea if it's true, but if it isn't it should be. It had to do with a family doctor in a small town. He was well-liked by his neighbors and patients...

Compensation coalition; Groups seek new claims process for immigrant care.(The Week In Healthcare)
April 19, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly A coalition of state hospital associations is lobbying the CMS to implement a fair process for its member hospitals that want to claim funds for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants under the new...

By the Numbers.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Despite medical advances and improved outcomes, up to 75% of children are not getting appropriate healthcare, according to a report released last week by the Commonwealth Fund. Although progress has been made in treating acute illnesses and...

State power; Law allows Ohio to write malpractice policies.(Physician Affairs)
April 19, 2004... Ohio Gov. Bob Taft signed a bill into law last week that will allow the state to write malpractice insurance policies for doctors if there aren't enough private insurers to offer them. Four insurers have stopped selling coverage in Ohio...

Study: Video games help surgeons sharpen skills.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Surgeons who spent many hours playing video games as children make fewer mistakes at the operating table, according to a surgeon who has researched the issue. "I use the same hand-eye coordination to play video games as I use for surgery,"...

Report: Few docs using electronic-prescribing tools.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Widespread physician use of electronic-prescribing tools remains a long way off, according to a report issued last week by the eHealth Initiative, a not-for-profit consortium of clinical healthcare technology boosters. Surveys cited by the...

Minority Report.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... Enrollment of underrepresented minorities in U.S. medical schools, which grew to a high of 12.5% of total enrollment in the mid-1990s, has dropped to slightly below 11%. Officials with the Association of American Medical Colleges say...

In the Spotlight.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
April 19, 2004... St. Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe, N.M., promoted former state health official Alex Valdez to replace CEO John Lucas, who is stepping down after almost five years. Lucas, a family practice physician who focused on quality improvement and revenue...

Beyond safety; Patient trust and loyalty are byproducts of patients' overall experience.(Opinions)
April 26, 2004... Byline: Marvin Kolb It's time to move beyond the seemingly endless debate over reducing medi- cal errors. Unleashed by the stinging 1999 Institute of Medicine report, To Err is Human, a tsunami of articles, papers, courses, lectures...

Recognizing IT achievement; Three execs selected as winners of information technology awards.(Opinions)
April 26, 2004... Byline: David Burda, editor Some healthcare CEOs aren't waiting for federal grant money or government mandates or the next best thing to implement life-saving and cost-reducing information systems in their organizations. Modern Healthcare...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Brief Article)
April 26, 2004... Patrick Dupuis has been appointed vice president and CFO of BJC HealthCare, St. Louis, effective May 10. Dupuis, 41, replaces Edward Stiften, who left to become senior vice president and CFO of Express Scripts, St. Louis. Dupuis is the latest...

Real life in the field of battle; A letter to a soldier who has taken a big risk for his country and his future.(Publisher's Letter)
April 26, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I learned recently that a co-worker of mine, Steffanie Powers, has a brother, Pfc. Scott Powers, in the U.S. Army Reserves, stationed in Iraq. With her permission, I write this letter to him in recognition of his...

Ready-Or not; Talented, high-achieving physicians often come up short in the skills and other attributes needed to excel as CEO.(Special Report)
April 26, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Brilliant, decisive and self-assured, the physician who served as chief executive officer of a thriving, 500-doctor medical group in the Midwest in the late 1990s appeared to have every tool necessary for success in...