Modern Healthcare articles from August 2004

Modern Healthcare archives from August 2004

A commission out of joint; Another report adds to evidence that JCAHO needs a total overhaul.(Opinions)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane The juxtaposition of two events late last month couldn't have been more revealing. While the Government Accountability Office was nailing the Joint Commission for failing to find serious safety violations at hospitals,...

Rolling in dough; Despite the controversy surrounding CEO pay, healthcare leaders continue to enjoy generous compensation, with insurers leading the pack.
August 2, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro and Laura B. Benko If 2002 was a year that brought chief executive officer pay to the forefront, 2003 is a year that shows that CEOs know how to adapt. As healthcare CEO pay illustrated in 2002, executives cashing...

Consolidation hesitation; Hospitals ready to fight merger of class-action suits.(Late News)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Not-for-profit hospitals are expected to fight an effort to consolidate a series of class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of uninsured patients. Merging the cases-40 of which have been filed in federal courts...

Lone holdout; Anthem suit would fight final mega-merger hurdle.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Anthem announced plans to file a lawsuit against California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi for blocking part of its pending buyout of WellPoint Health Networks-a move that industry observers say could...

Error measure draws critics.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey A new report that doubles the previous high estimate of patient deaths from medical errors-to 200,000 annually-relies on a new and imprecise measure of hospitals' inability to catch preventable complications that...

Briefly: Hospital News; Pa. hospital association issues guidelines.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... * Following the lead of other hospital associations, the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania issued guidelines for charity care, financial aid and collection practices. The guidelines come amid a wave of class-action lawsuits...

Late News; Lincare threatens to cut drugs.(Lincare Holdings Inc.,)(Schering-Plough Corp.,)(Tenet Healthcare Corp., and Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital)
August 2, 2004... Home health provider Lincare Holdings, Clearwater, Fla., threatened to stop providing nebulizer-dispensed respiratory drugs to Medicare patients if the CMS goes through with a proposal to cut reimbursement for certain drugs in fiscal 2005. The...

He's the dean of CEOs; Harman has held the top job at his West Virginia hospital for nearly 40 years-and counting.(Healthcare Profile)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic In an era when the average hospital chief executive officer spends just four years on the job, Robert Harman isn't just unusual. He's a phenomenon. Next January Harman will celebrate his 40th anniversary as...

Bad debt rising; HCA's expenses down; others not so lucky.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro For a year now, investor-owned hospital chains have been trying to score a knockout against rising bad-debt expense. The second quarter of 2004 is shaping up to be no better than a split decision. As a percentage...

Dems hang hat on healthcare; Coverage for poor, uninsured in spotlight at DNC.(The Week In Healthcare)(Democratic National Convention)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Gathered in Boston last week for their national convention, Democrats turned to healthcare as a big part of their plea to take back the White House while Republicans defended their own policies and waited for the...

Immigrant care in peril.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Some Texas communities could stop providing free nonemergency care to illegal immigrants as a result of a state attorney general's opinion saying public hospitals and clinics aren't obligated to provide such...

Rules and regulations; CMS addresses drug prices, payment rates.(The Week In Healthcare)(United States. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong With a proposal to cut Medicare payments for doctor-administered drugs, the CMS is likely to face intense lobbying from doctors concerned that the new rates could drive down their revenue and cause them to stop seeing...

A juicy stake; Equity firm buys majority share of Vanguard.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Investors in privately held for-profit hospital chains just might be singing a song made famous by Frank Sinatra, because for them, it is a very good year. Last week it was Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems...

Grassley takes on drug prices; Senator asks HHS to help hospitals get money back.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Joseph Mantone Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has questioned pharmaceutical companies about their pricing practices in the past, is asking HHS to help hospitals that may have been overcharged for...

Paving the way; Judge brings Pa. closer to capping Blues' surpluses.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Pennsylvania insurance regulators have won a key court ruling that brings them one step closer to capping the amount of cash that the state's four Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans can sock away for a rainy day. ...

On the move ...(News Makers)
August 2, 2004... HOSPITALS Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore has named Colene Daniel its president and CEO, replacing Timothy Miller, who resigned in April amid a laboratory foul-up involving 460 patients who may have received possibly invalid HIV and...

Quality is Job 1.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... When asked what was driving the need for electronic health records within their organizations, physicians and nurses responded that improving quality of care, increasing efficiency of operations and improving clinical documentation for billing...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... "Last year about 500 million imaging procedures were performed, according to the American College of Radiology-which averages out to about 1.7 scans per American. Booz Allen Hamilton estimates that in 2002 U.S. patients spent $75 billion on...

These aren't Mickey Mouse ideas; Consultant's book talks about how theater is model for healthcare services.(Publisher's Letter)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer In his new book, If Disney Ran Your Hospital, author and former hospital executive Fred Lee has put forth some intriguing ideas as to how hospital executives could better run their hospitals if they employed some...

Commentaries welcome.(Opinions)
August 2, 2004... Modern Healthcare magazine welcomes opinion articles written by outside contributors. Commentaries can be written by anyone with expertise or insight into a healthcare topic. Articles should relate to an issue of current concern, not...

Pushing performance; When quality and safety aren't goals but preconditions for doing business.(Opinions)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Paul O'Neill and Jan Jennings The chief executive of a Pittsburgh-area hospital that was recently identified as providing among the highest-quality and lowest-cost care in the country wasn't impressed: "We may be good by...

By popular demand; Quality focus, labor shortages drive pay, survey shows.(Special Feature)(Modern Healthcare Services.)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Susanna Moon As hospitals face greater scrutiny for the quality of care they provide, those monitoring the front lines in clinical outcomes are seeing their responsibilities grow and, in return, are getting rewarded accordingly...

New lease on life; Ore. hospital gets new name, attitude.(The Week In Healthcare)(Woodland Park Hospital)(Symphony Healthcare)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Nearly a year after it closed its doors, Woodland Park Hospital in Portland, Ore., is scheduled to reopen in November with new owners, a new name and a new approach to patient care. A quartet of former Woodland...

This year's model; MedCath forges ahead with two new joint.(The Week In Healthcare)(Carolina Hospitals)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Faced with a lengthy federal moratorium on its core business, MedCath Corp. earlier this year devised a different game plan that focuses on joint ventures with existing facilities instead of building new ones from...

Exec's resume runs gamut: hospitals to ethics to gambling.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(Pennsylvania State Gaming Control Board)(Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission)
August 2, 2004... If running an urban academic medical system is a gamble, then Joseph Marshall III is the perfect choice to oversee Pennsylvania's newest industry: gaming. Last month, Marshall was named the first appointee to the seven-member Pennsylvania...

Legislative stalemate; Ill. lawmakers fail to deal with malpractice issue.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician They agreed on a budget, but Illinois lawmakers left the capital in Springfield late last month without addressing one of the most contentious issues of the record-breaking overtime session: medical malpractice....

Mo. ruling seeks penalty against doc in online case.(Physician Affairs)(Online Pharmacy)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician A suburban St. Louis physician should be disciplined for filling a prescription over the Internet without properly examining the would-be patient, a Missouri tribunal ruled late last month, but it left open the...

Boston starts importing Rx drugs from Canada.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Boston late last month became the largest city in the nation to offer prescription drugs from Canada in a move expected to save about $1 million in its first year. Mayor Thomas Menino backed the pilot program...

Institute chief Berwick earns leadership honor.(Physician Affairs)(Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Donald Berwick, M.D., president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, was given the Trust Award from the Health Research & Educational Trust for leadership in healthcare improvement. The...

Florida voters to decide errors, malpractice matters.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician The Florida Supreme Court will allow voters to decide several proposed constitutional amendments that focus on medical errors and malpractice insurance. The state's high court decided last month that voters...

Critical-access hospitals win.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Rural and critical-access hospitals were among the biggest winners last week when the CMS issued final inpatient regulations for 2005 that set Medicare rates for the coming year and dole out money from last year's...

Median compensation by region.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... There are significant regional disparities in compensation for various medical specialties, according to new data from the American Medical Group Association. For instance, cardiologists earn considerably more in Southern states than in Eastern...

Sunset in California.(The Week In Healthcare)(St. Rose Hospital)(Catholic Hospital System)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Via Christi Health System, Wichita, Kan., plans to sever ties with its sole California hospital. Officials at St. Rose Hospital, Hayward, Calif., are completing a financial separation plan that could allow the...

On the move ...(News Makers)
August 9, 2004... HOSPITALS Inova Health System, Falls Church, Va., has named Gregory Burfitt its new executive vice president and COO. Burfitt, 55, most recently was senior vice president of operations at Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s Southern States Region. He...

Case in point; Challenge of hospital merger key to antitrust climate.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Healthcare antitrust lawyers were unsure of the degree to which a report on healthcare competition issued last month by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division would affect the...

Different strokes; Iasis, Ardent see contrasting results in quarterly reports.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Two privately held companies that reported earnings last week-Iasis Healthcare and Ardent Health Services-had vastly different results for the quarter. Iasis said its earnings for the quarter ended June 30 were...

The need for speed; Rapid blood tests have quickened the diagnostic process, and even faster products are on the way.(Medical Advances)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Joseph Mantone In the eyes of many clinicians as well as healthcare executives, reaping the benefits of rapid blood tests is worth dealing with the resistance to them and the questions about their cost and diagnostic effectiveness....

Softer service; CMS eases admission rule, but LTACs still not happy.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Long-term acute-care hospitals, or LTACs, were disappointed last week when the CMS softened but did not eliminate proposed restrictions on how many patients the specialized facilities can accept for full payment. ...

Squaring off; Suits, resignations end another doc, hospital dispute.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Yet another skirmish between hospitals and physicians ended last month with a familiar finale: a white flag, lawsuits and resignations. One week after breaking ground on a 140-bed, $150 million acute-care hospital...

Beginning of the end? North Mississippi Health Services' settlement of uninsured billing issues raises questions about future of hospital lawsuits.(The Scrugg Law Firm P.A.)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Healthcare legal experts clashed last week on whether a Mississippi hospital system's multimillion-dollar settlement of uninsured billing issues represented a single defection or the start of a massive legal surrender....

Other Voices.(Opinions)
August 9, 2004... "The United States is still a society in which racial and ethnic characteristics are strongly associated with socioeconomic class and opportunity. (An article in the Aug. 5 issue) reminds us that in healthcare, integration is not complete and...

Tenet takes good with bad; Second quarter brings big loss, but cash flow is up.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s quarterly earnings reports can be somewhat like a piece of modern art-confusing at first sight and tough to interpret even after careful study. Tenet said last week that its loss for the...

Still united? N.J. docs say lawsuit stays merger; insurer disagrees.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Doctors in New Jersey have challenged UnitedHealth Group's acquisition of Oxford Health Plans, arguing the deal will harm providers and consumers by giving the insurer too much market clout. The $4.9 billion...

Late News; Tenet to comply with request.(Health Maintenance Organization)
August 9, 2004... Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., said it is voluntarily complying with a document request by the U.S. attorney in St. Louis. Federal prosecutors are seeking documents related to physician relocation agreements at four Tenet...

Cardinal trouble; CFO resigns amid flurry of probes.(News Makers)(Chief Financial Officer)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Cardinal Health stumbled late last month when its CFO unexpectedly resigned under the cloud of several investigations into the distributor's accounting and financial reporting. But the problems with Cardinal's...

Eyeing for-profits; Uninsured lawsuits filed against HCA, UHS, HMA.(The Week In Healthcare)(University Health Services)(Hospital Corporation of America)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro When lawyers attack a not-for-profit hospital's billing of uninsured patients, they hook their claim on the hospital's tax-exempt status, arguing that the public has a right to charitable policies in return for the...

Precious time; Life's too short and business too important to not keep family life as a priority.(Publisher's Letter)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer The businesswoman's statement caught me by surprise, but clearly she meant it. "We are all working so hard and for such long hours that we don't get a chance to get to know each other,'' she said. "It just seems...

Unusual case; Oral hearings set in N.Y. for rare antitrust case.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor A Utica, N.Y., federal judge is scheduled to hear oral arguments this week in an unusual civil antitrust lawsuit pitting 23 physicians and other investors in a shuttered ambulatory surgery center against the only...

The best care money can buy; The U.S. delights in its medical technology, and pays a premium for it, but studies show other countries beat us in outcomes, value.(Special Report)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker No other country in the world can beat the U.S. in medical technology. No other country spends as much for it either. The mantra "Americans have the best medical care in the world'' is frequently recited by U.S....

Nurse shortage gets serious; hospital reopens union deal.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
August 9, 2004... Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., has upped the ante in nurse recruiting. The state's largest hospital wants to make nursing attractive enough to lure former registered nurses back from other healthcare sectors or even other...

Afterglow fading; Democrats' hard sell on healthcare policies fails to generate much of a buzz.(Washington)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Democrats and their presidential nominee, John Kerry, didn't get the post-convention "bounce'' they had hoped for. With so few undecided voters, neither Kerry nor President Bush is likely to benefit from the renewed...

Corrections, Clarifications.(The Week In Healthcare)(Correction Notice)
August 9, 2004... A July 19 article ("Public outcry,'' p. 16) on a lawsuit involving facilities that take part in a federal drug-discount program incorrectly stated the amount of money the program oversees. It should have said the program oversees about $3...

The right stuff; U.S. needs to invest in the technology that really pays off.(Opinions)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane Gadgets are the real American obsession. In no other country do people have such a transcendent belief in technology as the salvation for all of its problems. Where would we be without our camera cell phones, two-way...

Wyo. governor signs last round of malpractice laws.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed the last three bills passed in a special legislative session held last month to deal with the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance being paid by doctors. One bill...

Wrong decisions; 45% of otolaryngologists cite medical errors: study.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Some 45% of otolaryngologists who responded to a survey last summer and fall said a medical error had occurred in their practice in the previous six months, according to a new report in the August issue of the...

Eli Lilly to reveal trial results of drugs in online registry.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Eli Lilly & Co. will begin disclosing the results of all trials on the drugs it sells in an online registry it plans to have available later this year, the company announced last week. Trial results contrary to...

New Jersey doc takes one win in case against HMO.(Physician Affairs)(health maintenance organization)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician A New Jersey physician won a round in a state court against the state's largest HMO when a judge certified three classes of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey. The suit...

Cold calls, hot deals; Broadlane's phone pitch: No membership required.(The Week In Healthcare)(Lawrence & Memorial Hospital )
August 16, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker In the fall of 2002, John Stevens, director of materials management at 254-bed Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, Conn., got a free, no-strings-attached offer he couldn't refuse from Broadlane, a San Francisco...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Appointments, resignations and dismissals)
August 16, 2004... HOSPITALS Sidney Mitchell has resigned as president and CEO of University Hospital in Newark, N.J., citing personal reasons, but will remain as a consultant for three months during the transition to new leadership. Mitchell, 59, is being...

Briefly: Post-Acute; Beverly loses $25.9 million.(The Week In Healthcare)(Beverly Enterprises Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... Beverly Enterprises, Fort Smith, Ark., announced that it lost $25.9 million, or 24 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, as it took a $40.3 million charge for early retirement of debt and lost $10.7 million on discontinued...

Failure to file; Fletcher Allen must submit updated debt projections.(Regional News)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Faced with fines of $1,000 per day, Fletcher Allen Health Care plans to file a new financial report with state regulators in Vermont this week in connection with its controversial $367 million expansion project. The...

Briefly: Insurance; Insurers settle charges.(The Week In Healthcare)(United Healthcare Insurance Co.)(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... United Healthcare Insurance Co. and Travelers Insurance Co. said last week they would pay $9.7 million and $10.9 million, respectively, to resolve civil whistleblower charges related to their activities as Medicare intermediaries from 1988 to...

Creating a coalition; Cafe Rx to tackle woes of e-prescription movement.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 16, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey The expanding universe of information technology coalitions grew even larger last week as a group formed to promote electronic prescribing by physicians. The new coalition, called Cafe Rx, will tackle the thorny...

Still standing; Four hospitals spared from CalPERS exclusion.(Regional News)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko The California Public Employees' Retirement System's controversial plan to cut healthcare costs hit a minor speed bump this month when state insurance regulators denied the giant pension fund's request to drop four...

Class dismissed; Judge tosses suit against resident matching program.(Late News)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor A Washington federal judge dismissed a highly publicized class-action antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of 200,000 current and former resident physicians, but the development offers little comfort to physicians trying...

South.(Regional News)(Piedmont Health Alliance )
August 16, 2004... HICKORY, N.C.-Piedmont Health Alliance and 10 physicians settled a price-fixing investigation last week by the Federal Trade Commission through a consent agreement that bars the alliance and physicians from banding together to negotiate with...

Narcotic abuse on the rise.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... The abuse of narcotic painkillers, as measured by hospital admissions for treatment of abuse, is soaring, up 155% nationally from 1992 to 2002, according to government figures. The increase was not nearly as great in large urban areas, where it...

A not-so-free choice; Hospitals, AHA must decide whether to fight or settle uninsured billing cases.(Opinions)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane With a Mississippi system having cried uncle in the billing-the-uninsured legal fight, for-profit hospitals having joined their not-for-profit brethren as defendants and more people without coverage seeking care every...

State of alert; Calif. nursing homes battle over matching-funds tax.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Joseph Mantone California nursing home residents and workers sounded a "crisis alert'' last week to drum up support for a bill that would implement a matching-funds tax for the state to access up to $250 million in federal dollars...

Golden years; Hospitals redesigning retirement plans to help get handle on costs.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Susanna Moon When 45-hospital Trinity Health in Novi, Mich., redesigned its retirement plan in January 2002, the system added a dollar-per-dollar match for employee contributions of up to $500. That simple change boosted employee...

New twist; Malpractice suits target hospitals; Ky. facility faces 27.(Regional News)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano With three new lawsuits filed earlier this month, Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Ky., now faces court challenges from 27 plaintiffs who say they suffered infections because officials tolerated dangerous and...

Late News; Wholesale hospital prices jump.
August 16, 2004... Wholesale prices for general acute-care hospitals rose sharply by 1.1% in July, after a 0.1% increase in June. Meanwhile, wholesale physician prices rose 0.1% in July after a 0.2% increase in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor...

Mixed results; CON approved in Knoxville area but not Nashville.(Regional News)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Tennessee's certificate-of-need regulators seem determined to keep a new hospital out of the suburbs south of Nashville, but they did recently approve a new hospital near Knoxville. For the second time this year,...

West.(Regional News)
August 16, 2004... LOS ANGELES-The National Labor Relations Board dismissed election results last month to unionize nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, ruling that the California Nurses Association had engaged in "objectionable conduct'' to...

Going retro; Health plans try to control costs by bringing back some old practices.(The Week In Healthcare)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko In a spin on Mark Twain's famous words, rumors of managed care's death may have been greatly exaggerated. According to a new survey of healthcare experts nationwide, many health plans are attempting to rein in...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
August 16, 2004... * Richard Peterson narrowly averted being ousted as president and CEO of Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, after he survived a physician no-confidence vote by 17 ballots out of 643 that were cast. Doctors had complained that Peterson ignored...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
August 16, 2004... "HealthGrades concluded that hospital errors could account for 195,000 deaths a year in that three-year period, virtually double the estimates of the Institute of Medicine.... More disheartening is HealthGrades' conclusion that there is little...

Milliman offers guidance on disease management.(Physician Affairs)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Physician leaders looking to analyze the efficacy of their disease-management programs will find guidance and two warnings in a new report by consulting and actuarial firm Milliman. A research team including...

Hospital goes back to school to train future health workers.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
August 16, 2004... Talk about coming full circle. Fifty-four years after closing a school within its walls, Orthopaedic Hospital in downtown Los Angeles has opened a new high school next door. The privately supported hospital and the Los Angeles public school...

Career path.(News Makers)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Joseph Mantone Usually parents pull strings to help their children land jobs. But in the case of Daniel Messina, former president and CEO of Magellan Health Services, he used a contact he made through his son to become the COO...

Sacrifice and friendship; Sometimes stepping in is the only way to truly help someone you love.(Publisher's Letter)(Column)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I have a friend whom I have known for a number of years. He called me one day right out of the blue and told me he read my Publisher's Letters. He told me how much he enjoyed them and asked me if I played golf. I...

Northeast.(Regional News)(Penn State Milton S. Hershey (Pa.) Medical Center)(Penn State College of Medicine )(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... CONCORD, N.H.-An upcoming change in state Medicaid law will tax hospitals in New Hampshire based on their net revenue instead of gross revenue, a requirement that the New Hampshire Hospital Association is monitoring. Starting Jan. 1, 2005, most...

Midwest.(Regional News)(Ohio State University Medical Center opens heart hospital)(Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board fired by Governor Blagojevitch)(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... COLUMBUS, Ohio-Five-hospital its Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital this week. The $82.8 million, 100-bed heart hospital opens on the Columbus campus of the OSU Medical Center. "The Ross Heart Hospital will serve as a model for how patients receive...

Change is not so bad; Host of outpatient PPS adjustments draws little reaction from hospital industry.(The Week In Healthcare)(prospective payments system)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
August 16, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Despite a myriad of new codes, a payment increase and adjustments to the way Medicare would pay for outliers, proposed changes to the outpatient prospective payment system released by the CMS last week drew little...