Modern Healthcare articles from May 2004

Modern Healthcare archives from May 2004

Let the board drive; Hospital boards called crucial for quality improvement.(Physician Affairs)('medical' role of hospital board of directors)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician The hospital board of directors is an important constituency that physician executives need to bring on the bus to promote consistent quality improvement. Indeed the board should be at the wheel, but that may...

Settlement in Seattle; Three doc practices to pay $35 million.(Late News)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Three physician practices affiliated with the University of Washington Medical Center will pay the largest settlement to date stemming from charges that teaching physicians illegally billed Medicare for procedures...

Tooting their own horns; AHA to show Washington what hospitals are worth.(The Week In Healthcare)(American Hospital Association )
May 3, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Instead of its standard pilgrimage to Capitol Hill with lengthy wish list in hand, the American Hospital Association will spend much of its annual meeting this week in Washington educating lawmakers on the value its...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(health care industry)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... "New York's hospitals are so under-used that they run radio ads trolling for new patients virtually 24/7. Yet Mayor (Michael Bloomberg says) `We do not want to close any hospitals, and I'm confident that we will not have to close any...

Too close for comfort? Appointment of Blues exec as head of board overseeing Iowa system resurrects questions about corporate conflicts of interest.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic John Forsyth has a stellar background for his new position as president of Iowa's Board of Regents, which oversees the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as well as three state universities. In addition to...

Operating without a budget; Heart programs adding on but not adding up finances.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Many hospital cardiac programs are barreling down the freeway with their eyes closed, making moves to invest in expansions or renovations with a dearth of basic financial information such as profits and losses. ...

Leapfrog ups the ante.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 3, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Hospitals are being asked to cooperate in what amounts to a quantum leap in quality and safety reporting, by assessing their practices and answering hundreds of new questions about them. The survey process was...

Tenet numbers beat forecast.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.,)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Tenet Healthcare Corp. gave investors a glimpse of its first-quarter results last week, and the large quarterly loss the company disclosed still managed to beat analysts' low expectations. Tenet said it expects to...

Patient privacy safe, for now.(The Week In Healthcare)(controversial abortion procedure's medical records under scrutiny)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor The privacy of hospital patient medical records appears safe from the prying eyes of government prosecutors, at least for now, in ongoing trials addressing the legality of some late-term abortion procedures. ...

The real ROI is from the NIH; Clinical research cuts may slow effort to improve care and cut long-term costs.(Opinions)(National Institutes of Health)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane Clinical research must be the bedrock of any serious attempt to reform the U.S. healthcare system. Preventing disease, managing chronic illnesses and establishing treatment protocols are all predicated on a base of...

Briefly: Managed Care.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Aetna profits climb 11% * Aetna, Hartford, Conn., reported an 11% increase in first-quarter profits last week, after adding more than a quarter-million members, and appointed a new executive to handle its acquisition strategy. Net income...

Long-range forecast: Partly healthy, chance of storms; Health plans use sophisticated modeling to help predict members' health risks, cost of care. But privacy issues cloud technology's future.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko It has long been known that a small percentage of patients account for a disproportionately large share of medical costs. What has stumped insurers for just as long is how to find these individuals before they...

Healthcare vet Offner dies.(News Makers)(Obituary)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong Paul Offner, whose varied career in healthcare and outspoken nature often placed him in the spotlight, died April 20 of cancer at the Washington (D.C.) Home hospice. He was 61. Offner was most recently a researcher at...

Force to be reckoned with; UnitedHealth-Oxford could dominate Northeast.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko The health insurance industry continued its steady march toward consolidation last week with UnitedHealth Group announcing plans to snap up Oxford Health Plans in its fifth acquisition in six months. The proposed...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
May 3, 2004... * Duke University has hired Victor Dzau, a cardiovascular physician, as president and CEO of three-hospital Duke University Health System, Durham, N.C., effective May 6. Dzau, 57, also will be the university's chancellor of health affairs as of...

Late News; Nurse guilty of 13 murders.
May 3, 2004... Former nurse Charles Cullen, who confessed to killing dozens of patients at hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, pleaded guilty to 13 murders and two attempted murders at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, N.J. In exchange for the plea...

Corporate overlap; Baylor, Abbott boards remain close.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic The national climate of heightened concern about conflicts of interest in corporate governance has not ended a cozy relationship dating back more than three decades between Baylor Health Care System and a major...

Boardroom via courtroom; Former county prosecutor, administrator putting skills to work as Detroit Medical Center's new CEO.(Healthcare Profile)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor A funny thing happened on the way to the re-election campaign of Wayne County (Mich.) Prosecutor Michael Duggan: He was tabbed for one of the highest-profile executive jobs in healthcare, as president and chief...

Lurching into the future; Bush sets 2014 goal for EMRs, calls for incentives.(The Week In Healthcare)(electronic medical record)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Healthcare officials applauded President Bush's call last week for everyone in the country to have a personal, electronic medical record by 2014, giving fresh momentum to a goal that has eluded an industry long...

Company tries the hard sell on compliance campaign.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
May 3, 2004... TAP Pharmaceutical Products, which paid $884 million to settle civil and criminal fraud charges three years ago and whose current and former executives are immersed in a Boston criminal trial, is clearly not going to be allowed into the No Spin...

Lost in translation; Professional interpreters needed to help hospitals treat immigrant patients.(Opinions)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Michael Greenbaum and Glenn Flores The dramatic rise in the U.S.' immigrant population is only expected to accelerate. Approximately 47 million people in this country, or 18% of the population over 5 years old, speak a language...

On the move ...(News Makers)
May 3, 2004... Ken Wine, 62, executive vice president and COO of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston, has announced his retirement effective June 30. Wine will assist in a process through which his responsibilities will be transferred to several other...

Sincere, right down to the letter; A personal note sends a better message than e-mail or telephone call.(Publisher's Letter)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Letter-writing used to be an art form. The collected letters of presidents, intellectuals and novelists reveal the depth and breadth of the thoughts of great men and women throughout history. Think of the...

Kolb succeeds Ransom at helm of the ACPE.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Marvin Kolb, M.D., chief medical officer at Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield, Calif., was installed last week as president of the 10,000-member American College of Physician Executives at the group's annual meeting...

Judge ends challenges to Cigna settlement.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta dismissed all challenges in April to a $540 million settlement between Cigna Corp., Philadelphia, and several hundred thousand physicians. The settlement was...

Global numbers have GPOs thinking they're in e-nirvana.(Outliers: Asides & Insides, Geographical Position)
May 10, 2004... Anyone who has been consumed with competing activities like watching paint dry may have missed the exciting announcement last month that the Coalition for Healthcare eStandards, after only four years of discussion, has agreed on the Global...

Briefly: Hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... More aid for Arizona system * Maricopa County, Ariz., will set aside more than $100 million in general funds to bail out its financially strapped healthcare system and ensure a clean handoff to a new healthcare district in November. For...

The perils of serving two masters; Healthcare execs are slow to recognize why you can't sit on both sides of the table.(Opinions)(Editorial)
May 10, 2004... Byline: David Burda What don't healthcare executives get about conflicts of interest? It's almost as if they believe they're immune to the types of improprieties that often plague other industries. They say healthcare is different, and...

Medicare migraine; GAO study says docs face significant payment cuts.(Late News)(General Accounting Office)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Medicare payments to physicians have given lawmakers a health policy headache for years, and new projections may turn it into a migraine. If the formula used to calculate physician Medicare payment updates isn't...

Up & Comers now open!(Opinions)
May 10, 2004... Nominations are open for this year's Up & Comers recognition program. The program, co-sponsored by search firm Witt/Kieffer, honors rising young stars in healthcare management. Nominees must be 40 years old or younger. To participate, submit...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Maui Memorial Medical Center )
May 10, 2004... HOSPITALS Life can be tough for administrators, even those in Maui. John Schaumburg is stepping down just two years after taking over as CEO of Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku, Hawaii, on a permanent basis. "I'm getting tired,''...

Iasis buyout to provide capital.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro The buyout of Iasis Healthcare Corp. will infuse the company with new capital that will set the stage for expansion projects and acquisitions, the company said when it announced the deal last week. Texas Pacific...

A new dawn; Board picks veteran HCA exec to lead HealthSouth.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski A new era starts this week at HealthSouth Corp. as veteran HCA executive Jay Grinney steps into the chief executive's office at the troubled rehabilitation company. HealthSouth's board unanimously voted to...

Mass exodus; Catholic system CEO 4th to step down in 2 months.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Patrick Reilly Ascension Health, the nation's largest Roman Catholic health system, is searching for a new chief executive officer after Douglas French announced last week that he was stepping down after three years in the top...

Two vendors chosen for WellPoint's IT campaign.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Information technology vendors Allscripts Healthcare Solutions and Zix Corp. will be the key providers of electronic prescribing software for a $40 million effort by payer WellPoint Health Networks to induce nearly...

Acting the part; While Cover the Uninsured Week adds star power to its campaign, few viable solutions are in the works.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong As Noah Wyle stepped up to the podium last week, camera flashes went off and a buzz went through the room. It may have been May sweeps for the television networks, but Dr. John Carter from "ER'' was not in Washington...

Late News; E-health records advancing.
May 10, 2004... Electronic health records advanced as a high-profile issue on two fronts. A standards group called Health Level 7 unveiled a consensus document defining the essential functions of such systems. Also, HHS named David Brailer, a senior fellow at...

Laurels make for rough seating; In the cutthroat world of business, nothing is ever as safe as it seems.(Publisher's Letter)(business management)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Every so often in business there comes a change so fundamental that a company, even an industry, is wiped out in a spasm of creative destruction. The upheaval of the Industrial Revolution ended a world of small...

Relocation, relocation; Tenet plans to move headquarters to Dallas.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Tenet Healthcare Corp. said it would move its headquarters from Santa Barbara, Calif., to Dallas over the next 12 months, as the company continues the total makeover it initiated in November 2002. Critics of the...

Trouble in Texas; Ballot decides fate of healthcare district.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic In the latest test of public support for indigent care, voters in Travis County, Texas, which includes the state capital of Austin, will decide this week whether to create a healthcare district that could levy...

Looking for a solution; Review process questioned after Maryland fiasco.(The Week In Healthcare)(Maryland General Hospital)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong As Maryland General Hospital moved to correct flaws that led to 460 possibly incorrect HIV and hepatitis test results, the inquiry has begun to focus on how to fix the accreditation process to ensure a similar scenario...

Piedmont on prowl; Atlanta system eyes new partner after separation.(The Week In Healthcare)( Rockdale Medical Center)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano It didn't take long for Atlanta's Piedmont Medical Center to get back in the hunt after a divorce last year from the state's largest not-for-profit healthcare system. Just 11 months after its separation from...

Deep trouble; A few preventive steps can head off deadly complications of deep vein thrombosis. But many hospitals fail to address the risk.(Medical Advances)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker Like medical errors and hospital-acquired infections-both so-called adverse events that strike fear in the hearts of hospital administrators and clinicians alike-just being in a hospital puts patients at substantial...

Unequal access; Smaller hospitals still at a disadvantage in terms of capital access. But often it's where you are, not how big you are, that really matters.(Special Report)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro With his 7-foot-1 frame and 275 muscled pounds, Wilt Chamberlain was a dominant force in the game of basketball, but he wasn't beloved. As he famously lamented, "Nobody roots for Goliath.'' The late Chamberlain...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
May 10, 2004... * After an 11-month search, RehabCare Group, St. Louis, looked no further than its interim president and CEO-John Short-to be its permanent president and CEO, replacing Alan Henderson, who retired in June 2003. Short, 59, has been pursuing...

Helping hands; AHLA seeks guidance on helping docs get coverage.(Physician Affairs)(American Health Lawyers Association)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician The American Health Lawyers Association has joined a growing chorus of healthcare organizations and providers seeking guidance from federal regulatory agencies on how hospitals can "lawfully assist physicians in...

AMGA awards honor groups that follow IOM guidelines.(Physician Affairs)(American Medical Group Association)(Institute of Medicine)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician A call for nominations of medical groups that are following Institute of Medicine guidelines to close their quality chasms went out last week from the American Medical Group Association. The 2004 AMGA Acclaim...

One step at a time on uninsured; Flurry of bills offered, but no immediate action seen.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong As Washington politicians unveiled their solutions to the problem of the uninsured last week, providers saw much to their liking in both the Republican and Democratic proposals. Using Cover the Uninsured Week as a...

Merger plan leads to suit.(The Week In Healthcare)(Akron (Ohio) General Health System )
May 17, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor A November merger announcement by the only acute-care hospitals in Massillon, Ohio, took an odd turn earlier this month when the hospitals' owners, Akron (Ohio) General Health System and Plano, Texas-based Triad...

Late News; House passes AHP bill.
May 17, 2004... The House passed legislation that would allow small businesses to pool employees across state lines in association health plans, a controversial model of health coverage that opponents contend would destabilize the insurance market. The vote...

An unfunded mandate; The path to electronic records must be paved with someone's cash.(Opinions)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Todd Sloane Healthcare IT has the Big Mo in Washington. Everybody from President Bush to Hillary Rodham Clinton to Newt Gingrich is vying to be the geek bellwether who points and clicks us to the promised land where all computers...

In the loop; Keeping higher-ups informed is essential to running a successful business.(Publisher's Letter)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Charles S. Lauer One of the first lessons I learned after I started my career was to make sure to keep my boss in the loop. The person in charge should never be blindsided by bad news if there is a way to avoid it. It's up to the...

Briefly: Chains; QHR to pay Ark. hospital.(The Week In Healthcare)(Siloam Springs (Ark.) Memorial Hospital )(Brief Article)
May 17, 2004... Siloam Springs (Ark.) Memorial Hospital said last week that it won a $425,000 arbitration judgment against its former management firm, QHR, Brentwood, Tenn. The city-owned hospital said it accused QHR, a unit of Triad Hospitals, Plano, Texas,...

Action and inaction; Election-year issues likely to impede IT bills' progress.(Special Report)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Like never before, healthcare information technology has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill and even in the White House. Earlier this month, President Bush advanced the cause when he set the goal of equipping everyone...

On the move ...(News Makers)
May 17, 2004... ASSOCIATIONS Bohn Allen, a general surgeon in Arlington, Texas, is the new president of the 39,500-member Texas Medical Association. "The goal of my presidency is to re-energize and strengthen the pride, the professionalism, and the hope...

Combo devices blur FDA lines.(The Week In Healthcare)(Food and Drug Administration)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker With drug-eluting stents as just the first of countless high-profile combination products that are skidding onto the medical marketplace, the Food and Drug Administration has proposed a regulation designed to simplify...

New territory; Ardent to acquire Okla. system for $281 million.(The Week In Healthcare)(Ardent Health Services)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Vince Galloro Ardent Health Services, Nashville, is venturing into a new state with a plan to buy a hospital system in Tulsa, Okla., and its soon-to-be competitors are happy to hear it. Ardent said it would pay $281.2 million...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
May 17, 2004... "Most Americans know this country spends more money per person on healthcare than any other country in the world. The United States spends twice as much as Australia, England and Canada. Yet Americans seem to think this spending is OK. After...

A hospital divided; PPS proposal restricts LTACs in host hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman The CMS rattled the long-term acute-care hospital industry last week when it proposed largely unexpected regulations that would clamp down on Medicare payments to the facilities. While only 318 long-term acute-care...

The principles of going paperless; After decades of debate it is time to take action on electronic health records.(Opinions)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: C. Peter Waegemann Twenty years ago, the Medical Records Institute held its first conference called "Toward an Electronic Patient Record,'' which drew some 350 attendees. In 2004 there will be almost 10 times that number at the...

Leader of the pack; Kennedy first to propose linking payment, use of IT.(Late News)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) became the first lawmaker to formally propose directly linking payment incentives to providers' use of information technology. Several members of Congress have become increasingly...

Adding voltage to e-records; Action by White House, HHS and standards group HL7 give electronic health records a strong jolt. Will momentum continue?(Special Report)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey The spectacle of government and healthcare leaders swarming around the sudden promise of electronic health records seemed to be a dramatic shift after years of indifference to the technology's potential....

Boston system changes CEOs.(News Makers)(Caritas Christi Health Care System)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman Robert Haddad, a physician and veteran healthcare executive, has been appointed president and CEO of Caritas Christi Health Care, Boston, after the departure of interim CEO Emmett Murphy, who left the top post last week...

Ruling offers template for hospital-doc joint ventures.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician An Internal Revenue Service ruling involving a university has implications for hospital-physician joint ventures, possibly removing one barrier to such deals. The revenue ruling offers a template for how...

Public reporting; HCA naming suspected moratorium violators.(The Week In Healthcare)(Hospital Corporation of America)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano HCA, the nation's biggest hospital company, is taking aggressive steps against planned surgical hospitals that may be attempting to circumvent a moratorium that prohibits physician ownership in new inpatient...

Alleged improprieties; Trial could affect hospital-drug company relationships.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor No hospital executives have been charged in the on-going criminal investigation into TAP Pharmaceutical Products and 11 current and former executives now on trial in Boston, but relationships between hospitals and...

Rhode Island's got the Blues; But the state's Blues plan isn't the only one drawing fire over its reserves, executive perks and compensation.(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko What began a few months ago as a muffled grumble about another year of double-digit premium hikes by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island has erupted into a maelstrom of public outrage over corporate excesses...

Summer's coming, but CMS says flip-flops stay at home.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(Centers for medicare and medicaid services)
May 17, 2004... No proper shirt, no proper shoes-no proper job. That's the bottom line of a new CMS dress code the agency plans to enact after "complaints from a number of individuals at all levels'' that employees at the agency's Baltimore headquarters didn't...

Gone but not forgotten; FTC changes not likely to stop healthcare emphasis.(The Week In Healthcare)(Federal Trade Commission)(Column)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor While it's not uncommon for political appointees at federal agencies to leave government service near the end of a presidential term to return to more lucrative private-sector ventures, Federal Trade Commission watchers...

New IT czar in town; Brailer paper suggests medical records policies.(Physician Affairs)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician David Brailer, M.D., the nation's new healthcare information technology czar, has already offered clues about how he would diagnose and treat the nation's healthcare IT ills. Last October, as a senior fellow of...

Specialists engender more trust from white patients.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 17, 2004... Byline: Modern Physician Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that in their first encounters with patients, specialists engender high levels of trust (79%), but that trust levels were lower for black patients (63%)...

Philly's Cramp set to retire.(Donald Cramp)(Hospitals and Higher Education Facilities Authority of Philadelphia)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Cinda Becker In his inimitable, genteel fashion, Donald Cramp sent word last month to colleagues and friends that he is retiring from the Hospitals and Higher Education Facilities Authority of Philadelphia on Sept. 14. The date...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Letter to the Editor)
May 24, 2004... "In Georgia, a certificate of need is required to put up a building; to do a renovation valued at more than $1,250,199; to make equipment purchases, for items such as CAT scanners, that cost $694,556 or more; or to open outpatient surgery...

Critically acclaimed; Critical-access designation, other federal programs are helping rural hospitals improve and expand their services, not just survive.(Special Report)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Julie Piotrowski For years, administrators at Avera Weskota Memorial Medical Center in South Dakota tried any number of strategies and interventions to strengthen the small, rural hospital's poor financial position. The 25-bed...

Questions of leadership; Survey of CIOs places lack of high-level planning, support among the primary reasons behind failure of IT projects.(Information Edge)(Chief information officers)
May 24, 2004... Byline: John Morrissey Chief information officers of hospital organizations are highly likely to be satisfied with the value derived from information technology initiatives and are just as likely to conclude that key executives, board...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
May 24, 2004... * St. Luke's Episcopal Health System, Houston, has recruited veteran academic health system leader David Fine to be its CEO, one month after a new affiliation with Baylor College of Medicine. Fine, 53, has been CEO at the University of Alabama...

CalPERS cuts 38 hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(California Public Employees' Retirement System)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Laura B. Benko A decision by California's largest pension fund to exclude 38 high-cost hospitals from its statewide HMO network next year could prompt more healthcare purchasers to play hardball nationwide, industry observers said....

The science of compliance; CMS is enlisting hospitals for pilot program to help determine why some billing-compliance programs work while others don't.(United States. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Mark Taylor Explorers sailed around the known world to determine whether it was flat. Scientists in laboratories test new theories with empirical evidence every day. But how does one objectively measure the effectiveness...

No border patrol; House kills bill on immigrant screening.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Jeff Tieman The hospital lobby claimed a legislative victory last week when the House rejected a bill that critics argued would deputize caregivers as border patrol agents. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher...

Doc: Law is unCONstitutional; Lawsuit says Georgia statute promotes monopolies.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Michael Romano A doctor in Georgia has challenged the constitutionality of the state's certificate-of-need law, charging that it violates a clause prohibiting state-sponsored business monopolies. If successful, the rare...

Late News; Senate looks at not-for-profits.
May 24, 2004... The Senate Finance Committee is "looking into'' whether not-for-profit organizations merit their tax-exempt status, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) confirmed. Baucus, the committee's ranking minority member, declined to provide further details. House...

How hospitals measure up; Annual 100 Top Hospitals list from Solucient highlights facilities that know how to improve their quality, profitability and service.(Special Feature)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Mike Colias Four years ago, 334-bed Medical Center of Aurora (Colo.) started a pilot program aimed at boosting the survival rate of heart-attack patients, part of a broader strategy to grow market share through better clinical...

BioShield bill steams ahead.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 24, 2004... Byline: Tony Fong As legislation expediting research and development of drugs and vaccines to be used in bioterrorist attacks came closer to becoming law, a report released last week said a lack of funding for bioterror preparedness is...

Briefly: Hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 24, 2004... Texas county to create district * Travis County (Texas) voters approved the creation of a healthcare district to support indigent care last week. The district will assume ownership of Brackenridge and Children's hospitals from the city of...