Modern Healthcare articles from November 2005

Modern Healthcare archives from November 2005

Corrections & Clarifications.(Corrections)(Correction Notice)
November 7, 2005... * The figures provided in the Oct. 3 By the Numbers chart ("Largest healthcare financing companies, p. 42) represent debt, equity and equity-related financing. An updated chart has been posted at the Surveys/Lists/Data section of...

Hospitals Under Fire: How to Respond to Criticism of Tax-Exempt Status.(Straight Talk)
November 7, 2005... Not-for-profit health systems are under the public microscope. Sen. Charles Grassley, (D-Iowa) chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has been critical of the charity care and billing practices of not-for-profit health systems, and vows to...

Increasing the pressure; AHA seeks HHS advisory on JCAHO data mining.(American Hospital Association)(Department of Health and Human Services)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn In an escalation of a data-mining controversy between the American Hospital Association and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the AHA took steps to find out if the JCAHO was violating...

TWO IN ONE; The CMS' strict admissions criteria make long-term acute-care hospitals consider co-locating with skilled-nursing facilities.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone CMS patient admission criteria that took effect about a year ago discourage the model of building long-term acute-care hospitals within acute-care hospitals, but the regulations could help breathe new life into...

Influenza economics; Providers and suppliers who usually reap big profits during flu season might find that a pandemic could backfire on their bottom lines.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Influenza, the commonly known name for a sometimes deadly group of ever-mutating viruses, is for the U.S. healthcare industry the annual little nest egg that can boost hospital admissions and potentially nurse a sick...

In the Spotlight.(Guy Sansone and Martin McGahan appointed by St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers)
November 7, 2005... St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, New York, named Guy Sansone, managing director at turnaround firm Alvarez & Marsal, as its CEO and chief restructuring officer. U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved Sansone's appointment Oct. 28 and the...

Late News; U.S. patients report most errors.(medication errors highest in USA)(University of Chicago Hospitals sued for violating claims act)(Health Management Associates buys Orlando Regional St. Cloud hospital )
November 7, 2005... One-third of patients in the U.S. with more serious health problems experienced medical mistakes, medication errors or inaccurate or delayed lab results-the highest rate among six countries in a survey by the Commonwealth Fund. While the survey...

Grim and grimmer; Medical groups see margins thin, says MGMA.(Medical Group Management Association)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Higher costs and flat reimbursements added up to another year of financial pain for medical groups across the country-and the sharp sting from that one-two punch isn't likely to ease anytime soon, according to the...

Nominees sought for Trustee of the Year.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 7, 2005... Modern Healthcare is now accepting nominations for the annual Trustee of the Year competition. The awards, co-sponsored by executive search firm Witt/Kieffer, honor two outstanding trustees for their contributions to healthcare governance-one...

Don't rebuild--rethink; Gulf Coast can be a model of high-tech healthcare delivery.(disaster relief and information technology for healthcare)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Patrick Kennedy President Bush and Congress have pledged to support an unprecedented rebuilding of the Gulf Coast communities that were devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. When it comes to healthcare, however, rebuilding...

On the move ...(Larry Fields appointed to American Academy of Family Physicians)(Vicki Briggs appointed by Montclair Baptist Medical Center)(NeoPharm appoints Guillermo Herrera )
November 7, 2005... ASSOCIATIONS Larry Fields is the new president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kan. Fields, 56, replaces Mary Frank, who was elected the group's board chairwoman. Fields is a senior partner at the Family Medicine...

Purchase skirts trial; Instead of battling in court, Aultman buys PCM.(The Week In Healthcare)(Aultman Health Foundation)(Professional Claims Management)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em. That would seem to be the legal strategy of the Aultman Health Foundation, which bought a third-party administrator one day before Aultman and the administrator were scheduled to...

On risk and perspective; A conversation gives a friend help with seeing what's important.(Lauer's Letter)(Column)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director A few years ago I had a long talk with a good friend of mine. He had a bad case of the blues. He said his job was boring and he wasn't getting anywhere in his career....

Poor nations see physician 'brain drain,' says study.(Physician Affairs)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The reliance by affluent English-speaking countries on foreign doctors is creating a "brain drain'' in lower-income nations and exacerbating the health problems that those nations face, according to a report in the...

PhRMA backs away from effort to tarnish online drug purchases.(prescription drugs consumer education)
November 7, 2005... A new novel coming out next month features corporate intrigue, shadowy figures from previous high-profile scandals and allegations of covert propaganda. More precisely, it was the writing of the book, The Karasik Conspiracy, that had those...

Preparing for the worst.(pandemic emergency medical services analysed)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone A flu pandemic could cripple the nation's emergency healthcare system. Hospitals' surge capacity-the ability to add additional beds in time of an emergency-likely wouldn't be able to handle a flu pandemic, which...

Giving a little relief; CMS increases payments to hospitals for 2006.(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Despite a scheduled 4.4% cut in Medicare payments finalized last week, help may be on the way for doctors. Last week, the CMS announced the cuts to physician reimbursements along with a 3.7% increase in payments to...

Nothing to sneeze at.(federal grants for flu epidemic management)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias President Bush's pandemic flu strategy tries to prepare for the present with stockpiling and surveillance, and for the future with research and development. Under the proposed epidemic containment strategy, Bush...

Heading home; St. Agnes gets Atlanta CEO Phipps.(Bonnie Phipps appointed as Chief Executive Officer )
November 7, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore recruited Bonnie Phipps, president and chief executive officer of St. Joseph's Health System in Atlanta, to succeed Kenneth Bancroft when he steps down at the end of the year, according...

Briefly: Legal.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville, Ind., won its legal challenge of a county certificate-of-need ordinance and hospital construction moratorium, a victory that allows the hospital to go forward with a $40 million expansion. A U.S. District judge...

The first of many? Ore. system settles Scruggs' charity-care lawsuit.(Richard Scruggs )
November 7, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko In a move that holds uncertain implications for the hospital industry, Providence Health System last week agreed to settle a closely watched lawsuit filed on behalf of uninsured patients who claim the Portland,...

Strong-arming agencies; JCAHO gets into the staffing certification business.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Hospitals paid little heed when the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations began certifying one of their more important kinds of vendors: staffing agencies. But that may soon change. The...

Will it last? Hospital profits hit an all-time high in 2004.
November 7, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Improved operations in 2004 led to a continued rebound among U.S. hospitals, as the industry's profits rose to an all-time record and its net profit margin hit a six-year high. Hospital aggregate profits climbed...

No savings, but plenty of pain; Florida's Medicaid plan would hurt the poor and their healthcare providers.(Editorial)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed I'm mystified by the depth of support for Florida's Medicaid experiment. Newspaper editorialists and the Florida Hospital Association, among others, have lauded Gov. Jeb Bush for his...

Other Voices.(Wal-Mart work force management)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... "The bleak future and the precarious present for Wal-Mart workers was nicely summarized in a memo to the company's board.... Among other things, the Wal-Mart memo proposes changing job descriptions "to attract a healthier, more productive work...

Tenet reports bigger losses.(The Week In Healthcare)(Tenet Healthcare Corp)(Brief Article)
November 7, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, provided an initial accounting of how Hurricane Katrina affected the company's finances, but the deeper problem may be the one that has plagued Tenet for nearly three years. Uncertainty...

On the Move...(John Fay appointed to Inova Health System Foundation )(Jon O'Shaughnessy resigns from Murray-Calloway County Hospital )(Gary Irish appointed to Simi Valley Hospital )
November 14, 2005... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS John Fay was named vice president of the Inova Health System Foundation in Falls Church, Va. Fay, 60, replaces Steve Meyerson, who resigned. Fay spent 17 years in the not-for-profit field at the Cleveland Clinic...

Ruling called HIPAA barrier.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn A little-noticed legal opinion from the U.S. Justice Department may make it more difficult for federal law enforcement officials to prosecute individuals for alleged criminal violations of privacy provisions of the...

Seeking outside help; Know when to get assistance and be sure to find experts.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Thomas Kennedy and James Edwards The financial pressures of our two-hospital system, Greater Hazleton (Pa.) Health Alliance, had been mounting for several years. We had deteriorated to the point where we were losing millions of...

An overlooked condition; For diabetics, the hospital can be a dangerous palce.(Commentary)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Lynn Nicholas In my nearly 30 years working in a hospital and representing hospitals as a state association executive, I never appreciated the double jeopardy faced by individuals who have diabetes when they go to an emergency room...

Editor's Letter.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: David Burda, editor Welcome to Modern Healthcare's third annual Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives. This year, we decided to do things a little differently from the previous guides, published in 2003 and 2004. In the past, we...

NO BTUs about it; Appointing an energy manager is the first important step.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Jennifer Kearney The rising cost of energy is one of the greatest challenges being faced by healthcare institutions nationwide. Driven by factors as diverse and unpredictable as politics, legislation, tightening supply-demand...

Other Voices.(work-based health insurance policies)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... "(It's) a healthcare overhaul potentially more radical than anything Hillary Rodham Clinton ever dared.... It is tucked into the voluminous new report of President Bush's tax revision commission. The grand idea is to sharply limit the amount...

Surprise! It's JCAHO; Regular communication with staff is the best way to stay prepared.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)(int Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Yosef Dlugacz It can be the best of times or the worst of times. When the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations arrived for surprise inspections at several of the hospitals in our healthcare system, I had a...

Special consideration; Physicians and administrators must commit to extensive collaboration.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Douglas Cropper As the number of specialty hospitals in the U.S. continues to increase, the debate over the merit of these facilities rages on. The issues surrounding specialty hospitals are as complex as the myriad motivations for...

Into the great wide open; Leaving C-suite to start consultancy requires huge change in perspective.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Don Sibery After more than 30 years as a healthcare executive-19 of them spent as the chief executive officer of healthcare systems and the balance spent as an operating officer-I decided to resign. I left my position as CEO of a...

Good stewards; Montana clinic works to standardize not-for-profits' benefit guidelines.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Nicholas Wolter We started quantifying community benefits in 1996 by implementing standards, definitions and guidance from VHA and our financial auditors. Our goal was to assure our community and region that as a not-for-profit...

Rushing to save lives; Making a cardiac-arrest team more efficient takes time, dedication.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Tami Merryman Since last December, when the Institute for Healthcare Improvement launched the 100K Lives Campaign, you can barely open a healthcare journal without reading about various quality initiatives that are believed to...

One in a million; Bernard Lachner embodied the best in healthcare executive leadership.(death of Bernard Lachner)(Column)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director A friend called me with the news: Bernard Lachner had died. I had talked to Bernie and his wife Bonnie a few days earlier when they first arrived at their winter home...

Kizer leaving NQF; Forum's president and CEO is heading to Medsphere.(The Week In Healthcare)(Kenneth Kizer resigns from National Quality Forum and joins Medsphere Systems Corp.)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn Kenneth Kizer, the founding president and chief executive officer of the National Quality Forum, will step down after six years at the helm to assume the role of CEO at software developer Medsphere Systems Corp. on Dec....

HHS tries a new spin in effort to publicize senior drug benefit.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(Department of Health and Human Services appointed John Palmer )
November 14, 2005... What with HHS' penchant for video news releases and paid infomercials, you have to wonder whether it's in the business of government or advertising. HHS' latest television foray is a 30-minute paid "national conversation'' on its new...

Not so confidential; Patients have reasons to be so worried about who is seeing their medical records.(Editorial)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed The right to privacy is shaping up as one of the most important legal and legislative battles of the decade, as witnessed in the current Supreme Court confirmation process. For patients...

The laws of attraction; Okla. hospital sets the bar high for its magnet-status nursing program.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Christine Weigel Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City has encountered the same staffing trend facing hospitals everywhere- nurses leaving the profession. Several years ago, we began an in-house initiative to stay ahead of the...

Aggressive steps; States take action against Fla., Wis. hospitals.(finds flaws in billing )
November 14, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Healthcare watchdogs in Wisconsin and Florida took unusually aggressive action against hospitals in recent weeks, putting Wisconsin hospitals on the defensive over uninsured billing practices and shuttering a rural...

Late News; N.C. billing claims dismissed.(North Carolina healthcare case of billing fraud)(Arnold Schwarzenegger)(nurse-to-patient ratios)(Medicare fraud decreases)
November 14, 2005... A state court judge in Charlotte, N.C., dismissed 31 of 32 counts against five North Carolina healthcare systems facing class-action lawsuits for allegedly overcharging the uninsured. Superior Court Judge Forrest Bridges said the plaintiffs had...

Led astray? Charges against local Bon Secours CFO raise questions.(The Week In Healthcare)(David Zilli for financial mischief )
November 14, 2005... Byline: MARK TAYLOR Criminal charges filed Nov. 2 against a former chief financial officer at a Michigan Catholic health system shed light on potential financial mischief by hospital CFOs when they are given financial incentives to boost...

The winning shot; New vaccine technologies to offer pinpoint attacks on a variety of potentially deadly diseases.(Medical Advances)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Barbara Kirchheimer Getting a shot to prevent or treat a disease is arguably the most cost-effective form of medicine in healthcare. So why are there so few vaccine manufacturers, and why is the technology used to make some...

Right on the money; CMS awarding pay-for-performance bonuses.(Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(hospitals)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker The CMS will write out bonus checks for a total of $8.85 million to 123 top-performing hospitals in a groundbreaking pay-for-performance demonstration project that is being coordinated by hospital alliance Premier. ...

Fighting back; If organized labor tries to disparage you, be vocal in your own defense.(Survival Guide for Healthcare Executives)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Ed Finkel Of 33,000 employees at California-based Sutter Health who are eligible to join labor unions, about 12,600 are represented by one of more than a dozen groups. But the Service Employees International Union's United...

From A to Z; Azyxxi system offers access to a wide range of clinical data.(National Institute for Medical Informatics)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Craig Feied The National Institute for Medical Informatics has designed, built and deployed an award-winning, real-time clinical information system called Azyxxi (rhymes with Trixie) that now has 500 terabytes of installed drive...

PRICE CHECK! Insurers are cluing members in on what doctors and hospitals charge.(health care costs)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko Few people would buy a car, a TV or an airline ticket without knowing how much it costs. Many wouldn't even buy a loaf of bread without checking the price tag first. But when it comes to healthcare, most people "buy...

Better too early than too late; Consider difficult questions about early retirement.(health care)(Column)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Robert Pallari A few weeks ago, I was asked to write a short piece about early retirement. Since I announced my retirement from Legacy Health System, Portland, Ore., six months ago and my last official day was Oct. 1, I gather...

Three more leaving early; Prominent executives opting for retirement.(health care industry)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker, Melanie Evans and Vince Galloro The healthcare industry was awash in another wave of early retirements late last week as three more prominent executives decided to call it quits well before the traditional retirement...

Treatment varies with area; Study finds location key in predicting interventions.(geographic location and patients treatment)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The most likely determining factors for healthcare spending and physicians' tendencies to order tests, treatments or referrals appear to be location, location and location, according to a report in the Oct. 24...

Privacy fear factor arises; The public sees benefits to be had from healthcare IT but concerns about misuse of data emerge in survey.(private medical records)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The American public's growing fear that Big Brother-or more likely a current or potential employer-might get his hands on private medical records is creating a barrier to the federal government's goal of moving...

Paying for performance; Executive compensation should be examined from many different angles.(executive evaluation)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Samuel Friede When I told a physician friend I was asked to write an article about executive compensation, he responded that executives are paid too much and that boards rubber-stamp the process. Such a response from a highly...

Touchy issues; Panel pushes national standards.(Commission on Systemic Interoperability )
November 14, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn The Commission on Systemic Interoperability recently tackled head-on a series of controversial privacy issues in its report to Congress that recommends pathways toward a national health information technology system....

Splitting headaches; FTC judge's ruling could have far-ranging impact.(Federal Trade Commission judge Stephen McGuire)(Evanston Northwestern Healthcare merger with Highland Park Hospital)(case of anti trust)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Legal conclusions that could affect hospital antitrust cases for years to come may be buried within a recent ruling by a Federal Trade Commission judge that nixed the 2000 merger of Evanston (Ill.) Northwestern...

VPs of quality see pay jump.(Vice presidents)(Brief Article)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Healthcare's intense focus on quality and patient safety is reflected in the growing importance-and the swiftly ballooning salaries-of individuals who oversee that high-profile area, according to a new national...

A model choice? IT contract winners arouse access suspicions.(Department of Health and Human Services awarded contracts to technology companies)
November 14, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias HHS awarded $18.6 million in contracts to design and implement prototype networks for electronic health records. The choice of large corporations for what is a relatively small contract raised red flags with some...

AMA's operating profit plunges to $15.1 million.(American Medical Association)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician The American Medical Association said it expects to post operating profits of about $15.1 million in 2005, a sharp drop from record-setting earnings of almost $40 million in 2004. The 62% decline is primarily...

LSU School of Medicine may close after hurricane.(Louisiana State University)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Louisiana State University School of Medicine, reeling from budget cuts and lost revenue in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, may have to close its doors if state officials fail to rescue the New Orleans facility with...

FDA beginning campaign to curb medication errors.(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices earlier this month released plans to launch an educational campaign next year in an effort to reduce medication errors that...

Physicians, marketers got to know each other.(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Pediatricians ranked second behind primary-care physicians in the number of visits from drug marketers for the quarter ended in August, according to a survey by Whitehouse, N.J.-based Health Products Research. The survey of more than 2,300...

By the Numbers.(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medicare and medicaid )(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Medicare and Medicaid accounted for 83% of hospitals' charges in 2003 for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is associated with smoking and is considered largely preventable, according to HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and...

Research to find out if soothing sounds ease pain from surgery.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
November 21, 2005... Omaha, Neb.-based Alegent Health is taking part in a research project to see if soothing nature sounds aid in recovery from major spinal surgery. Set to start in December, the randomized clinical trial observing 245 spine surgery patients...

Never enough; Health IT budget could double, but not meet demand.(Information Technology)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias As Congress debates how much it should contribute to the funding of a national health information technology network, one thing's for certain: Whatever it budgets won't be enough to satisfy proponents of the system...

A pretty good year; JCAHO saw profits, exec salaries up in 2004.(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations generated almost $92 million in revenues in 2004, posting a nearly $3.2 million profit, according to the financial Form 990 that not-for-profit...

Top story of the year? Take our survey.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... It's been another year of healthcare headlines, whether it's been squabbles in Washington, fears of a pandemic spanning the globe or news from local hospitals. What do you consider to be the top healthcare business news or healthcare policy...

Comprehensive care; Mass. lawmakers aim to reduce uninsured.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Massachusetts lawmakers moved forward last week with a comprehensive healthcare bill that has $385 million in federal funding at stake. The CMS promised to allocate the funds to the state if lawmakers can put...

Late News; Medicaid faces budget cuts.(House budget bill)
November 21, 2005... The House approved a budget bill that would cut Medicaid by about $12 billion over five years beginning in fiscal 2006, and in a separate vote rejected an appropriations bill that would give HHS $61.7 million for health information technology...

Providers share the blame; Paperwork eats 21% of Calif. healthcare spending: study.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... Byline: LAURA B. BENKO Billing and other insurance-related paperwork consumes 21 cents of every dollar spent on healthcare by privately insured Californians-and contrary to common belief, providers may be as much to blame as insurers,...

Adjusting to new bankruptcy law; Hospitals can expect surge in bad debt, fewer reasons to file for Chapter 11.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospitals probably should steel themselves for a momentary spike in bad debt because of a last-minute rush of personal bankruptcy filings prior to the law that went into effect on Oct. 17. But for the industry in...

Price no object for purchases.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro Health Management Associates is not letting talk that hospital prices are too high deter it from an aggressive acquisition strategy for its fiscal 2006, which began Oct. 1. Prices also aren't deterring several veteran...

Cash works, but so do kudos; P4P studies show recognizing docs' efforts works well.(The Week In Healthcare)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias Money talks, but so does a pat on the back when it comes to rewarding physicians for their work. Results from seven different pay-for-performance models show that while various methods of direct compensation to...

Hospital wins bundling battle; Hillenbrand settles for $337.5 million in antitrust case.(Hillenbrand Industries Inc.)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Thousands of hospitals may be eligible for part of a $337.5 million private antitrust settlement tentatively resolved last week with hospital supplier Hillenbrand Industries, parent company of Hill-Rom. In a move...

Tenet settles Redding case; Docs won't face criminal charges for extra procedures.(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor After a three-year investigation, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Calif., did not bring criminal charges against doctors accused of performing unnecessary cardiac procedures at Redding (Calif.) Medical Center, the...

Local building ban is tossed; After an Indiana judge rejects a county CON ordinance, attention shifts to the state level in hospital construction battles.
November 21, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor The ability of local municipalities to control healthcare construction suffered a major setback earlier this month when a federal judge tossed out a local Indiana certificate-of-need ordinance and said a planned...

Grady CEO calls it quits; Helped lower losses but seeks new challenge in Calif.(Chief Executive Officer)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano Andrew Agwunobi, who has struggled for about 21/2 years to rein in multimillion-dollar losses at Grady Health System in Atlanta, abruptly resigned as president and CEO last week to accept a job as COO of 14-hospital...

Medicaid revisited; Florida governor touts changes as a model for salvaging a broken program.(Commentary)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Jeb Bush It's no secret that Florida's Medicaid program-like those of many other states-is broken. Not only is Medicaid's budget growing at an unsustainable rate, but ever increasing dollars are being spent on indefensibly poor...

ER doc organization keeps conference in New Orleans.(Physician Affairs)(Emergency physicians)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Emergency physicians-among the first healthcare professionals to respond in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina this summer-will return to New Orleans next October for a far less-urgent purpose: the annual meeting...

Persistence pays off; Winners don't let setbacks steer them off course.(Lauer's Letter)
November 21, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Courage and creativity have always fascinated me. I love stories about people who might not have all the advantages in the world but who use their entire being to...

In the Spotlight.(H. Ray Welch promoted by Mercy Health System)(Howard Chase resigns from Methodist Health System)(Brief Article)
November 21, 2005... * H. Ray Welch has been promoted to president and CEO of Mercy Health System, Philadelphia, replacing Gavin Kerr, who left earlier this year to become COO of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Welch, 58, has been Mercy's senior vice...

On the move ...(News Makers)
November 21, 2005... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS George Graham, president and CEO of Torrance (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center, is retiring. Graham, 73, will be replaced by Craig Leach, 50, the facility's COO. Graham will keep a seat on the boards of the hospital and...