Modern Healthcare articles from June 2005

Modern Healthcare archives from June 2005

Hey Dad: Don't drink while using that new table saw.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
June 6, 2005... Don't let Father's Day end with a trip to the emergency room. That's the message from the American College of Emergency Physicians. The June edition of the Annals of Emergency Medicine, a journal produced by the organization, includes...

Other Voices.(Influence of Health insurance)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... "The National Coalition on Health Care released a report on the potential savings to business, individuals and government from comprehensive reform of the beleaguered medical-insurance-hospital system. The figures are startling3/4a projected...

Possible deadlock; Scrushy jury told again to try reaching verdict.(Late News)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone The specter of a mistrial loomed in the criminal trial of Richard Scrushy, founder and former chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corp. The deadlocked jury adjourned for the week, several hours after informing...

After the moratorium; Battle over specialty hospitals shifts to Congress.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Michael Lipomi, legislative co-chair and former president of the American Surgical Hospital Association, said June 8 will be a day to celebrate. That is the date an 18-month moratorium on new physician-owned specialty...

The $10 billion battle; Governors also refuse to join Medicaid Commission.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Even before it has held its first meeting, the Bush administration's Medicaid Commission was dealt another setback last week. The National Governors Association said it would not be part of the 15-member panel, after an...

Seeking compatibility; Certification proposed for EHRs in diabetes cases.(Physician Affairs)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Plans to develop a certification process for an electronic health-record system compatible with a popular diabetes-management program were announced last month by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The...

Operating room; Annual systems survey shows strong gains in profit margins on operations, but the bottom line takes a hit.(Special Feature)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro and Melanie Evans If the hospital business is truly a story of haves and have-nots, then count multihospital systems among the haves, especially when it comes to hospital operations. Those hospital operations were...

When cancer strikes; Two execs undergoing treatment learn something wonderful about themselves.(Lauer's Letter)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Cancer is one of those words that stop conversations. Whenever a friend or family member tells you they have cancer, you can't help but be seized by panic. Everyone...

Hatch hunts for hospitals; Minnesota is now the main stage in U.S. debate over uninsured billing as a third group of hospitals sign pacts with state officials.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Three times in as many months, Minnesota's Attorney General Mike Hatch and state hospital executives have heralded deals to end one of the most divisive practices in healthcare: billing uninsured patients more for...

Connecting the industry; HHS outlines details for national IT network.(Late News)(Health and Human Services)(Information Technology)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn A national health-information network should run on the Internet. It should also be decentralized, be governed by a public-private organization and be patient-centered to ensure the privacy of healthcare information,...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Baylor University Medical Center)
June 6, 2005... LONG-TERM CARE Damian Dell'Anno became CEO of Harborside Healthcare Corp., a long-term-care company based in Boston, effective June 1. Dell'Anno, 45, is replacing Stephen Guillard, who will become an executive vice president of Toledo,...

Protective moves; Caps may lure docs to rural communities: study.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Marc Bowles says he knows where to send physicians who are looking to avoid lawsuits. "If they are looking to get away from litigious states there's two things that CAPTION(S): Bowles: Rural areas have many...

Not enough detail; HHS' tech efforts need more planning, goals: GAO.(The Week In Healthcare)(Government Accountability Office)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn HHS needs to add detail and measurement points to its plan for creating a national healthcare information system, according to a new report by a government watchdog agency. In the meantime, two healthcare foundations...

Wary physicians; Defensive medicine linked to higher costs, less access.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Defensive medicine is widely practiced and may lead to higher costs, lower quality of care and less access to services, according to a new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association. But since...

Round 2 under way for Tenet.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet's Alvarado Hospital Medical Center)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro It may not have the broad public appeal that HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy's criminal trial has, but the healthcare industry is paying attention to the retrial of a Tenet Healthcare Corp. hospital in San...

Heads firmly in the sand; Industry fails to get in the game of health system change.(Opinions)(Editorial)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed You have to marvel sometimes at the magnitude of inertia in healthcare. With a world of change bearing down on them, many of its leaders seem to be hoping to take cover under the sheer...

Corrections & Clarifications.(Corrections)
June 6, 2005... A chart accompanying a story in the third annual CEO IT Achievement Awards supplement (May 23, p. 13) misstated Evanston Northwestern Healthcare's yearly information technology budget. It is $28 million.

The Road To A Digital Healthcare Community.(Straight Talk)(Panel Discussion)
June 6, 2005... Healthcare organizations are often criticized for skeptically deferring the purchase of information technologies that can improve the safety, quality and efficiency of patient care. But some forward-thinking healthcare organizations have...

Uninsured concerns grow; Studies show costs of problem, but will D.C. act?(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong The evidence keeps piling up, even if Congress seems to have no motivation to act quickly. Against a backdrop of impending Medicaid cuts, three studies released last week again put the focus on the plight of the...

Catching the ownership wave; Hawaiian docs seek to buy struggling hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro The motivation may be unique, but a group of Hawaiian doctors who are investing in a bid to buy two hospitals where they practice is just the latest example of physicians deciding that if you want the hospital run...

Nurses gain on ratios; Judge overturns order to relax rules.(Workforce Report 2005)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Legal battles over California's nurse-to-patient ratios won't end anytime soon, but courts so far have rejected hospitals' pleas to loosen the rules. California's hospitals and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continue...

Bracing for Medicaid cuts; Nursing homes fear workforce relief may be brief.(Workforce Report 2005)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone With federal and state Medicaid cuts looming, many in the long-term-care industry are holding their breath and hoping the cuts won't exacerbate labor market troubles caused by low wages, high stress and high...

Doc shortage gets noticed; Cooper, left, takes issue with Salsberg's more modest estimate of a coming physician shortage.(Workforce Report 2005)(Doctor)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano The pendulum has swung in the great doctor-supply debate. After years of warning about an overabundance of tens of thousands of physicians in the new millennium, the typically conservative medical community is now...

Late News; Houston hospitals pursue deals.(Health Maintenance Organization)
June 13, 2005... Hospitals and health systems in Houston have increased the intensity of their dealmaking. Baylor College of Medicine and St. Luke's Episcopal Health System agreed to begin exclusive negotiations to merge, the two organizations said. St. Luke's...

One more down for HealthSouth.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone HealthSouth Corp.'s announcement last week that it had reached a $100 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission hasn't deflected attention from the criminal trial of its founder and former chief...

Certification concerns; Group seeking EHR contract got vendor donations.(News)(electronic health records)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt's new plan to remake healthcare IT included a package of requests for proposals to get hired help in certifying standards for electronic health records. At least one of the...

Moody's: Let's size up boards.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Paul Barr Already feeling some pressure from mounting public scrutiny of billing practices and tax exemptions, not-for-profit hospital and health-system board members may also be asked to play a bigger role in the bond-rating...

Nurse visa crisis eases.(Workforce Report 2005)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Facing a national nursing shortage of 150,000, hospitals received some respite in May when President Bush signed legislation freeing up to 50,000 visas for foreign nurses. The proposal, included in an $80 billion...

Getting your point across; Good public speaking skills are crucial for leaders; all you need is practice.(Lauer's Letter)(Column)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Public speaking is important for anyone who hopes to be promoted, get a new strategy accepted by colleagues or simply communicate. Learning to speak to a group and...

Buying into practices; Three hospitals announce deals covering 300 docs.(Late News)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Hospitals' interest in acquiring physician practices appears to be increasing, as evidenced in last week's announcement of three separate deals that would place almost 300 physicians and their more than 800,000...

Four years later: Anderson, AMA set for legal showdown.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(American Medical Association)
June 13, 2005... When the American Medical Association convenes in Chicago this week for its annual membership meeting, it will mark the fourth anniversary of the dramatic departure of E. Ratcliff Anderson Jr., whose lawsuit and subsequent dismissal injected a...

Reigniting the charge for IT; Leavitt will spearhead federal effort to develop national healthcare IT network, but question remains: Who will pay?
June 13, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn Assuming the role of the nation's new healthcare information technology leader, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt last week laid out a new plan to shape the nation's IT system through an expanded government role. ...

More than fiscal trouble; Study links financial woes to increased medical errors.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor The conundrum of whether mission is affected by margin may finally be resolved, according to a study released last week. In one of the first studies of the correlation between patient safety and hospital financial...

Lighting a fire under IT; Leavitt steps in to revive effort that seemed to be faltering.(Mike Leavitt)(private-sector approach)(interconnectivity of IT systems)(Column)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed As you can tell from this week's cover story, something big happened in healthcare information technology last week. I don't know of anyone outside of the upper echelon of the Bush...

Second audit finds same woes.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker A second government audit of group purchasing organizations' revenue by HHS' inspector general's office uncovered $6.6 million that was not properly credited on Medicare cost reports over a three-year period,...

The MMA giveth ... Changes to Medicare are boosting payments to rural hospitals, but some provisions of the law might prove to be troublesome.(Rural Health)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 includes a host of financial incentives for rural providers-some yet to kick in-but rural advocates are still careful about praising the law. They point out that the...

Losing their faculty; Nursing schools are turning away applicants as RNs are lured by higher salaries outside academia.(Workforce Report 2005)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Monica McLemore likely won't finish her nursing Ph.D. for another year, but already she's getting prime job offers and facing pressure to choose among careers with strikingly different prospects. "Everybody's...

Family tension; AMA support for specialty hospitals irks members.(The Week In Healthcare)(American Medical Association)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano The American Medical Association's support for physician ownership of specialty hospitals threatens to alienate a large section of the organization's core membership-family physicians. Six months after the...

Bon Secours bounces back; System gets back to basics and soothes rating agency.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Bon Secours Health System's newly arrived chief executive officer, Richard Statuto, is hoping leaner management and targeted investment will help the Marriottsville, Md.-based system regain footing lost in its rocky...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
June 13, 2005... "General Motors' (chief executive) Rick Wagoner said runaway healthcare costs are partly to blame for the world's largest automaker cutting at least 25,000 U.S. jobs as it closes more assembly and component plants.... GM's decision to slash...

Split decision; Two studies at odds over consumer-driven plans.(The Week In Healthcare)(Health Savings Account )
June 20, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko There's little doubt that years of ballooning healthcare costs have spurred employers to move away from generous insurance benefits toward plans that call for patients to shoulder a greater share of their medical...

Considerable gain; Siemens scores Pa. healthcare IT exec as a new VP.(The Week In Healthcare)(Siemens Medical Solutions )
June 20, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Raiding the Pennsylvania health system that pioneered its signature healthcare information product, Siemens Medical Solutions lured away the architect of some unique outsourcing agreements. Pamela Wirth, former...

ECONOMISTS ONBOARD; High-powered board members-like Tufts'Stuart Altman--bring expertise and prestige but also high expectations.(Special Report)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Imagine finally landing that big job as chief executive officer and discovering that the manager who'll be reviewing your performance is Jack Welch, the tough-minded former boss of General Electric Co. and a...

Legal harbinger? Consumer fraud settlement may lead to more.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor A recent settlement of allegations of both price discrimination against the uninsured and violations of state consumer fraud laws could affect pending lawsuits brought against tax-exempt hospitals by the legal...

Minding your own business; Hospitals buying practices, docs buying hospitals--all think they can do it better.(Opinions)
June 20, 2005... Byline: David Burda, Editor We have an expression in our Chicago newsroom, and the version I can repeat goes like this: Everyone is an art director. Designing each issue of Modern Healthcare is the most subjective function we perform each...

Governors' Medicaid remedy; Congress skeptical about increasing copayments.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Last week, representatives of the nation's governors went to Washington to present their ideas on Medicaid reform, but rather than clarifying the picture, they may have muddied it further. Trying to stave off an...

Stating their case; Study says GPOs saved members $38.7 billion.(The Week In Healthcare)(group purchasing organization)(Health Industry Group Purchasing Association)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker As Congress deliberates restrictions on hospital group-purchasing organizations and after continuing cost-reporting problems were found by a second government audit, the industry's trade group is releasing a new study...

Systems look to future; Stand-alone hospitals lag in succession planning.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Alison Szot While Chris Van Gorder doesn't have any immediate plans to retire from his current role as president and chief executive officer of Scripps Health, he knows that when the time comes, the San Diego-based system will be...

Making claims; A hospital that's still in the insurance business has drawn the ire of a payprivate rival, with the legality of hidden ments at issue.
June 20, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Most of the hospitals that diversified into the health insurance business in the mid-1980s through early 1990s were out of it by 2000, realizing that they were better at providing hospital care than underwriting health...

Vermont tests something new; Cost-effectiveness of community-based care studied.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Vermont is likely to find out if spending Medicaid funds on community-based long-term-care programs is more cost-effective than nursing home care. Last week, Vermont became the first state to receive a waiver...

$10 billion in advice; MedPAC: Kill the fund meant to aid health plans.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong If Congress follows the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's advice, a controversial stabilization fund for health plans could be eliminated. A new MedPAC report includes recommendations meant to create equity in...

Following through; Frist-Clinton bill seeks $625 million for health IT.(The Week In Healthcare)(Bill Frist)(Hillary Rodham Clinton )
June 20, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) jointly introduced a bill to provide $625 million over five years for matching "incentive grants" to promote regional and local...

They're doing well, too; Catholic Health East, SSM saw huge gains in 2004.(The Week In Healthcare)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Income for two large Catholic health systems soared in 2004. Catholic Health East and SSM Health Care enjoyed a respective 78% and 83% boost to net income last year, according to recently released financial...

AMA's $60 million member drive.(The Week In Healthcare)(American Medical Association )
June 20, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano The American Medical Association is betting that a stylish new logo and a $60 million national advertising campaign will help reverse five straight years of slumping membership. In the latest in a series of...

Decision time; Ascension likely to sell or close small Ga. hospital.(Regional News)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano St. Joseph Hospital, the smallest healthcare facility in the highly competitive Augusta, Ga., market, lost its contract two months ago with the state's biggest private health insurer. Now, the money-losing hospital...

Tenet critic: Invest more in Fla. Company defends capital expenditures in the state.(Regional News)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro A longtime critic of Tenet Healthcare Corp. slammed the company last week for not investing enough in its Florida hospitals, saying that was the reason physicians were losing confidence in Tenet and steering patients...

Northeast.(Regional News)
June 20, 2005... NEW YORK-St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers will shut down 269-bed St. Mary's Hospital Brooklyn after negotiations to transfer the money-losing operation to Kingsbrook Healthcare System in Brooklyn recently collapsed. Officials said the...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... "Every nation in Europe has figured out how to provide universal health insurance... at roughly half the cost of American medicine... Perhaps the biggest obstacle to reform is the myth that it would require the huge government bureaucracy....

The mark of a leader; Motivating workers with love yields better results than ruling by fear.(Lauer's Letter)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Any leader's true legacy can be measured by how employees feel about him or her after the leader has left an organization. Sometimes, when the chief executive officer...

The bottom line and beyond; Reinhardt's financial expertise a big asset for boards.(Special Report)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano As one of a small number of America's best-known healthcare economists, longtime Princeton University professor Uwe Reinhardt brings more than just a broad perspective about industry trends to his seats on the boards...

Vista catches fire abroad; Providers from Egypt to Mexico are eager to put VA's IT system to work.(Information Edge)(Veterans Health Information Systems & Technology Architecture)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn If you want to see where the excitement is brewing over the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or Vista, you have to look abroad. "It is really a treasure," says Omar el Hattab, a...

Calculating satisfaction; Patients give good marks to computers in exam rooms.(Physician Affairs)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Does putting a computer terminal in the exam room help the physician-patient relationship or does it add a distraction? According to Kaiser Permanente scientist John Hsu, M.D., "when used well," computers help...

New documentary's reel goal: to show real men can be nurses.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
June 20, 2005... You might view it as a male call for the nursing profession. The American Assembly for Men in Nursing announced that Davis Gray Productions will begin shooting scenes and interviews for a career exploration documentary titled "Career...

Late News; CalPERS premiums up 8.7%.(California. Public Employees' Retirement System)
June 20, 2005... The California Public Employees' Retirement System, often considered a bellwether for national healthcare cost trends, approved its smallest annual increase in HMO premiums since 1999, an average of 8.7% for 2006. That compares with an average...

Waiting to collect; Bankruptcy highlights tensions.(News)(Healthcare Resources Group)
June 20, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Another example of how relations among hospitals, insurers and third-party administrators can turn contentious-and expensive-is being highlighted in federal bankruptcy litigation and a law-enforcement probe. The...

Blues primed to pay; 29 plans are already paying for performance.(pay-for-performance programs)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have dived headlong into pay-for-performance for physician services despite lingering questions about how best to design such programs and hesitation among doctors to embrace the...

A higher standard; Report tells Congress to let regulators strip tax-exempt status and go after boards that approve unreasonable executive pay.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans The days of secretive and self-serving governance at some not-for-profit hospitals may be nearing an end. The push to improve oversight and public scrutiny of the nation's tax-exempt organizations gained momentum...

After a tough debate, AMA seeks change in Patriot Act.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
June 27, 2005... Amid the 250 reports and resolutions being debated at the American Medical Association's annual meeting last week in Chicago-mostly collegial discussions of mundane topics such as breastfeeding rates and influenza immunization-was one that...

In a galaxy not so far away ... AHERF lost its way. Will HealthSouth debacle awaken CFOs' inner Jedi?(Opinions)(Column)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Neil McLaughlin, Managing Editor As the last installment of the "Star Wars'' series plays at a multiplex near you, it's a good time to remind chief financial officers that healthcare can be seduced by the Dark Side, too. You...

Quake plans straining hospitals.(Regional News)(hospital construction)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... California hospitals are at risk of overspending on large construction projects as they race to improve their earthquake readiness, according to a research brief by Moody's Investors Service. Many California hospitals exceeded their...

West.(Recruiting of nurses)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO-City officials and Service Employees International Union Local 790 proposed a $20 million-a-year labor contract intended to help city healthcare facilities recruit and retain nurses. Under the proposed contract, city nurses would...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
June 27, 2005... * Innovis Health, Fargo, N.D., "let go'' its CEO, Paul Wilson, hospital spokeswoman Tracie Popma says. Wilson will leave his post when Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota completes the transfer of its 50% ownership in the hospital to Dakota...

On the move ...(Appointments)
June 27, 2005... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, hired Daniel Waldmann away from Johnson & Johnson to become vice president of government relations. Waldmann, 37, handled federal affairs and reimbursement at J&J, New Brunswick, N.J., for...

JCAHO fixes software glitch.(The Week In Healthcare)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations disclosed a bug in a software program meant to guide hospitals and other healthcare facilities through the accreditation process and said it had posted a...

Midwest.(Paying bribes for directing construction projects)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... CHICAGO-A Chicago construction company owner pleaded guilty to paying millions of dollars in bribes to the former vice chairman of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board for directing construction projects to the company. The plea is the...

Time for a system upgrade; Researcher says docs need more sophisticated decision-support systems.(Physician Affairs)(Column)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician A study at the VA Medical Center in Salt Lake City underscores the need to develop physician order-entry systems that better model the clinical experience and provide doctors with more useful information, including...

Old lessons learned; Longtime standards used to cut surgical infections.(The Week In Healthcare)(quality management of Via Christi Regional Medical Center)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Paul Barr An effort between hospitals and state quality-improvement organizations, relying in part on standards identified in the 1960s, produced an unexpectedly quick and sizable reduction in surgical site infection rates. ...

AMA honors Berwick for patient-safety work.(American Medical Association )(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician We're a rather dangerous industry,'' Donald Berwick, president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, told physicians while accepting the Presidential Citation award from the American Medical Association last...

Stuck with the check? Guidant recall raises questions of medical tab.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Guidant Corp.'s recall of approximately 50,000 implantable cardiac defibrillators earlier this month may mark the start of an increase in problems with the complex devices, which are rapidly becoming the standard of...

An accounting of benefits; To regain public trust, hospitals must document a range of community services.
June 27, 2005... Byline: Richard Clarke The ongoing attack on not-for-profit hospitals over their billing and collection practices is baffling to most of us in the field. On the one hand, we're criticized for not operating in an effective, businesslike...

Near the top of the heap; Cohen ranks fifth in association compensation.(The Week In Healthcare)(Jordan Cohen)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Jordan Cohen, the lame-duck president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, ranked among the five highest-compensated chief executive officers of healthcare trade associations, according to Modern...

Rehab fight may continue.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone The three-year-long fight over Medicare's 75% rule for rehabilitation hospitals may not be over. Although the CMS said last week it would move ahead with the regulations, lawmakers appeared ready to intervene....

Late News; House OKs CMS spending.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
June 27, 2005... The House, by a 250-151 vote, passed a $602 billion spending bill that would set 2006 funding for HHS and the Education and Labor departments. The bill would give the CMS $401 billion for mandatory and discretionary spending, $95.8 billion more...

AHERF revisited; Pittsburgh, Philly markets continue recovery from the system's bankruptcy, but scars remain.(Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation)
June 27, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Next month marks the seven-year anniversary of the collapse of the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation, a development that shattered the hospital marketplace in Pennsylvania's two largest cities. ...