Modern Healthcare articles from October 2003

Modern Healthcare archives from October 2003

Keeping the women on board; Hospitals must work overtime to retain the majority of their employees.(Publisher's Letter)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Charles S. Lauer Recruiting workers is a top priority for every healthcare organization today. Getting the right people in the right jobs is no easy matter and hiring mistakes can be disastrous. Most of you have witnessed what one...

The intractable coverage crisis; Underlying factors of cost increases, overutilization aren't easy to solve.(Opinions-Editorials)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed Once again a spike in the number of uninsured Americans is front-page news. Even the normally vacuous TV news shows picked it up. It's already a central theme of the presidential...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(it is absurd that another 2.4 million people in the U.S. became uninsured last year)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... "It is absurd that losing a job in the wealthy (U.S.) means losing coverage for healthcare. Yet an additional 2.4 million people became uninsured last year after they became unemployed or moved to jobs where their employers don't provide health...

Kate and Laurance Eustis Chapel, New Orleans; Citation/built.(Special Feature)(Eskew+Dumez+Ripple buils a new chapel for the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: New chapel Client: Ochsner Clinic Foundation, New Orleans Project architect: Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, New Orleans Construction manager: Construction South, Metairie, La. Completed: January 2002 Size: 1,000...

Building finances; HCA expects big profit from building operator sale.(Late News)(HCA Management Company Inc.)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic HCA expects a large gain from the sale of its medical office building operator, MedCap Properties, to a joint venture of GE Commercial Finance and Health Care Property Investors. The deal, which ranks among...

Phoenix Children's Hospital, facility redevelopment; Citation/built.(Special Feature)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Children's acute-care hospital Client: Phoenix Children's Hospital Project architect: Karlsberger Cos., Columbus, Ohio Construction manager: Hunt Construction Group, Phoenix Completed: April 2002 Size:...

HealthSouth busy as a bee.(The Week in Healthcare)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Vince Galloro HealthSouth Corp. was busy last week, and only some of the developments were related to the allegations that the company inflated profits by $2.5 billion. HealthSouth said it would split its ambulatory services...

Mixing politics with pleasure; An AHA vice president organizes a fund-raiser for the Bush-Cheney campaign. Does this constitute a conflict of interest?
October 6, 2003... Byline: Jeff Tieman and Tony Fong A lobbyist for the American Hospital Association last week held a fund-raiser for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, raising questions about the fuzzy line between personal advocacy and the industry's...

In the crossfire; Missouri hospitals ready defenses against law allowing concealed weapons.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Patrick Reilly Kevin Kast, the president of SSM St. Joseph Hospital West and SSM St. Joseph Health Center, both in the St. Louis area, never imagined that in his position as a healthcare executive he would play the role of...

Briefly: Washington.(The Week in Healthcare)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... NIH outlines research `road map' * Community healthcare providers would be more active in medical research under a five-year, $2.1 billion plan the National Institutes of Health announced last week to speed the transition of medical...

Late News; CMS to cover implantation.
October 6, 2003... The CMS said it intends to cover the implantation of left ventricular assist devices as permanent support for Medicare patients in end-stage heart failure. In a memo, the agency said only hospitals that had implanted at least 15 LVADs from Jan....

Mass exodus; Oregon's Regence to drop traditional HMO.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Laura B. Benko In a strong sign that traditional managed care has had its day, Oregon's largest health insurer will exit the HMO business entirely by the end of 2004, opting instead to steer its members into a new consumer- driven...

Up in arms-for now; Rise in uninsured draws immediate reaction.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Tony Fong From providers to politicians to business leaders, news that 2.4 million more Americans went without health insurance in 2002 drew cries of outrage and calls for immediate action-again. Last week, the U.S. Census...

Style and substance; Winners in Design Awards capacity to adapt.(Special Feature)(a disucssion of the 18th annual Design Awards sponsored by Modern Healthcare and the American Institute of Architects' Acedemy of Architecture for Health)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Susanna Moon Award-winning healthcare designs combine aesthetics and functionality to meet the needs of providers, patients and their families, as well as the communities they serve, say judges in the 18th annual Design Awards...

Naval Hospital Bremerton (Wash.), clinic addition and renovation; Honorable Mention/built.(Special Feature)(NBBJ builds a clinic for the U.S. Navy)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Clinic Client: U.S. Navy Project architect: NBBJ, Seattle Construction manager: Harper/Nielsen Dillingham Builders, Portland, Ore. Completed: August 2001 Size: New: 156,860 square feet, including a...

Branching out; Newly renamed HPA to enter acute-care market.(The Week in Healthcare)(OrthoNeuro Corp. is renamed Hospital Partners of America, as it expands its operations)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Vince Galloro Specialty surgical hospitals alone have turned out to be too narrow a niche for the company formerly known as OrthoNeuro Corp., Charlotte, N.C. Renamed Hospital Partners of America (HPA), the company last week...

Briefly: Insurers.(The Week in Healthcare)(health care industry news briefs)
October 6, 2003... WellPoint names new CEO * WellPoint Health Networks, Thousand Oaks, Calif., named Rebecca Kapustay chief executive officer of its recently acquired Cobalt Corp. unit last week, replacing Stephen Bablitch, who will remain chairman of the...

AHA honor for Grassley shows a knack for political timing.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(multiple topics)
October 6, 2003... The American Hospital Association's growing enthusiasm for Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) probably couldn't come at a better time. Last week, as House and Senate negotiators continued work on a $400 billion Medicare reform bill, the AHA...

Design Awards judges.(Special Feature)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Steven Bjelich, president and chief executive officer, St. Francis Healthcare System, Cape Girardeau, Mo. Frank Byrne, executive vice president, Parkview Health, Fort Wayne, Ind.; president, Parkview Health Foundations, Fort Wayne ...

Before breaking ground, take stock; Spending millions on a new hospital won't fix a dysfunctional organization.(Opinions-Commentary)
October 6, 2003... Byline: D. Kirk Hamilton Too often, a hospital construction project is the glorious swan song of a distinguished leader, rather than a new facility that reflects a high-performance organization through improved efficiencies and outcomes...

Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, R.I., ambulatory-care addition and renovation; Honorable Mention/built.(Special Feature)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Outpatient-care facility Client: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence, R.I.; U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, Washington Project architect: Payette Associates, Boston Construction manager: H.V. Collins...

St. Charles Center for Health and Learning, Bend, Ore. Citation/built.(Special Feature)(Skanska)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Health and learning center Client: St. Charles Medical Center Project architect: Callison, Seattle Construction manager: Skanska, Beaverton, Ore. Completed: July 2002 Size: 29,500 square feet Cost:...

Detroit Medical Center, Lawrence and Idell Weisberg Cancer Center, Farmington Hills, Mich. Award of Excellence/built.(Special Feature)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Cancer center Client: Detroit Medical Center Project architects: Cannon Design, Grand Island, N.Y.; TMP Associates, Detroit Construction manager: George W. Auch Co., Pontiac, Mich. Completed: August 2001 ...

Committed commuter; MedPAC's chairman lives far from D.C., but he's never far removed from the business of Medicare.(Healthcare Profile)(Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Tony Fong Take a quick look at his resume and most would agree that Glenn Hackbarth easily qualifies as a quintessential Washington insider. But these days it can be hard to find the chairman of the Medicare Payment Advisory...

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando, Fla. Honorable Mention/built.(Special Feature)(Brief Article)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Cancer center Clients: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Orlando (Fla.) Regional Healthcare System Project architect: Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz, Winter Park, Fla. Construction manager: Skanska, Orlando, Fla. ...

NQF offers nursing criteria.(The Week in Healthcare)(National Quality Forum)
October 6, 2003... Byline: John Morrissey Seeking to correlate nursing practices with patient outcomes, the National Quality Forum last week proffered the first set of national-standard measures for weighing the impact of nursing care in hospitals. The...

Funding fight; Campaign seeks to boost indirect education payments.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano Teaching hospitals are mounting an all-out blitz on Congress, pressuring lawmakers to boost Medicare funding after suffering through a nearly 30% reduction in payments since 1997 for indirect medical education. ...

Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Denton A. Cooley Building, Houston; Award of Excellence/built.(Special Feature)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Cardiovascular teaching hospital Clients: St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, and the Texas Heart Institute, Houston Project architect: Morris Architects, Houston Construction manager: Linbeck Construction,...

Kaiser Permanente East Los Angeles medical office building; Honorable Mention/built.(Special Feature)
October 6, 2003... Type of facility: Medical office building Client: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Project architect: Taylor & Associates Architects, Newport Beach, Calif. Construction manager: Kaiser Permanente Construction Services, Los Angeles...

Deadline dash in Ohio; Legislative limit on specialty hospitals may backfire.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 6, 2003... Byline: Mark Taylor Call it an unanticipated consequence of legislation. When the Ohio House of Representatives passed a two-year moratorium on the construction of new for-profit, physician-owned specialty hospitals last month, it...

Corrections.(The Week in Healthcare)(Correction Notice)
October 13, 2003... The headquarters of the Hunter Group, a turnaround firm, was misidentified in the Sept. 15 News Makers column (p. 30). The firm is based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

A different kind of pioneer; AHA lobbyist's rationale doesn't answer questions raised by her Bush fund-raiser.(Opinions-Editorials)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Neil McLaughlin, Assistant Managing Editor When Americans hear the word "pioneer,'' they think of the intrepid 18th and 19th century souls who journeyed into untamed territory in search of a better life. Mary Beth Savary Taylor...

Settlement at Fletcher Allen.(The Week in Healthcare)(Fletcher Allen Health Care is paying $1 million to Vermont and the federal government)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Tony Fong Fletcher Allen Health Care last week agreed to pay $1 million to the federal government and Vermont, ending one piece of a major investigation into an expansion project whose price tag has more than doubled since it was...

CON conflict; HMA wins Fla. OK but still may face hurdle.(The Week in Healthcare)(Health Management Asoociates faces additional legal challences for its planned hospital in Florida)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Vince Galloro A certificate-of-need battle in Florida could be headed to court, now that state regulators have granted Health Management Associates final approval to build a hospital near the company's headquarters in Naples, Fla....

Time for a change; Current payer systems must be overhauled to reduce complexity, costs.(Opinions-Commentary)
October 13, 2003... Byline: William Jessee Frustration with the administrative complexity of the U.S. healthcare system has reached a fever pitch. Patients, payers, physicians and policymakers agree on at least one thing: The complexity costs big money but...

Taxing solution; Voters OK tax to pay off Slidell debt.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic Buoyed by a state-mandated governance overhaul, Slidell (La.) Memorial Hospital won voter approval this month of a new tax to pay off its long-term debt. Two previous capital proposals, including a larger...

Pleading poverty? Memo suggests hospitals are overcompensated.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Jeff Tieman The group that advises Congress on Medicare shook up the hospital lobby last week when it told policymakers that over the past 10 years the federal government has overcompensated hospitals for inpatient care. The...

Doc surplus no more; Panel tells medical schools to increase enrollment.(The Week in Healthcare)(Council on Graduate Medical Education forecasts doctor shortage)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano After more than a decade of warnings about a doctor surplus, a federal advisory group that tracks workforce issues now says the U.S. should boost its number of medical school graduates by at least 3,000 over the next...

A piece of the action; Service-line joint ventures between hospitals and medical groups are taking partnerships to a whole new level.(Special Report)(Integris Baptist Medical Center teams with Oklahoma City's best-known cardiology practice)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano Faced with the loss of a high-volume medical group to an independent outpatient clinic or a rival hospital, Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City took a bold step three summers ago, carving out its entire...

With bated breath; Though Medicare will begin reimbursing for surgery to aid some emphysema patients, questions remain over benefit, cost.(Medical Advances)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Cinda Becker Thanks to an unprecedented and highly contentious clinical trial that it sponsored, the CMS now has proof in hand that a costly and difficult lung operation offers a modest measure of improvement for a small portion of...

Company offers closer look at health-minded chief execs.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)(news briefs)
October 13, 2003... Where else but in Boca Raton, one of Florida's most affluent cities, would a company offer a free, $2,200 full-body CT scan to the one group most likely to be able to afford it themselves-corporate executives? After all, don't these...

On the move...(News Makers)(health care industry appointment news briefs)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2003... Michael Focht Sr., who left retirement to help Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., deal with a spate of problems, has returned to retirement again, the company said. Focht, 61, retired as Tenet's president and COO in 1999 but...

Spreading its wings; Indiana system shares surgery center expertise.(The Week in Healthcare)(Community Hospitals Indianapolis)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Mark Taylor Indiana is one of the world's largest exporters of corn, soybeans, steel, chemicals and heavy equipment. Now, thanks to an Indianapolis health system, it can add ambulatory surgery centers to the list. Technically,...

Genesis shifts top managers.(News Makers)(Genesis Health Ventures)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Susanna Moon Genesis Health Ventures is reshuffling its top management in anticipation of the company's split later this fall. George Hager Jr., 47, executive vice president and CFO, will head the elder-care business, which is...

Joining forces; Network creates a lower-cost insurance plan for docs.(News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano Last year, Gregory Shypula, an oncologist who practices at 399-bed Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, N.J., spent about $30,000 to cover the cost of providing health benefits for the five full-time employees...

Partners with Giuliani; Former mayor's firm to help GNYHA select GPO.(The Week in Healthcare)(Greater New York Hospital Association, Giuliani Partners, group purchasing organization)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Cinda Becker Looking to bring some cachet to a complex process that threatens to be controversial, GNYHA Ventures, the for-profit subsidiary of the Greater New York Hospital Association, has enlisted the help of former New York...

A match made in heaven; Carondelet merger proves profitable for Ascension.(Late News)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Patrick Reilly Roman Catholic giant Ascension Health is reaping the benefits of its 2002 merger with Carondelet Health System, as net income nearly doubled at the 67-hospital system in its fiscal 2003. St. Louis-based...

Volunteer or else; Scully threatens mandatory quality reporting.(The Week in Healthcare)(CMS Administrator Tom Scully)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Tony Fong With only 10% of the acute-care hospitals in the country reporting quality-of-care data in the first stage of a massive industrywide initiative, CMS Administrator Tom Scully threatened last week to make the process...

Late News; Wholesale prices edge up.(health care industry news briefs)
October 13, 2003... Wholesale prices for general acute-care hospitals rose 0.1% in September and were up a total of 5.3% from September 2002, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index. Prices for physician services rose 0.2% in...

HIPAA unplugged; Troublesome burden of claim transactions sidetracks progress in adopting other cost-cutting standards.(The Week in Healthcare)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 requirement for standardization of electronic claims fails)
October 13, 2003... Byline: John Morrissey Protected by a federal willingness to go easy on regulatory enforcement, the nation's providers have dodged the financial consequences of failing to comply with an Oct. 16 deadline for converting their electronic...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(John Paul to resign post at UPMC Health System)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2003... * John Paul, executive vice president of Pittsburgh's UPMC Health System, will not be returning from a six-month sabbatical as previously announced. The decision was made "after further discussion and careful consideration by the UPMC...

Counting the risks; Study details costs of injuries during hospitalization.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Julie Piotrowski Although injuries during hospitalization are recognized as a major hazard in the healthcare system, little is known about their effective prevention. A new study released last week by the Agency for Healthcare...

California bonanza? Providers and insurers cheer mandatory health insurance law, but buisiness interests look at legal challenge to newly signed bill.
October 13, 2003... Byline: Patrick Reilly Just days before getting voted out of office in a historic recall election, California Gov. Gray Davis gave hospitals, insurers and physician groups what could amount to a going-away present as he signed a bill...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(Brief Article)
October 13, 2003... "With the government wallowing in deficit spending, it is understandable and even encouraging that congressional Republicans are thinking about requiring high-income retirees to pay more for their Medicare coverage.... Many Democrats, but not...

To bosses everywhere; Employers who treat their employees with respect reap benefits.(Publisher's Letter)
October 13, 2003... Byline: Charles S. Lauer I have heard so many stories recently about people being treated badly in the workplace that I wonder what has happened to make this phenomenon so commonplace. Some might say there's too much pressure on everybody....

Reflections on rehab; Personal experiences underscore need to change proposed rules.(Publisher's Letter)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Charles S. Lauer A letter to the editor that Edward Eckenhoff, president and chief executive officer of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, wrote to this magazine recently (Oct. 6, p. 20) should give us all pause....

Reaping rewards; CHW breaks six-year streak in the red.(The Week in Healthcare)(Catholic Healthcare West)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Patrick Reilly Catholic Healthcare West is finally seeing the fruits of its 4-year-old reorganization, as the San Francisco-based system ended the year in the black for the first time in six years, earning $51 million in fiscal...

The code we follow; As we cover healthcare's ethical performance, it's time to share our own rules.(Opinions-Editorials)
October 20, 2003... Byline: David Burda, Editor Pressure to bend the rules surrounds us. In the healthcare industry, that pressure has gotten to more than a few executives, as recent financial scandals can attest. Publishing is no different. When I became...

Take from guilty, give to poor; Settlement calls for money to aid needy in Michigan.(The Week in Healthcare)(United Memorial Health Center)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Mark Taylor There's a certain Robin Hood quality to a recent partnership to provide indigent healthcare between a Michigan hospital that pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges and the U.S. attorney in Grand Rapids, Mich. In...

Out to set the record; With a push from HHS, the effort to create electronic medical records continues to build momentum.(Special Report)(United States Department of Health and Human Services)
October 20, 2003... Byline: John Morrissey Almost out of nowhere, the momentum behind clinical information technology and electronic medical records began to build in the early spring and had fanned out in every direction by summer's end. Long-inert...

Guilty plea in McKesson case.(Late News)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano A former top official with McKesson Corp., the San Francisco-based health-services giant, pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges in connection with a massive accounting scandal that foreshadowed Enron, Global...

Nominees sought for Health Care Hall of Fame.(News)
October 20, 2003... Modern Healthcare is inviting readers to submit nominations for the 2004 Health Care Hall of Fame induction. The program honors men and women who have made outstanding contributions to healthcare in this country and around the world. More than...

House vs. Senate; Medicare deadline passes without reform compromise.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Jeff Tieman A Republican-set deadline to complete Medicare reform negotiations came and went last week as lawmakers continued their struggle to agree on the $400 billion legislation they've been debating since July. Both the House...

His lips are sealed; He talked on TV, but Scrushy takes Fifth in House.(Late News)(Richard Scrushy)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Tony Fong Less than a week after declaring his innocence on national television and pointing the finger of blame at his underlings, Richard Scrushy, the founder of HealthSouth Corp., refused to answer questions before a House panel...

Adding up quality standards; Leapfrog works on weighted evaluation system.(The Week in Healthcare)(Leapfrog Group)
October 20, 2003... Byline: John Morrissey Hospitals participating in the Leapfrog Group's quality initiative soon may be graded on their adherence to 27 safe practices using a weighted system that values some more than others, depending on the results of a...

Family doctors seek new image by renaming their 'practice'.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
October 20, 2003... Toss out the term "family practice.'' Outdated, inexact and now inoperative, it no longer will be used to describe those doctors who primarily engage in comprehensive healthcare for families and individuals of all ages, according to a new edict...

Briefly: Earnings.(The Week in Healthcare)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2003... UnitedHealth's profits rise 35% * UnitedHealth Group, Minneapolis, last week posted a 35% jump in third-quarter profits, surpassing Wall Street's expectations, as it raised premiums, cut expenses and benefited from slowing medical cost...

Other Voices.(Opinions-Editorials)(Brief Article)
October 20, 2003... "A child who is suffering deserves to have palliative care, but he also deserves to have curative treatment as long as there's any hope of defeating the disease. Most children, however, cannot get both. Under Medicare rules, a patient must be...

Not yet; Judge delays final approval in Aetna settlement.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 20, 2003... Byline: Laura B. Benko In a move that caught many off guard, a federal judge in Miami delayed granting final approval to a $470 million settlement reached by Aetna and more than 950,000 doctors who say they routinely were shortchanged by...

Trading places; Vendors walk the floor while hospital executives man booths at unusual purchasing exhibit in Florida hosted by NCI.
October 20, 2003... Byline: Cinda Becker Antoinette Horn was waiting in her assigned 10-by-10-foot cubicle on the JW Marriott's cavernous exhibition floor, readying herself for an unleashing of zealous suppliers pitching everything from a new high-tech fabric...

Second time around; In 'defensive move,' Texas hospital files for Chapter 11.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic A physician-owned hospital in El Paso, Texas, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to seize control of its cash flow from bankrupt healthcare finance firm DVI. It's the second...

Sense of urgency; California attorney general asked to force merger meant to save hospital.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Laura B. Benko In an unusual move, City Council officials in Santa Paula, Calif., plan to ask the state attorney general to force the area's only hospital to complete a long-delayed merger intended to rescue the financially...

Bad news on bad debt; Uninsured make dent in hospitals' earnings.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Vince Galloro The rising numbers of uninsured patients and higher insurance copayments and deductibles are beginning to show up in the financial statements of investor-owned hospitals. Nashville-based HCA said last week that...

Capital crunch; HFMA report indicates widening financial gap.(The Week in Healthcare Healthcare Financial Management Association)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic A report to be released this week by the Healthcare Financial Management Association says many hospitals may not have access to the capital they need to renovate and expand their facilities in the face of...

Separation of health, state; Recent legislation has providers caught in the debate over government involvement in personal medical decisions.
October 27, 2003... Byline: Michael Romano State and federal governments have always been deeply involved in U.S. healthcare, paying a huge portion of the nation's $1.5 trillion medical bill. Now, however, in the wake of a flurry of legislative activity over...

Maybe next year; Like a Series for Cubs and Red Sox, universal healthcare seems unattainable.(Opinions-Editorials)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Neil McLaughlin, Assistant Managing Editor In an annual triumph of hope over experience, Cubs and Red Sox fans begin dreaming of the World Series each spring. And just about every fall, like this one, experience sends them into...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)(Brief Article)
October 27, 2003... Three Chicago-area hospitals have named new top executives in an unusually active transition period. Louisville, Ky.-based Merit Health Systems named Gregory Cierlik as president and CEO of its Lincoln Park Hospital in Chicago, formerly...

On the move...(News Makers)(Brief Article)
October 27, 2003... Jack Friedman is the new president of 1.1 million-member Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oregon, Portland, and executive vice president of the Regence Group, an affiliation of Blues plans in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington state. He...

Change is afoot; Pittsburgh's largest systems undergo major changes in senior management.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Cinda Becker As the march of time increasingly distances the Pittsburgh hospital market from the polarizing 1998 bankruptcy of the Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation, the two largest systems in town have undergone...

Firms for patient response can't get no satisfaction.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
October 27, 2003... You'd think that if anybody would know how to get along, it would be patient-satisfaction firms. Press Ganey Associates, a South Bend, Ind.-based company that evaluates patient satisfaction with healthcare services, said earlier this month...

Send nominations for Trustee of the Year.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Nominations are now being accepted for the 2004 Trustee of the Year awards. The annual competition honors two outstanding trustees for their contributions to healthcare governance-one for small healthcare organizations, those with fewer...

Making it click; Providers are hanging up the phones and heading for the Internet to communicate with health plans. Web-based tools are saving time and money on both ends.(The Edge)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Mary Chris Jaklevic When it comes to conducting business with health plans, the mouse is replacing the speed-dial button. Health plans, once widely accused of delaying payments to hospitals and physicians, are launching...

'Respiratory etiquette'; CDC's SARS draft plan suggests masks for patients.(The Week in Healthcare)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Julie Piotrowski With the potential for severe acute respiratory syndrome to re-emerge this winter in the U.S. and abroad, federal health officials are asking hospitals to consider initiating a major policy change in the diagnosis...

Unraveling NCFE's fiscal woes; Bankruptcy hearings will determine fate of assets from financing company.(The Week in Healthcare National Century Financial Enterprises)
October 27, 2003... Byline: Mark Taylor Three upcoming November and December hearings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Columbus, Ohio, may provide an idea of what is likely to happen to the assets of the bankrupt and scandal-plagued National Century Financial...