Modern Healthcare articles from February 2008

Modern Healthcare archives from February 2008

Is this really their Legacy? Shelton's new company has handful of board members with potential conflicts.(Opinions Editorials)
February 4, 2008... Byline: David Burda We're still scratching our heads over this one. In what industry other than healthcare would it be acceptable for the chief executive officer of one company to serve on the board of a new company competing in the same...

Other voices.(Opinions Editorials)
February 4, 2008... "Last year, more than 900 prospective students applied to the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. The school was able to accept 88. School officials estimate that 640 of the rejected applicants were qualified.... It's happening at...

Proactive medicine; The benefits of an EMR in locations without one.(From the C-Suite)(Electronic Medical Records )(Survey)
February 4, 2008... Byline: J. Marc Overhage A recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive survey indicated that a majority of Americans believe electronic medical records can reduce healthcare costs while improving patient care. Yet, the number of...

Letters of support; Proposal would expand number of agencies that can back tax-exempt bonds.(Strictly Finance)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Cinda Becker The hospital industry's supposed recession-proofing is being tested as the credit markets melt around it, but perhaps none of the various meltdowns has reached closer to home than the credit crisis embroiling the bond...

INTEGRATING EFFICIENCY; Verispan's annual ranking of the top integrated health networks shows improved operating margins along with expanded services.(Special Report)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans The nation's best performing healthcare systems continue to improve efficiency and have the bottom lines to show it, judging from results of a yearly survey of integrated health networks. Improved occupancy,...

On the move...(NewsMakers)(Kevin Scanlan has been elected as a president of Hospital & Healthcare Association)(Pamela Stephenson has been appointed as a chairwoman of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital)(Frederick Dunlap has been appointed as a CEO of XLHealth Corp.)
February 4, 2008... ASSOCIATIONS Kevin Scanlan, 58, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, was elected chairman of the Conference of Metropolitan Hospital Associations through December 2008, replacing Linda Quick, president of the...

Stay the course; Doubtful any big changes coming.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Matthew DoBias With California failing in its attempt to get healthcare reform passed this year, the outlook for large-scale changes on the national level is equally dim. President Bush, in his State of the Union address last week,...

VA feels heat over Marion deaths; Officials apologize to families, say fixes to come.(The Week in Healthcare)(Veterans Affairs)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Matthew DoBias A senior Veterans Affairs Department official told lawmakers last week that his confidence in the quality of care that veterans receive has been shaken and that parts of the veterans health system that once were...

Georgia Controversy; State divided on surgical specialist ASC issue.(Regional News)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Andis Robeznieks While it seems just about every medical association in Georgia is taking sides, participants agree that the latest fight between hospitals and physicians won't spill across state lines. Most recently, the...

Outliers; Asides & insides.(false-billing cases of Presbyterian Hospital)
February 4, 2008... Dallas hospital's eating disorder program at center of lawsuit Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas was hit last week with a second wave of false-billing allegations by former patients of its eating disorder program. Eleven more women filed...

FDA's device inspection lacking; Two reports point to technology, staffing as key culprits.(The Week in Healthcare)(Food and Drug Administration)(Report)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Shawn Rhea Healthcare supply-chain experts said they are troubled by two government reports showing the Food and Drug Administration is unable to properly inspect and monitor medical-device manufacturers, but most experts are...

ACP asks candidates for pledge.(The Week in Healthcare)(American College of Physicians )(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The American College of Physicians asked the presidential candidates to take a pledge that promotes certain policies the organization believes will make the U.S. health system second to none. But in the ACP's...

Health workers saying, `union, yes'; New federal government statistics show 10.4% bump in '07 membership.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans Labor's efforts to organize healthcare made inroads last year among the industry's highly skilled-and higher paid-workers. Union membership among professional and technical healthcare workers-registered nurses,...

Back to the drawing board; Hospitals, insurer support not enough to save California's universal coverage plan; lack of physician backing hurt chances.
February 4, 2008... Byline: Rebecca Vesely The defeat of a comprehensive healthcare reform plan in California last week may signal bad news for other states looking to expand coverage of the uninsured, because many had hoped Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan...

Another bite at the Orange; Third round of bidding for Anaheim Memorial.(The Week in Healthcare)(merger of Memorial Health Services Inc. and Integrated Health Systems Inc.)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Vince Galloro It won't take much to make the third time the charm for Memorial Health Services, Huntington Beach, Calif. Crossing the finish line on a sale of 223-bed Anaheim (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center would seem to suffice....

Midwest.(Loyola University Health System plans to aqcuire Gottlieb Memorial Hospital)
February 4, 2008... MELROSE PARK, Ill.-Loyola University Health System, Maywood, Ill., last week offered the first details on its plans to acquire 266-bed Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in the neighboring western Chicago suburb of Melrose Park. In December Loyola...

South.(Regional News)
February 4, 2008... GREENSBORO, N.C.-Moses Cone Health System reported a 12.9% increase in operating income for fiscal 2007, ended Sept. 30, 2007, compared with fiscal 2006, but its net income fell 6.8%, as fiscal 2006 included a $26.1 million gain related to the...

Northeast.(Regional News)(Albert Einstein Healthcare Network)
February 4, 2008... PHILADELPHIA-Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, and Jefferson Health System, Radnor, Pa., said they are negotiating the terms of "an amicable separation'' after 10 years, concluding that they can better serve their respective...

West.(Regional News)(Exempla Healthcare filed a lawsuit against Leavenworth Health System)(Peninsula Health Services will open a hospital in San Carlos )
February 4, 2008... DENVER-Exempla Healthcare filed a second lawsuit as part of its effort to block one of its co-owners, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, from buying out its partner, the Community First Foundation of Arvada, Colo. In a letter...

Former Social Security exec dies; Hall of Famer Ball served from '62 to '73.(The Week in Healthcare)(Social Security Administration)(Obituary)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Gregg Blesch Robert Ball, the former Social Security commissioner known as the chief architect of Medicare, died Jan. 29 at age 93. Ball joined the Social Security Board in 1939 as a field assistant in New Jersey and ended up...

And then there's the rest ... Alternative list looks at other high-scoring networks.(Special Report)(Company rankings)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans For the second year, Verispan has singled out high-scoring systems that did not make the top 100 in its "Best of the Rest" ranking. The alternative list includes 57 health systems in four geographic regions that...

Garcia picked for HHS post.(The Week in Healthcare)(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans Joxel Garcia, senior vice president and senior medical adviser to Maximus Federal Services, has been nominated to be HHS assistant secretary. Garcia, 45, a director of the National Forum for Latino Healthcare...

CMS lab demo meets resistance; Scripps, Sharp and Internist against three-year project.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Gregg Blesch It may have looked desperate when a couple of Southern California healthcare systems and a small, independent laboratory went to court last week to stop an imminent federal program in its tracks. But other efforts to...

Doc business school survey.(Opinions Letters)
February 4, 2008... Modern Healthcare invites you to participate in the sixth annual survey of the top business graduate schools that offer programs targeting physician-executives. To qualify, the school must offer long-distance learning programs that award MBAs...

CMS says Medicare Part D costs lower than expected.(Late News)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... The overall cost of the Medicare Part D program to beneficiaries and taxpayers is lower than previously estimated and customer satisfaction is high, CMS officials announced. Kerry Weems, acting CMS administrator, indicated in a teleconference...

Amerinet changes its lineup; Execs promoted from within to fuel restructuring of company.(The Week in Healthcare)(appointments)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Shawn Rhea A series of recent upper-management changes at group purchasing organization Amerinet, St. Louis, is part of a growth plan set in motion last May, according to Amerinet President and Chief Executive Officer Todd Ebert....

Leavitt announces 14 areas for Chartered Value Exchanges.(Late News)(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt designated 14 communities as the country's first Chartered Value Exchanges-partnerships of providers, employers, insurers and consumers that offer innovative methods to improve healthcare at the local level. "Together...

Tenet to sell Fla. hospital to Holy Cross.(Late News)(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, said a subsidiary signed a definitive agreement to sell 391-bed North Ridge Medical Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Holy Cross Hospital, a 450-bed Fort Lauderdale hospital owned by Catholic Health East, a...

AmeriHealth Mercy buys Pa. managed-care company.(Late News)(mergers of AmeriHealth Mercy and Community Behavioral HealthCare Network )(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... The AmeriHealth Mercy Family of Companies, a national Medicaid managed-care company, purchased Community Behavioral HealthCare Network of Pennsylvania, a behavioral-health managed-care company, for an undisclosed sum. Community Behavioral,...

Calif. wants another slice of UnitedHealth pie; PacifiCare violations could cost insurer up to $1.3 billion.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Jessica Zigmond UnitedHealth Group could find itself paying more hefty fines for alleged claims-handling violations. Last week, the California Department of Insurance, which regulates PPOs, and the California Department of...

Change, but not in dollar bills; FDA needs more than money to fix problems: Congress.(The Week in Healthcare)(Report)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Jennifer Lubell Members of Congress last week resisted pressures to funnel more money into the ailing Food and Drug Administration, which, according to new analyses, is foundering in its responsibility to keep drugs and medical...

Plea to end fee-for-service plans; Providers say flaws in Medicare plan too costly.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 4, 2008... Byline: Matthew DoBias Federal lawmakers last week pocketed some additional ammunition in the battle over reimbursement to Medicare's private fee-for-service plans. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing, healthcare providers and...

Fla. governor proposes repeal CON law for hospitals.(Late News)(Brief article)
February 4, 2008... Florida Gov. Charlie Crist proposed repealing the state's certificate-of-need law for acute-care hospitals to "increase competition and efficiency in the healthcare marketplace,'' according to a plan included in the governor's fiscal 2008-09...

Corrections & clarifications.
February 4, 2008... A News Makers item in the Jan. 28 issue, p. 34, incorrectly identified the majority owner of Affinity Medical Center, Massillon, Ohio. It is Community Health Systems.

`We are going to do the job for them'; Pierce works to keep services, trauma care strong in Florida healthcare district.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Stanley Pierce)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Linda Wilson The staff at the Health Care District of Palm Beach County, Fla., has learned to gauge the length of a trustees' meeting based, in part, on the number of sticky notes clinging to Stanley Pierce's board packet. "At...

More doubts over reporting; New study shows medical-error reporting systems can lead to confusion, frustration among patients and some providers.(Information Edge)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jean DerGurahian States might be ahead of the curve when it comes to medical-error reporting systems, but consumers still don't seem enthusiastic about using the information provided to make healthcare choices. Reporting...

Sponsorship.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(leadership qualities of hospital trustees)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jim Gauss Passion. Vision. Experience. Influence. These are but a few of the leadership traits that voters in the 2008 primary elections look for in candidates seeking to become our next president. Similarly, such...

Outliers; Asides & insides.(health coverage policy for diners in San Francisco)
February 11, 2008... Diners in San Francisco fight battle of bill bulge for uninsured How much is health coverage worth to a gourmand? In San Francisco, where fine dining is practically a competitive sport, restaurants are finding out as they grapple with...

Baylor wins NQF quality award; Corrigan: System `stood out as an exemplary model for raising the bar'.(The Week in Healthcare)(Baylor Health Care System wins National Quality Forum's 2008 National Quality Healthcare Award)
February 11, 2008... The Baylor Health Care System in Dallas was named the recipient of the National Quality Forum's 2008 National Quality Healthcare Award. The 15th annual award recognizes a healthcare organization that successfully uses performance measures to...

Hospitals as budget target; Bush's proposed budget has hospitals crying foul over a 'savings' plan that reduces Medicare, Medicaid funding by $200 billion.
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jennifer Lubell President Bush's plan to get fed-eral entitlement spending under control by carving into provider payments was denounced by executives representing hospitals and other providers last week. While the Bush...

Clinton wins healthcare `vote'; Democratic primary voters rank issue as a top concern.(The Week in Healthcare)(Hillary Rodham Clinton)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Matthew DoBias Democratic voters kept healthcare near the top of their concerns when voting last week on Super Tuesday, with Sen. Hillary Clinton coming out the apparent winner on that issue, national exit poll data show. ...

Easing path for critical access; CMS revisions make it easier for hospitals to rebuild.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jessica Zigmond Rural healthcare officials like those at Minnesota's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care are finding relief for improving critical-access care by way of revised guidance from the CMS. The Minnesota office...

After the fall; Former HRDI members regroup; some continue to sell expertise to vendors.(The Week in Healthcare)(Healthcare Research & Development Institute)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Cinda Becker One year after the Healthcare Research & Development Institute was disbanded under an antitrust settlement agreement with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, it has morphed into a much smaller, more...

SCHIP, more and/or less.(State Children's Health Insurance Program)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jennifer Lubell In what seems to be a softening of its previous stance, the Bush administration in its just-released budget proposal last week offered to funnel more money into the State Children's Health Insurance Program. ...

Sinking a lifesaver; Feds need to get out of the way of ICU checklist.(intensive care units)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Charles S. Lauer A recent news story about intensive-care units is a lesson in just how hard it is going to be to reinvent the U.S. healthcare system. Even for someone who is used to witnessing the difficulty with which providers...

The industry responds on privacy; Coalition of healthcare companies is working on new protections for patient data.
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jonathan Roberts, Kimberly Gray, Paul Connelly and Jonathan Moore Regardless of where you sit in the healthcare industry-provider, health plan, pharmacy, pharmacy benefit manager, manufacturer, employer or consumer-the advent of...

Q: Who will follow the leader? A: Good question; Leadership survey reveals hospitals aren't doing enough to groom future top execs.(The Week in Healthcare)(Survey)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans Hospitals do not do enough to prepare for top-level vacancies, train and track future leaders or adopt measures to promote cultural diversity, results of a survey of healthcare executives show. The results, from a...

Bad debt hits HCA; 4th quarter saw increase in uninsured.(Late News)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Vince Galloro HCA has sliced $1.1 billion off the debt it took on in its $33 billion leveraged buyout. But another kind of debt-the debt that uninsured patients rack up when they can't afford to pay their bills-continued to shoot...

QIOs must show and prove: CMS; New standards to raise quality groups' accountability.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Medicare's quality improvement organizations will more closely scrutinize specific hospitals' surgical prowess as they begin their ninth contract under the gun from the CMS to prove their worth as quality...

`An important thing to be part of'; Obenauer helps guide rural North Dakota hospital through tough times.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Christie Obenauer of Sakakawea Medical Center )(Occupation overview)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Linda Wilson Shortly after her first, tumultuous, five-hour board meeting in 2003 at then-struggling Sakakawea Medical Center in Hazen, N.D., Christie Obenauer discovered she was pregnant with her third child. Obenauer, 35, who...

Lessons from a debacle; Calif. reform defeat, the latest in the states, spells trouble for universal coverage.(Opinions Editorials)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Todd Sloane After a stunning defeat in California, a major political movement may have stalled. And I am not talking about Mitt Romney. Instead, a bold effort by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some Democrats to add coverage for...

Judgment day for NCFE; Defense cites sluggish government reimbursement.(The Week in Healthcare)(National Century Financial Enterprises Inc.)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Cinda Becker The federal government's notoriously glacial pace for reimbursing cash-strapped healthcare providers apparently will be on trial along with five former executives of the defunct National Century Financial Enterprises,...

Briefly.(Late News)(financial report of LifePoint Hospitals Inc.)(arbitration sought in Exempla Healthcare system takeover)(uninsured pay more than medicare)
February 11, 2008... LifePoint profits fall 20%; volume drop blamed LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., said volume losses of 15% in a half-dozen markets fueled a 6% decline in admissions for the fourth quarter of 2007 that helped sink its profits by 20%....

On the move ...(NewsMakers)(Richard Henley resigned from Pocono Health System)(Tom Arnold appointed at Piedmont Hospital)(Kathleen Kuck appointed at Jewish Hospital & St. Mary's HealthCare)
February 11, 2008... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Richard Henley, president and CEO of Pocono Health System and Pocono Medical Center, East Stroudsburg, Pa., resigned last month "to pursue other opportunities.'' Henley, 51, a "Star Student'' in the Modern Healthcare Up...

How we did it.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)
February 11, 2008... Some 68 nominations were received for this year's competition, co-sponsored by executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. Nominations were accepted from early October through early December 2007. Two winners were chosen in each category-healthcare...

Familiar faculty; Many former HRDI members have found work at C-Suite Resources.(The Week in Healthcare)(Gary Mecklenburg of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare)(Richard Davidson of American Hospital Association)(Alan Abramson of Health Partners )
February 11, 2008... Alan Abramson, Senior vice president and chief information officer, HealthPartners, Bloomington, Minn. Richard Blair, Chairman, Essentia Health, Duluth, Minn., and former chief financial officer, Allina Health System, Minneapolis John...

Other voices.(Opinions Editorials)(Brief article)
February 11, 2008... "Five sweeping healthcare reform proposals sent to the Colorado Legislature all shared one thing in common: The state can't afford to pay for them.... Gov. Bill Ritter and key lawmakers thanked the commission for its work, praised it for...

Healing a hospital; Berman helps N.Y. facility find stability.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Occupation overview)
February 11, 2008... Byline: Linda Wilson In his nearly three years as board chairman for Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., Richard Berman possessed the ideal background-politics and healthcare administration-to rehabilitate a financially ailing...

There almost every day; Driscoll sees ups, downs at Maine facility.(Special Feature: Trustees of the Year 2008)(Occupation overview)
February 11, 2008... John Driscoll, 83, has stuck with 25-bed Down East Community Hospital in Machias, Maine, through good and bad times-for both the institution and himself. "He is there almost every day, even on Saturday and Sunday," even after a number of...

Familiar faculty; Many former HRDI members have found work at C-Suite Resources.(The Week in Healthcare)(C-Suite Resources appoints Richard Davidson and Thomas Priselac as faculty advisers)
February 11, 2008... ***** Correction: Richard Davidson, the retired former president of the American Hospital Association, and Thomas Priselac, president and chief executive officer of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and chairman-elect of the AHA...

The hope of HIPAA 2; Data stewardship must replace minimal compliance.(From the C-Suite)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act )
February 18, 2008... Byline: Reid Cushman What do the phrases "federal regulation'' and "HIPAA compliance'' bring to mind? If you work in healthcare-particularly in healthcare information technology-probably not much that's positive. That's too bad, because...

Grad school survey request.(The Week in Healthcare)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... Modern Healthcare is looking for participants for its sixth annual survey of the top business graduate schools that offer programs targeting physician executives. To qualify, the school must offer long-distance learning programs that award MBAs...

Stop those rebate checks! To stimulate the economy, invest in healthcare, where the jobs are.(Opinions Commentary)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Uwe Reinhardt As the nation's political leaders ponder how to keep the American job machine going in the years ahead, they might do well by studying the Sept. 26, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek. That issue's cover features a nurse...

West.(Regional News)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... SEATTLE-Swedish Medical Center said it completed an agreement to buy nearly 18 acres in Issaquah, Wash., to build a new hospital and health complex. The purchase price was not disclosed. Construction will begin in 2010, with an 80-bed facility...

Showdown at the Tulsa hoosegow; Two hospitals sue Okla. jail to recover nearly $650,000 in inmate medical bills.(Regional News)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Vince Galloro Two Oklahoma hospitals have gone to court to take advantage of a recent court ruling that puts local jails on the hook for inmates' hospital bills-even for conditions that predate their incarceration. Hillcrest...

Midwest.(Regional News)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... MOUNT VERNON, Ill.-Good Samaritan Regional Health Center, a 130-bed facility in Mount Vernon, is planning a new building expected to cost $185 million and accommodate 146 beds four miles from its current location, according to a letter of...

Northeast.(Regional News)(government funding to restructure New York's healthcare system)(management of health care budget)(analysis of health care reform)
February 18, 2008... ALBANY, N.Y.-New York state health officials said $250 million in grant funding will be available this spring to further the restructuring of New York's healthcare system to strengthen primary care, eliminate excess bed capacity and reduce...

South.(Regional News)
February 18, 2008... SAN ANTONIO-MedCath Corp., Charlotte, N.C., and its physician partners said they will double the number of inpatient beds at Texsan Heart Hospital to expand the facility's cardiovascular facilities. Totaling about $10.75 million, the project...

Cuomo's rant on rates; N.Y. attorney general to sue Ingenix, UnitedHealth.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Gregg Blesch New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has picked up a battle that the American Medical Association has waged for nearly eight years without success: taking down Ingenix, the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary that most...

Tying nurse quality to payment; CMS may link reporting on RN indicators to hikes.(The Week in Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans How much hospitals get from Medicare could soon hinge on public reporting of quality measures tied to nurses' performance. Congress first required hospitals to report quality statistics or take a hit on Medicare's...

The riches of e-prescribing; Insurers will say, do pretty much anything to get physicians to prescribe medications electronically. Ever wonder why?
February 18, 2008... Byline: Rebecca Vesely Electronic prescribing-using computer technology to write and transmit prescriptions between physicians and pharmacies, as well as to view medication histories, costs and formularies-has the potential to...

Technical turbulence; Data: IT problems hinder state infection compliance.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Technical limitations have created headaches for providers trying to comply with new state laws designed to reduce infections at hospitals. States such as Colorado, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Vermont have...

Endorsing e-prescribing; FAH's Kahn says it helps reduce errors.(Technology)(Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Matthew DoBias A person you might not expect to be is an authority on e-prescribing. Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents investor-owned hospitals and hospital chains, lauds the...

Other voices.(Opinions Editorials)
February 18, 2008... "It has not been a good few weeks for state efforts to provide universal health insurance. A pioneering program in Massachusetts to cover hundreds of thousands of uninsured has cost a lot more in its opening phases than originally projected,...

Not-for-profits' borrowing costs up because of credit woes: sources.(Late News)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... The nation's credit woes are driving up not-for-profit hospitals' cost of borrowing. A collapse in the market for "auction rate'' securities is pushing interest rates up to two to three times higher for tax-exempt hospitals holding such debt,...

Mass. Blues to require CPOE for docs, hospitals in 2012.(Late News)(Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Inc. usage of computerized physician order-entry)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... Beginning in 2012, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts will require all physicians and hospitals participating in its quality-incentive program to implement and use computerized physician order-entry, or CPOE, systems instead of paper...

N.J. official indicted in alleged Hackensack hospital scheme.(Late News)(New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Coniglio )(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... A federal grand jury indicted former New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Coniglio on nine counts of mail fraud and extortion in connection with an influence-peddling scheme that allegedly resulted in millions of public dollars for 685-bed Hackensack...

Benson tapped to lead Florida healthcare agency.(Late News)(Holly Benson)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appointed former state representative Holly Benson, to succeed Andrew Agwunobi as head of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees the state's Medicaid program. Her start date is Feb. 25....

Bush bill touts three-pronged approach to healthcare reform.(Late News)(Brief article)
February 18, 2008... The Bush administration sent Congress a legislative package that pins his health reform agenda on a three-pronged approach of value-based purchasing, medical liability reform and higher Medicare prescription drug premiums for some seniors....

Outliers; Asides & insides.
February 18, 2008... Consumer-driven care gets the retail treatment online With its bright, cheerful colors and clean lettering, the Web site Carol.com resembles an online women's clothing retailer, but the creators of this electronic marketplace have different...

Primary-care worries; Foreign graduates behind 6% jump: GAO.(The Week in Healthcare)(shortage in supply of medical students for primary care)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Melanie Evans The number of medical graduates in primary-care residencies rose 6% during an 11-year stretch that closed in 2006. For experts who say the nation faces a shortage of such doctors, the figure is a seemingly hopeful...

Hospitals may join effort; Panel will address racial disparities in healthcare.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Jessica Zigmond With a multicultural workforce, hospitals are well-positioned to play a central role in eliminating healthcare disparities, but have yet to be represented on a committee overseeing a new partnership devoted to the...

Prime beef; Calif. chain sues Kaiser over claim denials.(The Week in Healthcare)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Vince Galloro Kaiser Permanente is known for its closed, integrated delivery system, in which Kaiser health plan members visit Kaiser doctors and are admitted to Kaiser hospitals. Prime Healthcare Services is becoming known in...

Share, and share alike; Proposed rule on PSOs could lead to more data-sharing.(The Week in Healthcare)(Patient-safety organizations)
February 18, 2008... Byline: Jean DerGurahian Financial restraints and questions about the usefulness of the CMS' new proposed federally overseen patient-safety organizations means patient-safety groups aren't likely to scramble to apply for the designation,...