Modern Healthcare articles from May 2005

Modern Healthcare archives from May 2005

Forward march; IBM strengthens healthcare presence through UPMC, Healthlink deals.(The Week In Healthcare)(International Business Machines Corp.)(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker and Joseph Conn IBM Corp. continued its march into healthcare last week with two announcements: an eight-year, $402 million joint development agreement with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the...

Upping the ante; The CMS' transfer policy changes anger hospitals.(United States. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong As the CMS embarks on expanding the number of DRGs subject to the post-acute-care transfer policy, it can expect an earful from the hospital community. Last week, in a wide-ranging announcement, the CMS proposed...

The fix is in for Medicaid; With $10 billion in Medicaid spending reductions approved by Congress, the next battle is over forming the commission.
May 2, 2005... Byline: Ralph Loos Could've been better, could've been worse. Opinions among healthcare providers about the Medicaid spending reductions approved by Congress last week as part of its $2.6 trillion fiscal 2006 budget were varied and...

Getting ready for "75% rule'; Providers adjust to limits on rehab reimbursement.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone In a sign of preparing for business under the "75% rule,'' rehabilitation giant HealthSouth Corp. last week said it plans to create skilled-nursing facilities that could net some of the Medicare patients who no...

Healthy support; MedAssets welcomes private equity firm as investor.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Grotech Capital Group, a private equity investment firm, has invested $21.7 million in Med- Assets, a group purchasing organization based in suburban Atlanta. Harris Hyman IV, a Grotech general partner, will...

Strong message; Fletcher Allen official receives two-year sentence.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong The sentencing of a former Vermont hospital chief executive to two years in federal prison last week may send a strong signal to other healthcare executives that prosecutors are increasingly willing to trace criminal...

Hospital ends soft landings for chaiman-CEO of Aetna.(John Rowe )
May 2, 2005... In the latest sign that relations between health insurers and hospitals aren't as chilly as they sometimes seem, Aetna Chairman and CEO John Rowe was able to parlay a few thousand dollars in donations to Falmouth (Mass.) Hospital to make...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... "The U.S. spends far more on healthcare than other advanced countries. Yet we don't appear to receive more medical services. And we have lower life expectancy and higher infant-mortality rates than countries that spend less.... Why do we put...

Specialties have smaller profits.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Community hospitals have complained for years that for-profit niche facilities specializing in high-margin services like cardiac care and orthopedics are making buckets of money and robbing them of a rich source of...

Beating the clock; Congress asks 10 largest systems for billing records.(United States. Congress. House. Committee on Energy and Commerce)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Ralph Loos Like colleagues at nine other major hospital systems, administrators at the Mayo Clinic spent last week trying to figure out how to meet a sudden and fast-arriving deadline imposed by members of Congress. "We're...

Knowing when to quit; O' Leary's hedging opens doors for others on patient safety.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)(Dennis O'Leary )
May 2, 2005... Byline: David Burda, Editor The recent contradictory statements from Joint Commission President Dennis O'Leary regarding his retirement plans pretty much typify his management of the private healthcare accrediting body during his 19-year...

Bad report card; Adverse safety cases on the rise in hospitals, study says.(Late News)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn The number of adverse patient-safety incidents is increasing in the nation's hospitals as a group, while the gap is widening between the best-performing hospitals and the worst-performing hospitals, according to a study...

Late News; Tenet gets another subpoena.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, said it received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney in Memphis, Tenn., seeking documents regarding physician-relocation agreements at Tenet's St. Francis Hospital in Memphis since Jan. 1, 1999. Tenet said the...

Making amends; Bills could signal victory for Fla. docs, hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans In November 2004, the Florida electorate voted to open hospital records on harmful errors and pull the licenses of doctors at fault in multiple malpractice incidents. Lawsuits arose quickly. Hospitals warned the...

Changing of the WebMD guard.(The Week In Healthcare)(promoted Wayne Gattinella to Co-chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn WebMD Corp. announced last week that Roger Holstein was leaving the company as chief executive officer of WebMD Health, the online information and portal services division, citing personal reasons. The company named...

Briefly: Finance.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... UHS snaps out of it Universal Health Services, King of Prussia, Pa., said last week that its first-quarter profits rose 33%, snapping its trend of stagnant profits in 2004 and far outpacing analysts' expectations. The company earned $61.4...

On the move ...(health care industry)
May 2, 2005... HEALTH PLANS Humana, Louisville, Ky., announced that David Jones Jr. replaced his father as board chairman, effective immediately. As previously planned, the senior David Jones, 73, retired at the close of the health insurer's annual...

Drug samples bring scrutiny.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor While hospitals were not named as defendants in a whistle-blower lawsuit against drugmaker Merck & Co., some may face potential legal scrutiny for accepting free samples and steep drug discounts in exchange for...

Briefly: Legal.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... SEC targets Tenet Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, said last week it has been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission that SEC investigators expect to recommend the agency bring a civil enforcement action against the company,...

Quality as gospel; They might be devoted to different approaches and processes, but healthcare executives are taking on quality improvement with almost religious zeal.(Special Report)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor They speak a different language, sometimes with a faraway look in their eyes. They have black belts and green belts, though most don't practice martial arts. They follow prophets and evangelizers who spread the...

The Big Ten; Program pays 10 Michigan doc groups $1 million.(Physician Affairs)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Ten Michigan physician groups have been paid more than $1 million in the first installment of what could be as much as $12 million in incentives distributed this year under a recently launched pay-for-performance...

Miami doc-owned insurer to buy Medicare business.(Physician Affairs)(Preferred Care Partners)(Neighborhood Health Partnership)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Preferred Care Partners, a Miami-based provider-sponsored insurance company owned primarily by doctors, announced last week it would acquire the Medicare business of Neighborhood Health Partnership. The deal, which...

Direct-to-consumer ads have pros and cons: study.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Direct-to-consumer advertising can lead to over-prescribing of high-priced drugs but also may provide an opportunity to help expand patients' involvement in their own care, according to a study in the April 27...

Image problem.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Gross charges per physician for diagnostic radiology and imaging procedures have increased significantly in recent years, highlighting the current focus on these high-margin services in ambulatory settings. From 1999 to 2003, those...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(promoted David White to President and Chief operating officer)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone David White is a self-proclaimed healthcare brat. White, 49, has been studying or working in healthcare his entire adult life and he's spent the last 10 years climbing the corporate ladder at behavioral health...

Shock treatment; Medicare's coverage of implantable defibrillators adds jolt to electrophysiology specialty, device sales.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Healthcare's obsessive attention to the landscape-changing introduction of drug-eluting stents in the past two years has seemingly put the plumbers of cardiac care-cardiologists-at the head of the pack. But the...

Corrections & Clarifications.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 9, 2005... A May 2 story about quality processes (p. 32) misidentified Dearborn, Mich.-based Midwest Health System, which operates five outpatient-care centers and occupational health services.

Gift wrapped; Hospitals, health systems work to make donations a larger portion of the bottom line.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Paul Barr At healthcare organizations, when it comes time for fundraising, the giving isn't always easy. For hospitals and health systems-unlike many other health-related charities or colleges and universities-raising sizable...

Health Net and Prudential settle class-action lawsuit.(Health Net of California Inc.)(Prudential Financial Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Health Net and financial-services firm Prudential Financial reached financial settlements last week that would end their roles in a massive class-action lawsuit filed against the nation's largest managed-care...

Ohio doc group to disband after FTC price-fixing case.(United States. Federal Trade Commission)(New Millennium Orthopaedics )(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician New Millennium Orthopaedics in Cincinnati, an independent practice association, will disband under a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission settling allegations of price-fixing and restraint of trade. The...

Specialists get extra pay for on-call ER duty: study.(emergency rooms )(American College of Physician Executive`s survey)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician About 64% of 814 physician-executives surveyed said they struggled to find specialists for on-call duty in emergency rooms, and 46% said they now pay extra for what once was viewed as an obligation. The...

CHART: By the Numbers.(uninsured American`s survey)(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... About one-half of the 15.6 million uninsured Americans under 65 with chronic conditions went without medical care or prescription drugs because of cost, according to an analysis of more than 25,000 surveys from adults under 65 in 2003. A little...

Billing battles won; Minn., Utah systems agree to ease billing practices.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko and Melanie Evans Facing scrutiny from their respective states, hospitals in both Utah and Minnesota last week promised to be kinder and gentler in their billing practices for uninsured patients. Intermountain...

Quality connections; Financial rewards lead to better care, study says.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Ralph Loos Using financial incentives to reward quality patient care results in better care and fewer costly complications, initial results of a demonstration project by Premier and the CMS show. The three-year demonstration...

Two better than one? AHA follows JCAHO lead on patient-safety centers.(The Week In Healthcare)(American Hospital Association, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans For the second time in as many months, a prominent U.S. healthcare group has launched a sweeping, if vague, patient-safety initiative. But already, at least one consumer advocate is questioning its relevance. The...

Unaccountable on the uninsured; Not-for-profits fail to follow for-profits' lead in bending on the billing issue.
May 9, 2005... Byline: John Bagnato "The entire hospital industry renders its highest bills to the customers who are least able or likely to pay.'' That's quite a remarkable statement, especially coming from Trevor Fetter, chief executive officer of...

Province alums back in game.(Province Healthcare Co.)(Daniel Slipkovich )(Thomas Anderson )
May 9, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro Daniel Slipkovich and Thomas Anderson didn't stay out of the acute-care hospital business for very long. Both were executives at Province Healthcare Co. who left when LifePoint Hospitals bought the company last...

Clarion call; National forum on patient safety stresses disclosure.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Sue Sheridan's voice cracked as she recalled two preventable medical errors that changed her life forever and for the worse. In 1995, Sheridan and her husband, Pat, were relieved to hear that a magnetic resonance...

Three hospitals befriend nurses.(Hopkins County Memorial Hospital)(Wise Regional Health System)(Tyler County Hospital)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Paul Barr Three Texas hospitals were named "nurse friendly'' under a new program of the Texas Nurses Association designed to attract more nurses to rural Texas hospitals. Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, Sulphur Springs; Wise...

Fresenius to buy renal rival.(Fresenius Medical Care AG)(Renal Care Group Inc.)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Paul Barr Consolidation in the dialysis-care market continued last week with Fresenius Medical Care's agreement to buy Renal Care Group for $3.5 billion in cash, $119 million of which would go to Renal Care executives and...

All's fair in healthcare? Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital alleges HCA Midwest Division conspired with local payers to drive it out of business.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano During its muscle-flexing heyday in the mid-1990s, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. developed a well-deserved reputation for hard-nosed business tactics, pressuring managed-care companies to exclude its rivals from the...

Late News; Medicare needs boost: report.
May 9, 2005... Increased efforts are needed to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries, despite signs of progress, according to a report released by the Commonwealth Fund. Delivery of services targeted as national priorities, such as mammography, heart-attack...

A shift for VHA; New approach aims to give members more cash back.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospital alliance VHA will launch a new business model on July 1 aimed at what officials describe as greater efficiency, flexibility and transparency-and ultimately more cash-for its roughly 1,400 hospital members. ...

Making the best of it; Tenet's quarterly results finally approach profitability.(Tenet Healthcare Corp)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro Tenet Healthcare Corp. reported first-quarter results that came close to being its first profitable quarter since 2002, but the company isn't wavering from its public outlook that break-even is its best-case scenario...

Beyond Scruggs; It's government that may force not-for-profits to act on uninsured billing.(Richard Scruggs)
May 9, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed I have been hearing some crowing lately about the failure of Richard Scruggs, et al, to gain any traction with their federal lawsuits alleging that not-for-profit hospitals bilk the...

LETTERS; The top women: feedback.(Letter to the Editor)
May 9, 2005... Editor's note: In our April 18 cover story we unveiled the first annual list of the Top 25 Women in Healthcare ("Women even the odds,'' p. 6.) In an accompanying editorial, "It's women's turn'' (p. 22), Editor David Burda described how the...

3 "uninsured' bills in limbo.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Hollywood gives us retreads of old clunkers like "The Amityville Horror'' and "House of Wax.'' In Washington, lawmakers remake old bills that never went anywhere the first time around. During national "Cover the...

N.J. psychiatric hospital ready to sing out for Woody Guthrie.
May 9, 2005... A New Jersey state psychiatric hospital that has turned over 300 acres of its property for a public park will celebrate the spot's August debut with a concert tribute to the facility's most famous former patient-Woody Guthrie. Having...

Other Voices.(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... "The president just ended a 60-day whirlwind tour to try to sell his Social Security plan. But almost everyone inside the Beltway, and a growing number outside, know it's going nowhere. Polls show most Americans don't want to tinker with Social...

Staff wins two Lisagor awards.(Modern Healthcare )(Brief Article)
May 9, 2005... Byline: David Burda, Editor Modern Healthcare is pleased to announce that it has received two prestigious Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism from the Chicago Headline Club, the Chicago chapter of the Society of Professional...

A shot in the arm; Nurses hit D.C. to push national initiatives.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Pennsylvania has a 16% vacancy rate for nurses, but that doesn't apply to Pennsylvania Hospital. It has managed to keep its vacancy rate at 2%, partly by being ahead of the country in limiting nurses' patient loads...

Florida remains a trauma center; Half a year after hurricanes, the media has moved on but crisis continues.
May 9, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Lost in the endless spin of the news cycle-coming before the Scott Peterson trial, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the Terri Schiavo case and the latest terror attacks...

Hospitals mum on bill policies.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Laura Benko By mid-2003, the nation's hospitals were knee-deep in congressional investigations and bad publicity over their aggressive billing and collection practices. The American Hospital Association responded, calling on...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Monsour Medical Center discontues contracting with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association)(Jonathan Perlin joins United States. Department of Veterans Affairs)
May 16, 2005... * The revolving door seems to have spun out of control at Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette, Pa., while Western Pennsylvania's largest insurer, Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, terminated its contract with the embattled hospital. Earlier...

Detective work; AHIMA to study how information technology can help fight healthcare fraud.(Information Edge)(American Health Information Management Association)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor While the American Health Information Management Association hasn't traded in its medical records or healthcare information-technology hats to join the antifraud police, the Chicago-based organization has capitalized on...

IG nominee placed on hold while senators make points.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
May 16, 2005... Dan Levinson must be feeling like a bit of a sacrificial lamb. His nearly year-old nomination to be the first permanent occupant of HHS' inspector general's office since the pistol-packing Janet Rehnquist left in June 2003 took another...

HHS mute on Medicaid panel; Lawmakers, providers offer advice on commission.(Late News)(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Ralph Loos HHS officially remained silent on details of the Medicaid Commission that will address how to cut $10 billion from the program over five years, but that has not stopped interested parties from weighing in on what the...

Northeast.(Regional News)(Jim Douglas provides grants for medicaid)(Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and Montgomery Hospital Medical Center to exand clinical services)
May 16, 2005... MONTPELIER, Vt.-Gov. Jim Douglas last week proposed a five-year, $235 million plan for statewide healthcare coverage and reforms to focus medical care on chronic conditions. A 3% tax on health insurance premiums would raise an estimated $20...

Curbing their enthusiasm; Physicians show reluctance to reveal performance data: study.(Physician Affairs)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician On one hand, payers and government are pushing hard to make physician-specific performance data available to the public-for many admirable reasons, among them improving physician accountability and patient safety....

Ready to spend? Leavitt says HHS will be "aggressive' on IT projects.(The Week In Healthcare)(Department of Health and Human Services)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Ralph Loos The federal government seems ready to put its checkbook where its rhetoric has been on the subject of health information technology. Last week, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt held a briefing on healthcare IT, in which he...

Scrushy's defense rests; Defendant doesn't testify; case goes to jury soon.(The Week In Healthcare)(Richard M. Scrushy)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone An unexpected decision by Richard Scrushy's defense to rest in his criminal trial opened the door to a possible jury verdict as soon as this week. Closing arguments, scheduled to begin May 16 in U.S. District...

Hospitals get some back; CMS finally issues rules for doling out $1 billion for care of illegal immigrants.(The Week In Healthcare)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong It's a token amount but still a good first step. That's the evaluation hospital industry executives gave to last week's announcement that $1 billion will be finally disbursed to providers of emergency care for illegal...

Consolidation action; Huron deal is latest among healthcare consultants.(The Week In Healthcare)(Huron Consulting Group merges with Speltz & Weis)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Healthcare consulting continued its turbulent consolidation streak last week and brought a big payout to the two founders of an East Coast-based turnaround firm who are former hospital administrators. Huron...

Rural Route; Healthcare organizations lead drive for quality measures specific to rural hospitals.(Special Report)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Rural hospital leaders are faced with a conundrum when it comes to measuring quality. They want to jump onboard the quality-reporting train that's charging through the industry, but many believe the current...

Briefly: Finance.(The Week In Healthcare)(profits of Vanguard Health Systems Inc.)(losses and share prices of McKesson Corp.)(sales and securities of MedCath Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 16, 2005... Vanguard's profits up 42% * Vanguard Health Systems, Nashville, said last week that its profits increased 42%, to $19.6 million, for its third fiscal quarter, compared with profits of $13.8 million for the three months ended March 31,...

And then there were three; With consolidation leaving three major players in each sector of the medical device industry, what happens to competition?
May 16, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker The medical device industry is engaged in a feeding frenzy, gobbling up competitors in an effort to shore up market share, reinvigorate sales forces and resupply product pipelines. Though it's likely a cyclical,...

Florida's Medicaid experiment; Plan could eventually give insurers authority over scope of coverage.(Regional News)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's overhaul of Medicaid will start small, but it may someday give insurers broad control over the scope and amount of medical coverage for Florida's low-income and disabled patients. In the...

To the class of 2005; Advice to graduates on how to use attitude to achieve success.(Lauer's Letter)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Graduation time is here again, and with it comes the annual pilgrimage of highly paid speakers to college campuses. The idea is that these celebrity pundits tell the...

Lessons from the Shriners; Those guys in the funny hats make possible free hospital care for children.(Opinions)
May 16, 2005... Byline: William Schumacher You hear a lot from the cup-is-half-empty crowd these days about the U.S. healthcare system, and certainly there is a lot to be concerned about. The ranks of the uninsured continue to grow, malpractice is driving...

High alert; Hospitals try to beef up security after JCAHO scams.(The Week In Healthcare)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor While the Department of Homeland Security isn't characterizing recent incidents of intruders seeking entry to hospitals as terrorist threats, the federal department said it has set up a system to report and gather data...

Midwest.(Regional News)(St. Luke's Hospital to renovate heart centers)(OhioHealth to build hospital)(Menorah Medical Center to build medical center)
May 16, 2005... SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board earlier this month approved a $126 million expansion of 333-bed Provena St. Joseph Medical Center, Joliet, Ill.; rejected for the second time a proposal by Advocate Health Care to...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Frank Rinker terminated from Gwinnett Health System)(James Varnum retires from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center)(Michael Crabb III joins Avondale Partners)
May 16, 2005... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Frank Rinker, 59, has stepped down as CEO of Gwinnett Health System, Lawrenceville, Ga., telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was forced out of his post. "It's not ever been mutual. They retired me,'' he told...

South.(Regional News)(LifePoint Hospitals buys Danville Regional Medical Center and Province Healthcare Co.)(Renaissance Healthcare Systems to open an acute-care hospital)
May 16, 2005... DANVILLE, Va.-LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., signed a definitive agreement earlier in the month to buy 235-bed Danville Regional Medical Center for undisclosed terms. Danville Regional has annual revenue of about $180 million, making it...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
May 16, 2005... "It's tempting to applaud Washington for picking up more of the healthcare costs for treating illegal immigrants in the country, except that spending $1 billion of taxpayers' money to reimburse hospitals and doctors raises serious questions...

Indicted; Former CON official accused of extortion, kickbacks.(The Week In Healthcare)(certificate-of-need)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Stuart Levine, a former health insurance executive and past vice chairman of Illinois' hospital certificate-of-need agency, was accused of extortion, fraud and accepting kickbacks in an indictment announced by the U.S....

Medicaid at a crossroads; Panel should work on streamlining program, not cutting much-needed benefits.(Opinions)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed I have some advice for the national commission that will address how to cut $10 billion from Medicaid and review its long-term future: Please don't do what so many states are doing, which...

Permanent ban; Bill would block specialty hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(Hospital Fair Competition Act of 2005)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano and Tony Fong Two powerful senators kicked off the newest round in the legislative fight over specialty hospitals last week, introducing a bill that would impose a permanent ban on physician referrals to boutique...

Easing the shortage; Law adds 50,000 visas for nurses, therapists.(The Week In Healthcare)
May 16, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Business stalled for Evans Clements' 2-year-old international recruiting firm after the State Department in January sharply restricted visas from the Philippines, India and China. Clements' Nashville-based...

Late News; CNA makes move outside Calif.(California Nurses Association gets labor support)(Walter Reed Army Medical Center to be closed)(Western Pennsylvania Hospital sued by fired doctor)
May 16, 2005... The California Nurses Association took a step toward becoming a national competitor to the American Nurses Association, winning its first labor election outside California. Cook County, Ill., nurses voted 955-487 to leave the ANA-affiliated...

Citizen- legislator; Oklahoma's Coburn--despite what Senate rules say--isn't ready to hang up his stethoscope.(Healthcare Profile)(Tom Coburn)(Interview)
May 23, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn In January, as President Bush began his push for Social Security reform, labeling it a crisis, newly seated U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn was, characteristically, already off message. Asked about his primary legislative...

Something was missing at TEPR in Salt Lake City.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(Antonella and Uberto Visconti di Modrone Campanile)
May 23, 2005... David Brailer being a no-show at the annual TEPR healthcare information technology show in Salt Lake City last week was akin to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir skipping Sunday service. The faithful were gathered at the 21st annual edition of...

Certificate of authenticity? CPE credential gains in popularity and status, but don't expect a physician-executive "specialty' anytime soon.(Special Report)(certified physician executive)(Column)
May 23, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Like many of his fellow physician-executives, Michael Perry moved into a management role almost by accident about five years ago, when he was recruited in May 1999 for a job as chief physician officer at Freeport...

Learning and leading; Early experiences served Joel Allison well in his pursuit of comprehensive IT at Baylor.(CEO IT Achievement Award)(Column)
May 23, 2005... Byline: Linda Wilson Early in his career as a healthcare chief executive officer, Joel Allison learned the hard way about how not to approach investments in information technology. When he arrived at a hospital in Corpus Christi,...

Leading the way; This year's winners knew everyone in their organization needed a unified goal.(CEO IT Achievement Award)
May 23, 2005... Byline: H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president-CEO The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and our members congratulate the recipients of Modern Healthcare's 2005 CEO IT Achievement Award, co-sponsored by HIMSS. These CEO...