Modern Healthcare articles from April 2009

Modern Healthcare archives from April 2009

Time for some remedies; As the health reform debate heats up, primary care must remain a top-tier issue.
April 6, 2009... Byline: David May As is usually the case during tough economic timeswhether it's because of painful necessity or to seize an opportunitymore Americans are heading back to school. The medical fields are certainly seeing some of that. In...

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS.(Correction notice)
April 6, 2009... Covenant Health System, Lubbock, Texas, expects to construct a 16-bed, $5.8 million free-standing emergency department and does not have a scheduled opening date planned ("Launching satellites,'' March 23, p. 46). The company provided incorrect...

Most Powerful nominations open.
April 6, 2009... Nominations for Modern Healthcare's eighth annual ranking of the 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare are now being accepted. Starting April 6, readers can visit the magazine's Web site ModernHealthcare.com and nominate a person who they...

Busted for snooping; Octuplet mom incident latest EHR breach in Calif.(electronic health records)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely For the 24 workers at Kaiser Permanente Bellflower (Calif.) Medical Center who were fired or reprimanded or who resigned after peeking at the medical records of the now infamous mother of octuplets, their punishment...

Vanderbilt exec's legacy looms; Jacobson to explore his options when Balser takes over.(Jeff Balser replaces Harry Jacobson of Vanderbilt University )
April 6, 2009... Byline: Vince Galloro In Jeff Balser, Vanderbilt University is getting a much more conventional vice chancellor for health affairs than the man he will replace, Harry Jacobson. During his 11-year run overseeing the university's schools...

Pure's exit surprises industry; Some think it may affect McKesson's performance.(Pamela Pure)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Jean DerGurahian The abrupt departure of influential healthcare information technology executive Pamela Pure from McKesson Corp. has left some in the industry scratching their heads and wondering what's next for the IT giant. ...

Sebelius on hold; GOP, Dems disagree on fast-tracking efforts.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Matthew DoBias A move by Senate Republicans to block a fast-track effort to confirm Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the nation's top healthcare official likely won't affect the effort to enact healthcare reform this year. But the...

Pandemic peril; With other healthcare issues getting top priority, flu preparedness is getting short shrift. But the threat hasn't gone away.
April 6, 2009... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Three years ago, Congress appropriated billions of dollars to HHS for the agency's pandemic influenza plan after animal outbreaks of the extremely pathogenic avian flu virus were discovered in a dozen countries...

Paying by the bundle; Docs, hospitals "at risk' under new CMS demo.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Robert Minkin, president and CEO at Exempla St. Joseph Hospital in Denver, expects to see long-term gains by participating in a new CMS demonstration project that will "bundle'' payments to hospitals and...

Health 2.0 on the back burner.(Survey)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Joseph Conn David Brailer made information technology interoperability the focal point of his two-year stint from mid-2004 to mid-2006 as the first head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology....

ON THE MOVE...(briefs)(Valley Health appoints Mark Merrill)
April 6, 2009... GOVERNMENT David Wales, acting director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition since August 2008, will leave in May. Wales, 39, joined the FTC in 2006 as deputy director and has led the commission's antitrust enforcement...

LATE NEWS.(briefs)
April 6, 2009... Hospitals post decline in jobs for first time since '04 For the first time since the recession began in December 2007, hospitals in March posted a decline in employment, following waves of mass layoffs that spiked last September and have...

The next big things.(survey of usage of information technology projects in hospitals)(Survey)
April 6, 2009... In this crazy economy, who can predict the future? As it turns out, our readers can. Or, at least they can predict the future of their own IT projects. In our survey this year, we approached the prediction problem with three different sets...

... but it might be a slow start.(survey of information technology budget in healthcare industry)(Survey)
April 6, 2009... Early this year, as members of Congress heated up the debate on the merits and faults of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, our readers went to the "polls'' themselves in a referendum of sorts on healthcare information...

Let the spending begin ... Annual IT survey shows support for stimulus, trend toward spending uptick.(information technology)(Survey)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Joseph Conn The dam has broken. The federal government is poised to pour, by Congressional Budget Office estimates, as much as $38.3 billion into healthcare information technology support through 2015 under the American...

Doc groups griping over ICD-10; Critics say most physicians aren't ready for changes.(International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision Version)
April 6, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Some physician groups are still unhappy with the federal government's plan to implement the more modern ICD-10 reimbursement diagnostic codes, saying that even with a two-year extension many physicians will take an...

On the move.(Water Street Healthcare Partners)(Community Health Network)(appointmant of Hank Struik and Bryan Mills)(brief)
April 13, 2009... FINANCE COMPANIES Water Street Healthcare Partners, Chicago, hired Hank Struik to serve as a senior executive adviser, according to a news release. Struik, 42, was formerly president of Cardinal Health's respiratory and neurocare division,...

Open door for open source? Leavitt promises developers he'll look at problems.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Joseph Conn Stephen Lieber, the president and CEO of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, sounded pleased with the outcome of the trade association's annual convention, hosted this year at the McCormick Place...

Lord exiting Humana; New job will be as president, CEO at Navigenics.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely Jonathan Lord, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at Humana, is leaving the company to become president and CEO of Navigenics, a personal genomics company, on May 1. Lord, 54, joined Humana in...

A buyers market? For-profit start-ups press forward on acquisitions.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Vince Galloro While the bigger for-profit chains are quiet on the acquisition front for now, two start-ups are forging ahead. Last week, Avanti Health System, Manhattan Beach, Calif., announced that it secured a $29.5 million...

Turnover stable; But economy may prompt more CEO changes: experts.(Survey)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Joe Carlson An annual survey shows hospital CEO turnover rates remained largely unchanged in 2008, though industry observers expect the rate of change in the C-suite to accelerate for the rest of the year because of poor economic...

Take the money and ... Experts: Four options, but most for-profits hold cash.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Vince Galloro Cash is king, but at some point, shareholders are going to ask what a company is doing with that pile of greenbacks. With today's frozen credit markets, it may take a while, but those questions will come from those...

Outliers Asides & insides.
April 13, 2009... And now for a musical interlude from physicians Songs about cancer treatment are rare. Songs about cancer treatment that don't border on self-parody and, instead, garner critical acclaim are even more scarce, but White Sulphur Springs,...

The right environment; If we want Americans to be healthier, we have to make good choices easier.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Neil Mclaughlin There's a theme that runs through a lot of healthcare commentary that goes like this: Americans are fat, lazy, dissipated slobs and that's why they're so sick. As we have previously noted on this page, it's a...

Medical home inspection; Critics say single concept's foundation too shaky.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Andis Robeznieks As more attention and activity gets focused on the "medical home'' concept, it's only natural that critics are now lining up to point out faults in the model. Medical homes are care and reimbursement approaches...

Sharing in caring; MedPAC examines dual-decisionmaking concept where patients take active role.(Medicare Payment Advisory Commission )
April 13, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Providers have concerns over how they would get paid and budget their time under an emerging model of care that lets patients take a more active role in deciding their treatment. The concept, known as shared...

Added liability; Appeals court ruling expands EMTALA concerns.(Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act )
April 13, 2009... Byline: Gregg Blesch A federal appeals court may have muddied the general understanding of hospital liability under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act last week, reinstating a lawsuit against a Detroit-area hospital that...

Recent events show need for regulation of assisted reproduction.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Marcy Darnovsky Each year, assisted reproduction quietly helps thousands of people in their quest for children biologically related to them. But the fertility field has been far from quiet of late. In recent weeks, two scandals...

Special Report Extra.(Interview)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... In an exclusive interview, Modern Healthcare reporter Melanie Evans talks with Joanne Disch, a clinical professor and director of the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership at the University of Minnesota. Disch...

A different nursing shortage; While nurses govern patient floors at not-for-profit hospitals, few do the same on boards-but that's beginning to change.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Melanie Evans Healthcare's single largest occupation is making gains in U.S. hospital boardrooms as directors and trustees grapple with efforts to curb costly and harmful medical errors. On healthcare governing boards, nurses...

Newfound popularity; Crisis wins converts to FHA insured mortgages.(Federal Housing Administration)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Melanie Evans Tight credit markets appear to be raising interest among healthcare borrowers in a little-used federal financing option. For four decades, the Federal Housing Administration has insured hospital mortgage loans for...

Gang-related activity; Dumping settlement creates Skid Row `no-go zone'.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely Los Angeles city officials are using an enforcement tactic normally reserved for street gangs to stop hospitals from dumping patients on Skid Row. As part of the $1.6 million settlement agreement announced last...

Lessons in quality, safety; Online school designed to augment medical education.(Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Medical students already carry a heavy academic load, but an opportunity to supplement their formal education with more patient-safety and quality topics is leading them to a new initiative offered by the Institute...

Going with the flow; Six hospitals collaborate on ED overcrowding strategies.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Six hospitals, three states, one goal: to eliminate the long-standing problem of emergency department overcrowding in hospitals. That's the objective of Urgent Matters: Learning Network II, an 18-month...

Officials hail Obama EHR plan; Initiative would create lifetime record for military.(Electronic health records)
April 13, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Lubell President Barack Obama's new initiative to create a joint virtual lifetime electronic health record within U.S. military departments was hailed by industry and government officials as a precursor to perhaps...

Briefly.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Sebelius provides lawmakers with details on back taxes Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Barack Obama's choice to head HHS and usher in a massive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, provided federal lawmakers with additional...

Fee-for-service punching bag; As the Obama administration sets out to reform healthcare, Medicare Advantage is one of the first and most prominent targets.
April 13, 2009... Byline: Matthew DoBias It's no secret that the Obama administration and other Democratic leaders have had their sights set on the Medicare Advantage program for a while now. Few, however, expected them to pounce so quickly. Since...

Undercovered exposed; Underinsured problem grows as more people enroll in high-deductible plans.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely As attention in Washington turns to healthcare reform, consumer advocates are warning about the growing problem of the underinsuredthose with low coverage limit health plans through their employer or on the...

NANCY-ANN DEPARLE.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... As director of the newly created White House Office of Health Reform, DeParle is spearheading President Barack Obama's agenda to improve the nation's healthcare system. DeParle, 52, was most recently managing director of CCMP Capital, New York,...

KAREN DAVIS.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Davis is president of the Commonwealth Fund, New York, a private foundation aimed at advancing a high-performance healthcare system. A nationally recognized economist, Davis, 66, is a widely published expert in healthcare policy and research....

PATRICIA GABOW.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... As CEO and medical director of Denver Health, Gabow is an outspoken advocate for accessibility, affordability and quality in healthcare. Gabow, 65, a physician, is continuing her work to improve care for those who need Colorado's main safety...

COLLEEN CONWAY-WELCH.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Conway-Welch has served as dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, for 29 years. She is one of the longest-serving deans of a nursing school in the country, and has been a mentor and adviser to countless nurses now...

SUSAN CROUSHORE.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Since 2006, Croushore has been president and CEO of not-for-profit Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, a 511-bed facility, where she has focused on workforce retention and quality improvement. Trained as a microbiologist, Croushore, 55, has held...

ANGELA BRALY.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... As president and CEO of WellPoint, Indianapolis, Braly is one of the most high-profile women executives in America. Since June 2007, Braly, 47, has overseen the nation's largest health insurer based on membership, with nearly 43,000 employees,...

Mercy movement; Mo. system creates COO role in restructuring.(Mercy Health System )
April 20, 2009... Byline: Joe Carlson Sisters of Mercy Health System named five new senior managers as part of an executive leadership restructuring, including the appointment of Mike McCurry as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the...

ON THE MOVE...(Lois Quam left her position as head of strategic investments at UnitedHealth Group Inc.)(Sally Jeffcoat was named president and CEO of St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center)(RHIO named Charles Scaglione to succeed Barbara Radin as executive director)
April 20, 2009... FINANCE Lois Quam, a former longtime senior executive at UnitedHealth Group, left her position as head of strategic investments in green economy and health at Piper Jaffray & Co. to launch a sustainable technology and healthcare firm....

LINDA HUNT.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Hunt is president of St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, a 690-bed not-for-profit facility owned by Catholic Healthcare West, San Francisco. Trained as a registered nurse, Hunt, 60, was previously vice president and chief...

MARY KAY HENRY.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... For 29 years, Henry has represented healthcare workers at the Service Employees International Union. Since 2004, she has worked as international executive vice president of the union, leading efforts to build a stronger voice for healthcare...

KAREN IGNAGNI.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Ignagni is president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, the main lobbying arm of the health insurance industry, which covers 200 million people. Ignagni, 55, has been proactive on healthcare reform for the past two years, announcing...

LUCILLE JANATKA.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Janatka has been president and CEO of 123-bed MidState Medical Center in Meriden, Conn., for the past decade. During her tenure, Janatka has worked to reduce wait times in the emergency room, boost inpatient capacity, improve outpatient...

Settling up; Texas Blues agrees to get rid of ranking system.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Gregg Blesch Physicians and health insurers are continuing their awkward dancechaperoned by state regulatorstoward agreed-upon principles allowing insurers to steer patients toward the best and most cost-effective care. Texas...

A clearer guide; FTC opinion offers model on clinical integration.(federal trade commission)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Gregg Blesch A new Federal Trade Commission advisory opinion may offer the best guide so far to independent physicians who want to integrate clinically and negotiate collectively with payers without running afoul of antitrust law,...

Doing their part for reform; Many of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare are on the front lines of reform as policymakers work to restructure our healthcare system.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely Back when Mary Wakefield was starting her career, she considered the two fields that seemed to offer opportunities for women at the time: nursing or teaching. Wakefield chose nursing, and that decision has since...

MARY GREALY.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Grealy is president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, Washington, a group of diverse healthcare executives working toward common legislative goals. Grealy, 60, helped successfully lobby for the passage of the Medicare Part D prescription...

MICHELE MOLDEN.(Piedmont Heart Institute)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Molden is the president and CEO of the Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta. One of the largest employed cardiology groups in the nation, Piedmont Heart Institute was formed under Molden's direction in 2007 by securing agreements with three...

ORA PESCOVITZ.(university of michigan health system appoints Ora Pescovitz)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Pescovitz is incoming CEO of the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and executive vice president of medical affairs at the university, starting in May. Since 2004, Pescovitz, 52, a pediatric endocrinologist, has been president and...

NANCY NIELSEN.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Nielsen is president of the American Medical Association and an internist. Nielsen, who did not want her age released, has led the 162-year-old physician association since June 2008, earning praise on Capitol Hill for her approach to healthcare...

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Sebelius is the two-term governor of Kansas and secretary-designate of HHS. She served as Kansas' insurance commissioner from 1995 to 2003. Sebelius, 60, is President Barack Obama's pick to lead the agency tasked with protecting the nation's...

Last call for systems.
April 20, 2009... The deadline for Modern Healthcare's 33rd annual Hospital Systems Survey is April 27. This survey is intended for U.S. organizations that own, lease or sponsor two or more acute-care or psychiatric hospitals. Systems interested in participating...

CRYSTAL HAYNES.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... For more than seven years, Haynes has been CEO of St. Louis University Hospital, a 332-bed teaching hospital and trauma center in St. Louis owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp. Haynes, 51, has had a distinguished career in hospital administration,...

MARY JO GORMAN.(Advanced ICU Care appoints)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Gorman is co-founder and CEO of Advanced ICU Care, a medical services company providing remote critical care to intensive-care patients in community hospitals. Supported by telemedicine, the St. Louis-based company gives around-the-clock...

PATRICIA HEMINGWAY HALL.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Hall was named CEO of Health Care Service Corp., the fourth-largest health insurance company in the nation, in November 2008. Also president of the company, Hall, 56, oversees Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma...

SISTER CAROL KEEHAN.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Keehan is one of the most recognizable and influential leaders in healthcare. Since 2005, she has served as president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, representing 1,200 facilities and systems nationwide. An advocate for universal...

MARY WAKEFIELD.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Wakefield is the new administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration for the Obama administration. An expert on rural health issues, Wakefield, 54, was most recently director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of...

SUSAN SHERIDAN.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Sheridan is co-founder and president of Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, a Chicago-based not-for-profit group working to improve patient safety in healthcare. Sheridan, 49, started the organization in 2003, a year after her husband, Pat,...

SYLVIA YOUNG.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Young is president of Sunrise Health, a three-hospital system in Las Vegas owned by HCA, providing care to more than 236,000 people last year. Before being named to the post at Sunrise in 2007, Young, 47, was president and CEO of the Medical...

Leading ladies; Top 25 Women in Healthcare also leaders of reform movement.
April 20, 2009... Byline: David Burda As more women assume positions of power and authority in the healthcare industry, it's getting increasingly difficult to choose whom Modern Healthcare considers the top 25 people on that ever-growing list. Difficult....

ROSEMARY KENNEDY.(Siemens Healthcare)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... With more than 20 years' experience in healthcare information technology, Kennedy is a leader in nursing informatics. Since 2004, Kennedy, 49, has been chief nursing informatics officer at Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, Pa., working to increase...

RISA LAVIZZO-MOUREY.(of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Since 2003, Lavizzo-Mourey has been president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, leading the charge to reduce childhood obesity, cover the uninsured and strengthen state and local care networks. A geriatrician trained at Harvard...

JANET CORRIGAN.(National Quality Forum)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Corrigan is synonymous with healthcare quality-improvement efforts in America today. As president and CEO of the National Quality Forum, a not-for-profit organization, Corrigan, 54, leads the agenda-setting for national priorities and goals in...

Red flags raised; Hospitals wary of interest in readmission rates.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Lubell As the federal government seeks to make hospitals more accountable for high readmission rates, the industry has a clear message for policymakers: Don't penalize hospitals for readmissions that are beyond their...

HCA scores on bond market; First-quarter earnings expected to top $600 million.(Financial report)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Vince Galloro Good news on earnings may have translated into good news in the bond market for HCA last week. In a preview of its first-quarter earnings, Nashville-based HCA said it expects pretax income of about $600 million to...

Generic boost; Bill, acquisitions could help hospitals save money.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Shawn Rhea The annual market for generic drugs in the U.S.currently $63 billion and growingprovides significant savings for consumers and healthcare-services payers alike, but the boon may not be translating into substantial...

Watching the money; Worries over how states will spend Medicaid dollars.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Matthew DoBias As state executives and lawmakers weigh how best to disperse tens of billions of newly minted federal Medicaid dollars, they should know one thing: The government is watching. Last week, a Republican lawmaker...

Not much progress; Pair of studies show little quality growth since '99.(Survey)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Results from two recent reports on hospital performance paint the picture that healthcare hasn't improved much since the Institute of Medicine issued its landmark To Err is Human report in 1999, but industry...

New antitrust chief; Feinstein has healthcare background.(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Gregg Blesch The Obama administration's new top antitrust official in the Federal Trade Commission has an extensive healthcare background and says the commission will continue to focus much of its attention and resources on the...

Breach umbrella; Rule would require PHR vendors to notify customers.(personal health-record )
April 20, 2009... Byline: Joseph Conn The Federal Trade Commission took a big step toward its new role as a front-line healthcare information technology enforcer by issuing a proposed rule requiring personal health-record systems, vendors and related...

`Harder than ever'; Economic crisis puts pressure on operations.
April 20, 2009... Byline: Melanie Evans Hospitals already squeezed by investment losses and tight credit are increasingly dependent on yet another source of cash threatened by the sour economy: consumers. As the downturn persists and job losses mount,...

ASIDES & INSIDES.(brief)
April 20, 2009... Is that you, Grandma? No just an insurance group A small newspaper in Massachusetts got a call from a young man asking if the paper had printed a certain letter to the editor in support of the Medicare Advantage program, targeted for cuts...

EHR pilot program nixed; Subsidies were to help pay docs for implementation.(electronic health-record)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Joseph Conn The CMS' announcement that it will scrap the second phase of a physician electronic health-record subsidy pilot program will require some deft maneuvering by physicians who were planning to participate. The CMS said...

Late News.(brief)
April 20, 2009... State medical boards took more disciplinary actions in 2008 The nation's state medical boards took slightly more disciplinary actions against doctors in 2008 than they did in 20075,379 last year compared with 5,319. But the number of...

Banner moves; System shuffles execs, one leaving.(Banner Health)
April 20, 2009... Byline: Rebecca Vesely Banner Health is reorganizing to place more focus on clinical quality and splitting its large Arizona division into two regions. The move comes as the Phoenix-based not-for-profit system works to marry clinical...

Cutting Edge.(survey of opinion leaders regarding payment system to improve quality)(Survey)(Brief article)
April 27, 2009... * Almost all of the opinion leaders surveyed, 97%, support or strongly support reforming the payment system to improve quality and efficiency. Of those surveyed, 94% strongly support or support a streamlined approval system for generic drugs...

Eye of the beholder; Productivity and efficiency in healthcare reform can mean different things to different groups in the industry.
April 27, 2009... Byline: Shawn Rhea and Jean DerGurahian In his March address during the White House Forum on Health Reform, President Barack Obama called the ever-growing cost of healthcare "one of the greatest threats'' to America's well-being and...