Modern Healthcare articles from December 2006

Modern Healthcare archives from December 2006

By The Numbers.(The Week in Healthcare)
December 4, 2006... Medicare and Medicaid provider payments ranked fourth out of six healthcare issues expected to garner Congress' attention next year, according to a Web poll of 149 Modern Healthcare readers, conducted from Nov. 9 to Dec. 1.

LOSING STRENGTH; The '90s flurry of growth for doc unions has lost momentum, but organizers still believe the movement can be resuscitated.(Special Report)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano Early last year, 220 doctors employed at Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York took the kind of step that has rarely been followed by fellow physicians around the country: They voted to join a union. The decision...

Can't stress this enough; A little anxiety is crucial to success, can spark you to perform your best.(Editorial)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Stress is a tough thing, and we have all experienced the health problems it can cause. It has been blamed for everything from heart attacks to cancer to stiff necks to...

On the move...(News Makers)
December 4, 2006... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, will replace COO Reynold Jennings with Stephen Newman effective Jan. 1, 2007, the company said. Jennings, 60, will remain with Tenet for seven months after Jan. 1 as vice chairman and will...

Medicare critique under fire; AHIP, CMS dispute Commonwealth Fund's findings.(America's Health Insurance Plans, Medicare Modernization Act of 2003)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias Bush administration officials and the health insurance lobby last week assailed a new Commonwealth Fund report that shows Medicare had overpaid private health plans in its Medicare Advantage program by $5.2 billion...

Changing Medicare, Medicaid ... ... may take more than GAO comptroller's letter.(Government Accountability Office)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Government Accountability Office Comptroller General David Walker last week warned Congress that Medicare and Medicaid will lose their ability to support healthcare for elderly and poor Americans without needed...

CHA revenue down; ACHE's up; Catholic association hurt by investment restrictions.(Catholic Health Association, American College of Healthcare Executives)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans and Jessica Zigmond The investment portfolios at two healthcare industry associations produced very different results for their respective reporting years, according to recent financial filings from the organizations....

JCAHO's new data plan; Patient data will be collected to check accuracy.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks What a difference a year can make. Just over a year ago, the American Hospital Association was firing off strongly worded statements criticizing the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations'...

What I learned while on trial; Alvarado case shows that documentation is key to avoiding a costly legal ordeal.(Alvarado Hospital Medical Center )
December 4, 2006... Byline: Barry Weinbaum How can you be accused of breaking the law when you believe that what you are doing is legal? I wrestled with this question for a good part of my four-year ordeal with the federal government. My marathon began in...

Conflict questions; Advisory board members say conflicts avoidable.(IntelliDot Corp.)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn Healthcare information technology vendor IntelliDot Corp. has named two physician champions of patient safety, a hospital chief executive and a pioneer in pharmacy systems research to positions as paid members of the...

Briefly: AMA develops quality measures.(Physician Affairs)(American Medical Association)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... The American Medical Association has developed a list of 151 quality-of-care measures that could be used to measure pay-for-performance programs, the Chicago-based doctors' group announced, or slightly more than contained in an original plan...

Tussling over benefits; HFMA accounting rules straddle AHA, CHA methods.(Healthcare Financial Management Association, American Hospital Association )
December 4, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans Faced with a sweeping federal review of not-for-profit hospitals' community benefits, powerful trade groups continue to weigh in, hoping to shape industry practice or an expected Internal Revenue Service revamp of...

Gay groups question hospitals; Survey hopes to reveal how industry serves gays.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias Two social awareness groups have combined forces to develop a hospital survey that is geared toward gauging how hospital staff physically and mentally treats gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender patients. The...

Where the buck stops; Healthcare needs to stop blaming patients and take responsibility for errors.(Opinions)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Neil McLaughlin Managing Editor You may have seen the humorous guide to the world's religions that explains the different creeds through variations on the sentence "S-- happens.'' Having been raised a Roman Catholic, I always...

Most Powerful deadline looms.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 4, 2006... Nominations for the third annual ranking of the 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare are now open. Modern Healthcare and sister publication Modern Physician co-sponsor this annual recognition program. To submit a nomination for...

Evaluating disease management; DMAA's new guidelines assess healthcare outcomes.(Disease Management Association of America)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Lubell The Disease Management Association of America has developed consensus guidelines for evaluating disease management program outcomes that seek to move the industry toward reliable, consistent approaches to outcomes...

Easing the pain; Slowing prescription drug expense helps rein in costs for large employers.(Strictly Finance)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Healthcare costs for large employers rose at a slower pace in 2006 as a slowdown in prescription drug costs dampened spending, according to a national survey of 3,000 employers. A report from benefits consultant...

Hospitals' legal headache; After record year, feds keep pursuing False Claims cases.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor A record $1.3 billion in False Claims Act settlements from hospitals and health systems in fiscal 2006 is unlikely to be matched in 2007. But there are strong indications that government interest is high in pursuing...

EXTREME PLANNING; Experts say New York's plan to restructure its healthcare system may prompt other states to consider doing the same.
December 4, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker It wasn't difficult to predict the meltdown that occurred last week in certain pockets of New York when a powerful, independent commission released its anxiously awaited recommendations for the revamping of the state's...

Late News; Hemsley top dog at UnitedHealth.(Stephen Hemsley joined UnitedHealth Group Inc.)
December 4, 2006... UnitedHealth Group, Minnetonka, Minn., said Stephen Hemsley officially assumed the role of chief executive officer and named three executives as presidents overseeing broader business segments as part of a management restructuring. Hemsley, 54,...

RSNA brings out the balloons; Study discusses benefits of possible stent replacement.(Radiological Society of North America)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone Move over drug-eluting stents. Here come drug-coated balloons. A study presented at last week's annual meeting in Chicago of the Radiological Society of North America highlighted the possible benefits of...

Questioning HSAs; Many enrollees have no choice: study.(health savings accounts)
December 4, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond An increase in enrollment for consumer-directed health plans in 2006 may be because of a lack of other alternatives, a recent study indicates. About four in 10 employees enrolled in employer-sponsored,...

Take IT survey by Jan. 8.(information technology)(Brief article)
December 4, 2006... Modern Healthcare's 17th annual Information Technology Survey is still accessible by visiting modernhealthcare.com/surveys. All responses are due by Monday, Jan. 8, 2007. This survey analyzes the opinions of senior healthcare executives to...

Design survey still ongoing.(Opinions)
December 4, 2006... The 28th annual Construction and Design Survey is still available. To participate, please download the electronic version of the questionnaire at modernhealthcare.com/surveys. Completed surveys are due by Monday, Jan. 15, 2007. Results will be...

Sale of famed Eakins painting has many in Philly cheesed.(Thomas Eakins' "Gross Clinic'', Thomas Jefferson University )
December 4, 2006... Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia is worried that a gross miscarriage of justice might ensue as the result of its announced sale of a prized painting. Officials at the academic medical center were obviously pleased in early...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
December 4, 2006... "A special state panel has laid out a credible plan for reforming New York's vast, creaking, wasteful, inefficient healthcare system-placing the onus on Gov. Pataki and legislative leaders either to consent to major surgery or document with...

By The Numbers.(nursing schools enrollment )(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Enrollment growth in U.S. baccalaureate nursing schools continued to slow in 2006, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported. The slowdown marks the third consecutive year of flagging enrollment growth, according to preliminary...

La. judge mulls motion on HMO; Oath's defense wants case ended, says no crime alleged.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Laura B. Benko A federal judge in New Orleans is considering whether to throw out a criminal fraud case against three former executives of the now-defunct Oath for Louisiana HMO, whose high-profile financial collapse in 2002 left...

Leaving troubles behind; Hospital with colorful past seeks bright future.(Physician Affairs)(Larkin Community Hospital )
December 11, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor The physician owner of Larkin Community Hospital said he hopes to put the South Miami, Fla., hospital's troubled past behind it after signing an agreement to pay $15.4 million to settle civil fraud and kickback...

Measuring community benefits; Report finds tax-exempts edge out for-profits on giving.(The Week In Healthcare)(federal law )
December 11, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans Not-for-profits edged ahead of for-profits, but barely, in the latest comparison of which sector gives more to aid communities, particularly poor and vulnerable patients. The Congressional Budget Office report,...

Their winning ways; Spirit of Excellence honorees culled from field of 98.(Special Feature)(competition)
December 11, 2006... Byline: David Burda Editor Modern Healthcare congratulates the winners and honorable mentions of the 14th annual Spirit of Excellence Awards, co-sponsored by Sodexho Health Care Services. This year's winners and runners-up are profiled on...

Give them an award; Military veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are owed our full gratitude.(Editorial)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director I go to a lot of healthcare awards ceremonies. Most of the recipients are deserving of the accolades from their peers, which are often inspiring to hear. Last week, I...

Sugar rush; Makers of continuous-monitoring devices for diabetics target hospitals.(Medical Advances)(hospital management)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone Manually checking the heart rate and blood pressure of inpatients used to be routine tasks for nurses doing their rounds, but for years digital monitors have been used to track, display and transmit that data to...

IHI campaign draws more fire; Article questions methodology, rapid-response teams.(Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Two prominent researchers questioned the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 100,000 Lives Campaign for its promotion of rapid-response teams, as well as the calculations that led the IHI to proclaim that the...

Targeting strokes; Nazareth gives free screenings.(Special Feature)(African American Stroke Awareness Program)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and blacks face a greater statistical risk of stroke than the general population. Nazareth Hospital, a 233-bed facility in Philadelphia, has spent the past 16 months...

Ending confusion; Provena smooths nurse shift changes.(Provena St. Joseph Medical Center )
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel Shift changes among nurses at 454-bed Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill., had become a chaotic, noisy mess that led to a lack of privacy for patients and ballooning overtime for the nurses themselves as...

Cultural shift; Blame-free reporting lifts satisfaction.(Special Feature)(Survey)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel More than three-quarters of employees responding to a June 2001 survey at 262-bed Clifton Springs (N.Y.) Hospital & Clinic said they were uncomfortable reporting medical errors. Recognizing a need to change its culture,...

Making everyone happy; St. John aims to boost employee, patient morale.(Special Feature)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel St. John Health in Warren, Mich., faced the same shortages of nurses and other clinicians as many other healthcare organizations. So the eight-hospital system embarked upon a service excellence initiative in early 2005...

UMDNJ hit with double whammy; Institution faces separate whistle-blower lawsuits.(University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor Troubles for the scandal-plagued University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey escalated in recent weeks with the filing of two recent retaliation lawsuits by employees who claim to have been harassed, suspended...

On the move...(brief)(Connecticut Children's Medical Center)(Metropolitan Methodist Hospital)
December 11, 2006... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, said it hired Mark Lisa to be the new CEO of Doctors Hospital of Manteca (Calif.), effective Dec. 11. Lisa, 46, leaves a job as COO of Doctors Hospital of Laredo (Texas), which is owned by...

'The Hilton' of hospitals; Parrish aims to maximize patient comfort.(Special Feature)(Parrish Medical Center)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel The need for a new hospital provided Parrish Medical Center with an opportunity to brainstorm how best to create a healing environment, and the resulting 210-bed, 375,000-square-foot, $80 million facility in Titusville,...

Targeting turnover; DaVita provides life-skill training.(Special Feature)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel DaVita, an independent provider of kidney dialysis services with 14,000 employees, has cut its turnover in half in the five years since it instituted a program that helps employees work on personal life skills such as...

CHEERS shows they care; St. Francis employees contribute more than $1 million to aid community.(St. Francis Hospital's Caring Hospital Employees Envision Real Success program)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel More than 9,000 people in the greater Columbus, Ga., area have received slices of the more than $1 million that employees of 217-bed St. Francis Hospital have contributed to the 12-year-old Caring Hospital Employees...

Fighting back; Hancock's staff makes massive effort to reopen after Katrina flooding.(Special Feature)(Byline: Ed Finkel Hancock Medical Center)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel Hancock Medical Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., was forced to close after all major departments sustained floodwaters during Hurricane Katrina, which caused more than $20 million in damage. Some 75% of employees and...

Plugged in; Software eases communication.(Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, GetWellNetwork)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel Patients are becoming better educated about their conditions and better able to communicate effectively with staff at 174-bed Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Va., thanks to the GetWellNetwork, a customizable software...

Helping cancer survivors; Study examines benefits of exercise program.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Ed Finkel Breast cancer survivors often suffer from side effects such as weight gain and fatigue that persist long after their cancer is gone. In response, 303-bed Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has launched the...

Hospitals' predicament; Will better patient care come from competition or regulation?
December 11, 2006... Byline: David Burda Editor If you're on the fence about health planning, two major stories that broke over the past two weeks should shove you into one camp or the other. On Nov. 28, a legislatively established commission in New York...

A tale of two surveys; Polls find divergent consumer opinions on EHRs.(electronic health records )
December 11, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Americans are either eager to adopt the use of electronic health records or they're not all that interested without learning more about them, depending on whom you ask. Last week, one of the major players in...

Employers drive personal records; Large firms unveil system that gives consumers control.
December 11, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Lubell A new portable health-record system that allows patients to access and amend their own medical records, and has the backing of five major employers, is a step in the right direction, but healthcare providers say...

`Stealth' chains lure big bucks.(hospitals)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Vince Galloro Small, nimble for-profit companies such as University General Hospital Systems threaten to take away the best-paying patients of established hospitals in high-growth markets that lack certificate-of-need protection,...

Deal or no deal? Major for-profits buy and decide; one closes hospital.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Vince Galloro With the year winding to a close, for-profit hospital and health systems were in the middle of both successful and unsuccessful dealmaking, while industry leader HCA said it was closing one of its smaller hospitals....

Late News; Industry awaits payment bill.
December 11, 2006... As the 109th Congress neared a close, lawmakers last week worked to pass a bill that would erase a 5% physician pay cut and provide incentive payments for doctors who report on certain quality measures. At deadline, federal lawmakers had not...

D.C. hospital plan up in smoke; Tobacco-settlement funds to go to other health areas.(District of Columbia)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias The Washington City Council last week approved a $245 million healthcare package that will pay for a new healthcare complex, two new ambulatory-care centers, and other programs, but result in the grounding of plans...

BETTING BIG ON DOC OWNERSHIP; 'Boutique' chain blasts off with $1 billion investment, plans for 10 hospitals, and hopes to create healthcare model of the future.(Nezami's University General Hospital Systems, Alliance Development Group )
December 11, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Former stockbroker Kamran Nezami and his physician partners believe their business plan for physician-owned hospitals is the healthcare model of the future, and a North Carolina development company is betting $1...

Cashing in on technology; Vanderbilt, others go out of house with health IT.(Bassett Healthcare)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Cooperstown, N.Y., is famous as the home of the largest national tribute to baseball players. But it's also home to members of a different kind of team: Bassett Healthcare, which is serving as the initial...

JCAHO floats IT to propel safety; Accreditor wants hospitals to embrace technology.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, information technology)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is for a second time field-testing a provision that would move hospitals toward more rapid adoption of electronic health records and other high-tech...

HRDI gets new chairman.(Healthcare Research and Development Institute appointed Stephen Reynolds)
December 11, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone The Healthcare Research & Development Institute, a privately owned think tank under two state investigations for its business practices, appointed Stephen Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Baptist...

Other Voices.(Missouri Healthnet)(Brief article)
December 11, 2006... "Gov. Matt Blunt's administration has drafted a new plan (to replace the state's Medicaid program), tentatively called Missouri Healthnet, which would use a combination of carrots and sticks to emphasize prevention and personal responsibility....

N.Y. hospitals move to ban trans fat a long time coming.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
December 11, 2006... Are we naive? We assumed that any hospital that is expert at clearing out coronary arteries would also serve food that helps maintain low cholesterol levels. So weren't we surprised when the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System,...

CHARTS: By The Numbers.(By The Numbers)(rankings)(Industry ranking)
December 18, 2006... See printed publication for the following charts: HEALTHCARE ECONOMICS 2: National healthcare expenditures 4: Healthcare spending and the GDP 6: Credit upgrades and downgrades 8: Merger-and-acquisition activity 10:...

Inova ends liver transplants; Move comes as CMS scrutinizes programs nationally.(Inova Fairfax Hospital)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano Inova Fairfax Hospital has shuttered its once-prolific liver-transplant program because of a steady decline in the number of operations, leaving dozens of patients scrambling for options at other area hospitals. ...

Northeast.(Regional News)
December 18, 2006... BOSTON-The Boston Archdiocese said last week it is "actively exploring'' affiliating its six-hospital Caritas Christi Health Care system with a national Catholic system, one of two possible strategies to emerge from an analysis of Caritas...

Nominate docs for power list.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 18, 2006... Nominations for the third annual ranking of the 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare are being accepted. Modern Healthcare and sister publication Modern Physician co-sponsor this annual recognition program. To submit a...

MedPAC's regional approach; Industry executives see flaws in proposed formula.(Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Industry executives aren't thrilled with a plan by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to rework the physician payment formula, adding variables for geography and performance, though eliminating a much-maligned...

Troubled times for execs; Executives.(Special Report)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... The image of healthcare executives takes a beating in 2006 as several high-profile executives are caught in legal and ethical quagmires. October proves an especially dismal month for executives as two are convicted in an influence scheme,...

No longer with us; Deaths.(Robert O'Leary of American Medical International)(David Everhart of Northwestern Memorial Hospital)(William Graham of Baxter International)(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... * Robert O'Leary, founding chairman and chief executive officer of the Premier hospital alliance, dies in August at age 62 after a long battle with cancer. O'Leary had also served as chief of American Medical International and PacifiCare Health...

IHI's ambition rises for '07; Group aims to spare 5 million from harm in campaign.(Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's newest hospital quality campaign is all about more: more hospitals doing more interventions to protect more patients than its previous hospital campaign. And it also will...

Doubts cast on preparedness; AHA says such reports use worst-case scenarios.(American Hospital Association)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Jennifer Lubell The American Hospital Association downplayed a recent report indicating that hospitals are ill-prepared for large-scale disasters. The fourth annual survey on emergency preparedness from the Trust for America's...

Spotlight on quality; Quality.(hospitals)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... The spotlight was on the Leapfrog Group in October as the organization unveiled its list of the top 50 acute-care hospitals and the top nine children's hospitals. Leapfrog, a coalition of employers and healthcare purchasing organizations,...

Boosting personal records; Blues, AHIP offer model health record for patient use.(America's Health Insurance Plans, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association )
December 18, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn and Jennifer Lubell The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association last week jumped into the effort to create personal health records for patient use, while one of its larger state associations pulled back from a plan to...

Other Voices.(specialty hospital )(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... "One specialty hospital isn't likely to bring down an established hospital system. But what about two or five or 10? The ill effects of specialty hospitals have been held in check so far because of a two-year federal moratorium, which expired...

Straining family budgets; 19% of U.S. pays over 10% of income for care: study.(The Week In Healthcare)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker Taking a step toward quantifying the bite healthcare costs are taking from family budgets, researchers at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality discovered that the risk of facing a high financial burden is...

South.(Tennessee Christian Medical Center has been renamed Skyline Madison Campus)(Northeast Georgia Medical Center and Health System need approval to build a hospital)(South Carolina state health plan )
December 18, 2006... COLUMBIA, S.C.-The U.S. Justice Department wrote a letter to the committee drawing up the 2007 South Carolina state health plan urging the committee not to include a proposed ban on single-specialty hospitals because a ban would have...

Midwest.(Allina Hospitals & Clinics cut 110 corporate jobs )(Missouri hospitals total costs of treating )(Chicago-area hospital's economic impact )
December 18, 2006... MINNEAPOLIS-Allina Hospitals & Clinics said it cut 110 corporate jobs and 200 at its flagship 627-bed Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis, after a sharp decline in net income during the first nine months of 2006. The 11-hospital system...

Hopes pinned on Democrats; Policy.(Special Report)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... Democrats gain control of Congress in November's midterm elections. The implications for healthcare policy are uncertain, but the change in leadership leaves the Democrats in a position to stall, alter or kill Republican-backed initiatives on...

West.(Regional News)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... PALO ALTO, Calif.-Stanford Hospital & Clinics last month unveiled plans for a $1.1 billion expansion and renovation project that would add more than 200 beds and 1.3 million square feet of space to its two-hospital campus over the next decade....

Big settlements, bigger buyout; Chains.(Special Report)
December 18, 2006... It was a turbulent year for for-profit hospital chains, with pressure on operating margins, a massive buyout and big legal settlements. In November, HCA, the largest U.S. hospital company, completes a $33 billion leveraged buyout, which...

In latest data security breach, the buck stops somewhere else.(Human Resources Department)
December 18, 2006... Fingers were pointing every which way after it was discovered that the Social Security numbers of hundreds of Vermont providers could be accessed through a state Web site. The information was posted on the Human Resources Department's site...

A nurse is a nurse is a nurse? Staffing.(Special Report)(management)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... Healthcare unions suffer a major setback in October with a ruling that blocks certain nurses from joining the rank-and-file. The National Labor Relations Board votes 3-2 along party lines to find that charge nurses generally qualify as...

Co-owner exits from Exempla.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans Exempla Healthcare's growing pains have prompted one of its two co-owners to exit the three-hospital Colorado system. LMC Community Foundation, Arvada, Colo., unveiled plans Dec. 12 to sell its 50% stake in...

Under the microscope; Legal.(Special Report)(Brief article)
December 18, 2006... It's a tough year for healthcare providers as they increasingly find themselves in an unaccustomed position-the target of criminal prosecutions. In the most high-profile case, a physician and two nurses are arrested in July for second-degree...

Late News; Joint Commission-'nuff said.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations )
December 18, 2006... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations said it will drop the last part of its name, leaving only the Joint Commission, as of Jan. 8, 2007. In February of this year, the group disclosed that it had hired a brand...

The underachieving has to stop; It's time for the U.S. healthcare system to be world-class for all of its patients.(management of heart-failure)
December 18, 2006... Byline: James Mongan The U.S. healthcare system is performing far below its potential. Despite rapid advances in our ability to prevent, diagnose and treat disease, there is a large and growing gap between what medical care is and could...

By The Numbers.(Survey)
December 18, 2006... Numbers can tell a compelling story. Whether it's a handful of statistics presented as a snapshot in time or trend data showing changes over the years, numbers tend to tell it like it is. Welcome to Modern Healthcare's eighth annual "By the...