Modern Healthcare articles from March 2004

Modern Healthcare archives from March 2004

AAASC letter explains exemption.(Physician Affairs)(American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The physician head of a trade group for ambulatory surgery centers sent a reminder to members of a Medicare advisory panel last month explaining why federal antikickback and Stark law prohibitions against physician self-referrals were not made...

Concierge physicians form national trade organization.(Physician Affairs)(American Society of Concierge Physicians)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A new national organization has been formed to serve as an advocate and information clearinghouse for practitioners of concierge medicine-a controversial model of patient care that usually requires patients to pay an annual membership fee for...

AMA confident WebMD will resolve doctors' complaints.(Physician Affairs)(American Medical Association)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... After a meeting last month with officials of WebMD Corp., representatives of the American Medical Association said they are optimistic about the claims processor's promise to resolve an outpouring of complaints from doctors in various states...

Judge dismisses lawsuit against Baptist Health.(Physician Affairs)(Baptist Health Medical Center)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A federal judge last week dismissed a lawsuit charging that Baptist Health Medical Center, Little Rock, Ark., violated state and federal laws by revoking two physicians' hospital privileges because of their indirect financial interest in a...

HEALTH CARE HALL OF FAME PAST INDUCTEES.(Health Care Hall of Fame)(Directory)
March 1, 2004... * Bob Ball Inducted in 1999 * Clara Barton Inducted in 1993 * Karl Bays Inducted in 2001 * Ray E. Brown Inducted in 1988 * Robin C. Buerki Inducted in 1989 * George Bugbee Inducted in 1989 ...

Health Care Hall of Fame: Judges.(Health Care Hall of Fame)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A distinguished panel of judges selected the 2004 inductees to the Health Care Hall of Fame. The 10 people who participated in the deliberations represent a variety of organizations associated with the healthcare industry. Thomas Chapman,...

Not in a hurry to grow.(Special Report)(small investor-owned hospital companies)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro They're small investor-owned hospital companies, and they want to stay that way. Ameris Health Systems, Associated Healthcare Systems and Leland Medical Centers are definitely more turtle than hare. ...

Chief executive philosopher; Calif. Blue Shield's CEO sees few conflicts in caring for the community and caring for the bottom line.(Healthcare Profile)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko As a philosophy instructor in the mid-1970s, Bruce Bodaken taught undergraduates about Aristotle's doctrine of the mean--a theory that locates perfection at a happy medium between extremes, such as giving and...

Help is on the way; HFMA panel will sort out uninsured billing issues.(The Week in Healthcare)(Healthcare Financial Management Association, discounts for patients)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic With hospitals continuing to claim bewilderment over how to implement discounts to patients who can't pay their bills, the Healthcare Financial Management Association said it's planning to establish a task force...

Flying below the radar; Small for-profit hospital companies, armed with investors and experienced executives, target overlooked facilities, markets.(Special Report)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Given how tough most hospital executives say the business is these days, you can be forgiven for wondering why investor-owned hospital chains seem to be popping up like new reality television shows. But they are....

He helped clear the air; Former Surgeon General Luther Terry helped lead crusade against smoking.(Health Care Hall of Fame)(Obituary)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ed Finkel In late 1963, Luther Terry quit smoking. On Jan. 11, 1964, the quiet, gentlemanly Southerner led the effort to encourage millions of Americans to do the same by delivering the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and...

Education first; Robert Shelton played key role in schooling HFMA members on Medicare.(Health Care Hall of Fame)(Obituary)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ed Finkel The healthcare financial management field has matured vastly during the past half-century-and by all accounts, Robert Shelton, who died last Sept. 22 at age 85, was at the vanguard of the progression. During Shelton's...

Putting her beliefs into action; Ruth Rothstein made a career of ensuring healthcare to the underprivileged.(Health Care Hall of Fame)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Ed Finkel Ruth Rothstein has always believed quality healthcare is a right, not a privilege-and she's spent more than three decades putting that belief into action by helping keep alive two Chicago-area hospitals that serve the...

Three who inspire; Hall of Fame honors Rothstein, Shelton and Terry.(Health Care Hall of Fame)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Neil McLaughlin Today's headlines regarding the corporate and public sectors are, to say the least, less than uplifting. The news is filled with tales of executives running empires of greed, fraud and mismanagement. When their...

Race matters; How we can accelerate true diversity in healthcare administration.(Opinions-Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Henault Recently I had a chance to visit with the first-year healthcare-management graduate class at Tulane University, my alma mater. The faces of the students looking back at me that day-young men and women of all races...

Burnout driving nurses to IT; Nurses getting more involved in implementation.(The Week in Healthcare, information technology)
March 1, 2004... Byline: David Burda The nursing shortage may be having the unintended albeit beneficial consequence of improving clinical information systems at the nation's hospitals. An increasing number of nurses are giving up bedside care to get...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... HOSPITALS Joseph Silva, 63, dean of the University of California-Davis School of Medicine and CEO of the UC-Davis Health System, plans to step down no later than June 2005 and resume his faculty position. Silva's successor-to be recruited...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... * Lester Crawford, a veterinarian by training, will become the acting commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, replacing Mark McClellan, who was nominated to head the CMS last week. Crawford, 65, also served as acting commissioner...

Hill health aides jump ship.(News Makers)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman The congressional aides who helped write last year's Medicare reform law are finding that their knowledge and experience pays. Linda Fishman, who served as health policy director for the Senate Finance Committee and...

Keeping it simple; Knowing yourself, your business will bring success in professional, personal lives.(Publisher's Letter)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I have always been interested in the business philosophies of truly successful chief executives. There is a great deal of variety of course, but each seems to follow very specific guidelines both personally and...

Consumer group's video fills in seniors on the doughnut hole.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
March 1, 2004... The healthcare consumer advocacy group Families USA is taking to the streets. Last week the Washington-based group launched its "Medicare Road Show,'' a nationwide public education effort to help seniors understand how the Medicare reform law...

Good news, bad news on FICA; IRS tax programs will help, hurt medical residents.(The Week in Healthcare)(Federal Insurance Contribution Act)(Internal Revenue Service )
March 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor The Internal Revenue Service last week delivered both good news and bad news to academic medical centers and teaching hospitals on a closely watched multimillion-dollar payroll tax issue. The IRS' actions will...

Tenet delays closing facility.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro The week after Tenet Healthcare Corp. agreed to delay the closing of Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia until June 30, two new local suitors joined a third as potential buyers. Tenet...

Foiled again; Senate again fails to pass malpractice reform.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Seven months after failing to bring a broad malpractice bill up for a final vote, the Senate last week again failed to win approval of a more limited bill, further casting doubt that meaningful malpractice reform will...

It takes a county; Tax increase proposed to save public system in Calif.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko For more than a year, Alameda County Medical Center-a network of public hospitals and clinics serving mostly low-income residents in Northern California-has been desperately downsizing to keep itself afloat. The...

HIMSS plugs into IT venture.(American Hospital Association. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)
March 1, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Eyeing additional sources of good information for its membership and additional sources of revenue for itself, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society last week decided to jump into the...

As the revolving door spins; Medicare law's authors find the bucks are greener on the outside lobbying in.(Opinions-Editorials)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed Those who don't toil inside the Beltway are seen by many who do as hopelessly naive about how things really work in Washington. Where clueless outsiders see inherent conflicts of interest...

Shift in emphasis; Focus on supply chain management.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano With almost one-third of all U.S. hospitals losing money, even educators are examining ways to provide healthcare executives with new tools to cope with one of the most challenging issues confronting tomorrow's...

A good education; Modern Healthcare survey finds basic satisfaction with health-management programs--and a few suggestions.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Healthcare executives and educators think current advanced-degree programs that train future leaders adequately prepare students for a complex, ever-evolving field, a survey by Modern Healthcare reveals. Despite...

Bad debt hurts bottom lines.(Triad Hospitals)(Community Health Systems)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Two more investor-owned hospital chains reported their earnings for 2003 last week, and both registered a significant rise in bad-debt expense relative to their 2002 figures. Triad Hospitals, Plano, Texas, said...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(senior citizens' drug benefits)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... "Sen. Lindsey Graham is seeking to limit the damage that will be caused by President Bush's costly prescription drug plan for seniors. Bush had claimed earlier that managed-care involvement in Medicare would restrain the growth of the...

Raising the bar; FDA issues final regulations on bar-code adoption.(Food and Drug Administration)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker The ball fell squarely onto hospitals' side of the court last week as the Food and Drug Administration took a final swing at bar-code regulations aimed at stirring the inertia that has kept hospitals from adopting the...

Late News; CMS urges payment delay.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services )
March 1, 2004... The CMS instructed Medicare fiscal intermediaries that as of July 1, they should delay payment of electronically submitted medical claims at least 27 days if the claims are not compliant with transaction standards required by HIPAA. Normally...

Fuller disclosure; NQF to consider mandatory performance reporting.(The Week in Healthcare)(National Quality Forum)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker What's next on the patient safety front now that the Food and Drug Administration has buttoned up its bar-code regulations? Kenneth Kizer, president and chief executive officer of the National Quality Forum,...

Capital spending binge; HFMA survey foresees 14% annual increases.(Healthcare Financial Management Association)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Hospital capital spending is expected to rise 14% annually over the next five years, with technology topping the list of anticipated capital projects, according to a survey by the Healthcare Financial Management...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... * Stephen Mason, senior executive vice president and COO of Texas Health Resources, Arlington, is resigning his position to climb the career ladder. Mason, 55, was named president and CEO of BayCare Health System, Clearwater, Fla., a...

Construction pace builds; Survey shows demographic shifts, other market trends drive healthcare projects.(Special Feature)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Susanna Moon Ongoing aftershocks involving California's seismic-safety law as well as market trends nationwide are continuing to fuel a hospital building boom, funneling billions of dollars into the industry. One 40-year...

More beds for boomers; A top 10 list of reasons why hospitals will continue to expand capacity.(Opinions-Commentary)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Stuart Altman and David Shactman Business is good, and is likely to get better, for those whose occupation is hospital construction. Despite skepticism among many analysts, we believe the demand for hospital beds and services will...

Tech vendors getting fiscal; General Electric Co. is leading the way with an array of services, from capital and equipment to consulting over quality, efficiency.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Technology vendors are capitalizing on the cash-strapped position of potential hospital clients by developing profitable financing businesses and consulting services designed to help providers stay in business...

Citigroup sounds alarm; Hospitals encouraged to stretch planning horizons.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic General Electric Co. isn't the only financial firm sounding an alarm about a capital shortage among hospitals. Citigroup, a leading healthcare investment bank, issued a report entitled "The Capital Gap'' in...

Partners in prevention; Patient Safety Awareness Week aims to help consumers head off medical errors.(Special Feature)(National Patient Safety Foundation)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mike Colias Since the watershed Institute of Medicine report on medical errors was released in 1999, hospitals have formed steering committees, added safety administrators and hired consultants in an effort to correct the systemic...

Where the funding comes from.(Special Feature)(National Patient Safety Foundation)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mike Colias Much of the National Patient Safety Foundation's funding comes, not surprisingly, from organizations with a vested interest in aligning themselves closely with safety initiatives: drug companies, health and malpractice...

On the move ...(News Makers)
March 8, 2004... ASSOCIATIONS Michael Parsons has begun his term as board chairman of the Federation of American Hospitals, Washington. Parsons, COO and executive vice president of Triad Hospitals, Plano, Texas, takes over for Wayne Smith, chairman,...

Pa. exec saw years of change in same post.(News Makers)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Don't overlook dietary services when searching for the healthcare leaders of tomorrow. Anthony Lombardi, who has an undergraduate degree in hotel and restaurant management, began his four decades-plus career in...

Standing the test of time; Winston Churchill's speeches offer inspiration, insight for today's challenges.(Publisher's Letter)(Book Review)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I want to recommend to readers a collection of speeches delivered more than half a century ago that still serve as a reminder that the freedoms we take for granted today were once very much in peril. These...

Outsiders get the call; Firms specializing in medical call centers, hospitalist programs see strong growth.(Outsourcing Trends)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski When Bristol (Conn.) Hospital wanted to improve its patient-satisfaction scores and market share while building a stronger relationship with the community, hospital administrators turned toward the growing field of...

Scrushy hits airwaves; Ex-HealthSouth execs plead guilty.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski Reputation management was the name of the game last week for HealthSouth Corp.'s former chief as federal prosecutors accused more executives of criminal behavior. As the U.S. attorney's office in Birmingham, Ala.,...

Looking for federal help; Healthcare leaders emphasize links between IT subsidies, public benefit.(The Week in Healthcare)(clinical information technology)
March 8, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Representatives of government and the healthcare industry danced a little closer last month in their courtship of commitment to clinical information technology, with industry leaders laying out a case for the...

MedPAC for quality-based pay.(The Week in Healthcare)(Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman The group that advises Congress on Medicare policy set off a series of reactions last week with its most recent report, which was met with applause on Capitol Hill but was not as well-received by some in the hospital...

For GE Medical, 'ER,' it's all in the (corporate) family.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
March 8, 2004... Those savvy marketers at GE Medical Systems saw an opportunity for cross-pollination with their sexier brethren at NBC and grabbed it. Last month, GE Medical issued a news release heralding the debut of a new medical technology on "ER,''...

Tough love for doc investors.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro and Michael Romano Universal Health Services talked tough last week about physicians who invest in competing facilities while an HCA hospital in Idaho was sued for taking a tough stand against physician investors. ...

Public protection.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Last week's dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit filed against a Tennessee public hospital system could embolden other public hospitals to play hardball in competing with their private hospital rivals. In a March 2...

Birth control benefit upheld.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Roman Catholic hospitals in California were dealt a legal and philosophical blow last week when the state's high court upheld the constitutionality of a law requiring employers to cover birth control as part of their...

Ch-ch-ch-changes; Baptist Health announces restructuring plan.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano The wheels of change keep churning at Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Ala. Since last July, when Baptist's board sacked its longtime chief executive officer, Dennis Hall, the state's largest healthcare...

Ending the transition.(The Week in Healthcare)(payment of electronic healthcare claims)
March 8, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey A CMS decision to delay payment of electronic claims if they're not in national-standard formats after July 1 is the federal government's first warning that a transition period for complying with the standards is...

The game that won't end; Months after passage, drug benefit law remains a political football.(Opinions-Editorials)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed The new Medicare law is a mess. Just weeks ago it seemed that the action over this measure was shifting to the regulatory arena and that the political turmoil of last year had...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... "Kentucky's prisons and jails should be the mental healthcare provider of last resort. Instead, they are carrying most of the burden because of chronic underfunding of state and county programs.... Activists and health professionals recently...

Tenet to offer discounts.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Armed with a blessing from HHS, Tenet Healthcare Corp. last week said that it would offer discounts for uninsured patients as the last step in a remake of its uninsured billing and collection procedures that began a...

VHA: Keep doc investors at bay.(The Week in Healthcare, VHA Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Universal Health Services isn't the only one taking a hard line on competing doctors. Hospital cooperative VHA recently counseled its members to "build barriers'' to restrict physician entrepreneurs who compete...

Who care more? Bush, Kerry to face off on Medicare reform, uninsured.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong To some degree, every presidential election is a job review of the incumbent. Just as the economy and Iraq will weigh heavily on voters' minds come November, the state of the nation's healthcare system may shape how...

Examining exemptions; House to re-evaluate tax status of not-for-profits.(The Week in Healthcare)(Not-for-profit hospitals)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Not-for-profit hospitals last week found themselves in the cross hairs of a powerful congressional committee when its chairman announced he would review their tax-preferred status and possibly create a massive new...

Late News; FDA OKs 2nd drug-eluting stent.(Taxus drug-eluting stent )
March 8, 2004... The Food and Drug Administration gave Boston Scientific Corp.'s Taxus drug-eluting stent the go-ahead for U.S. marketing, creating the first rival in the U.S. to Johnson & Johnson's Cypher stent, which was approved last April (See By the...

Targeting the swindlers; Congress grapples with how to stop proliferating health-insurance scams.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko Standing before the Senate Finance Committee last week, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) held up an array of pamphlets. One was a glossy brochure, others had come across a committee fax machine. All advertised...

New chief in town; Herb Kuhn moves from advocacy to the CMS.(Late News)(Center for Medicare Management)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Washington hospital lobbyist Herb Kuhn will leave the advocacy business to help the CMS administer the massive Medicare reform law, the agency announced. Kuhn, 47, will serve as the director of the Center for Medicare...

Cutting through the paper; Docs get easier way to complete credentialing process.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Come April 1, in a coordinated effort by the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Hospital Association and seven healthcare plans, nearly 21,000 active physicians in the state will be able to either submit or update their...

Neurosurgeons' departure could present health risk.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Soaring medical malpractice costs and Illinois' poisonous legal climate have led two neurosurgeons to announce the closure of their practices, possibly leaving their Carbondale-based hospital and much of the lower third of the state without the...

Mississippi Senate advances tort reform.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Tort reform in Mississippi is gaining momentum with the state Senate's approval late last month of a comprehensive bill that includes caps on noneconomic damages. The measure, which passed the Senate with a 32-15 vote, would cap noneconomic...

Leading the way; Solucient's inaugural list of 'Most-Improved Hospitals' shows how better processes and better quality can translate into better financial fitness.(Special Feature)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Linda Wilson For the past several years, Tomah (Wis.) Memorial Hospital has been recommitting financial and human resources in an effort to drive continuing improvement in clinical quality and cost efficiency. The hospital has...

Universal meaning; Connecting with others happens to be the reason we are here.(Publisher's Letter)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I have been traveling a great deal recently and have had the opportunity to talk to lots of my good friends. Over the course of these conversations, people tell me stories about themselves and others. Many of their...

It's time to look at Rx pricing; Why study reimporting Canadian drugs when the real issue is U.S. prices?(Opinions-Editorials)(Editorial)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed Although HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson was wise to withdraw his appointment of the top critic of reimporting Canadian drugs to lead a study of the practice, the real story is that the...

Familiar faces return; Rehnquist's successor brings back three who left.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Like her predecessor, acting Principal Deputy Inspector General Dara Corrigan is making some major personnel changes within healthcare's chief enforcement agency. But there is a sense of deja vu about some of her...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2004... * Richard Pettingill, 55, president and CEO of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Minneapolis, has been named to the board of directors of Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif. Pettingill took the helm at Allina in October 2002. He also has...

Signs of the times; It's 'Your name goes here' at many hospitals and health systems. Co-branding, sponsorships prove lucrative when budgets are tight.(Special Report)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano Just before Thanksgiving last year, construction began on the Lehman Bros. Emergency Center, a $25 million project at New York University Downtown Hospital that was made possible through a $5 million donation from...

Those soothing sour notes could drum out turnover.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(St. Luke's Hospital )
March 15, 2004... Feeling stressed about employee turnover? Outliers hears there's a way to reduce turnover at nursing homes, potentially saving the entire industry $1.46 billion annually, and the only risk is that workers may be subjected to some really bad...

Four lawyrs change venue.(News Makers)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Four high-profile healthcare lawyers jumped from one high-profile Chicago health law firm to another last week. The lawyers, Bernadette Broccolo, Ralph DeJong, Michael Peregrine and William Roach departed Gardner...

On the move ...(appointments)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2004... HOSPITALS Hank Walker, president and CEO of Providence Health System, Seattle, is not coming back from sabbatical and is officially retiring at the end of April. John Koster, executive vice president and COO, has been named acting...

Exemption granted; Jury says not-for-profit deserves tax-exempt status.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor After a six-year Internal Revenue Service investigation costing millions of dollars, it took a federal jury just six hours to decide that Austin, Texas-based St. David's HealthCare System deserved tax-exempt status. The...

Losing its exemption; Mass. appeals court rules that not-for-profit, hospital-owned clinic is liable for property taxes. Hospitals wonder who's next.(Massachusetts)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Not-for-profit hospital-owned physician groups can lose money on operations and treat poor patients, but-at least in Massachusetts-they may still have to pay property taxes, according to a recent ruling by the...

Hospitals fight back; Proposed overcharge regs called burdensome.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Hospitals are trying to quash an attempt by HHS' inspector general's office to insert enforcement parameters in a 17-year-old law against overcharging Medicare, saying it would create an administrative nightmare...

Conn. gov to compromise on medical malpractice.(Physician Affairs)(Connecticut)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2004... Connecticut Gov. John Rowland said that he is willing to compromise on his proposal to cap jury awards to help ease the costs of medical malpractice insurance. Rowland said he would back a $750,000 limit on noneconomic damages in...

Competition propping up; Second drug-eluting stent will be cheaper, plentiful.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospitals, long despondent over the possibility that, financially, they will get the short end of the drug-eluting stent, were cheered earlier this month when the Food and Drug Administration gave its blessing to...

Scrushy: Feds hid evidence.(Healthcare cases)(Scrushy, Richard)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy filed a formal complaint last week with the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, accusing federal prosecutors of misconduct in the government...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(web information)(Brief Article)
March 15, 2004... "The Florida Web site for hospital consumers, floridahealthstat.com, offers lots of information, just not what people want to know. For example, it can tell you which hospitals in your area do cardiac-bypass surgery. But it doesn't tell you how...

Breaking up is hard to do; Christ Hospital says Bon Secours withheld info.(The Week in Healthcare)
March 15, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospital de-mergers are complex enough affairs, but a divorce from a Roman Catholic-sponsored system can be an especially difficult experience, an Episcopalian hospital in New Jersey has learned. After two years of...