Modern Healthcare articles from October 2005

Modern Healthcare archives from October 2005

OUTSOURCING INS AND OUTS; Add concierge services to the tasks being handled by outsiders. For many hospitals, however, outsourcing is still out of bounds.(Special Feature)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Barbara Kirchheimer Busy doctors, nurses or patients' families may not consider the hospital a logical place to take their dry cleaning. After all, how often do those hospital gowns appear crisply ironed and perfectly tailored? ...

IHI hopes long road show will put quality on the map.(Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
October 3, 2005... The 100K Lives campaign has taken to the streets. Halfway through the 18-month effort to improve the quality of care in the nation's hospitals and save patients' lives, the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement rolled out a...

Inching toward EMRs; Fla. Blues, Humana to share patient data over Web.(electronic medical record)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn Two health insurers decided to share parts of patient records electronically, though the effort falls short of creating a full electronic medical record. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and Humana will team up to...

Different faces, same challenge; New staffers share commitment to the best coverage of healthcare news.(Editorial)
October 3, 2005... Byline: David Burda, editor I'm pleased to announce two key appointments and get our readers caught up on some other personnel changes on the Modern Healthcare editorial staff. First, reporter Paul Barr has been promoted to the...

South.(Regional News)
October 3, 2005... MIAMI BEACH, Fla.-Mount Sinai Medical Center notified Florida regulators last month of plans to build a 260-bed acute-care hospital in northeast Miami-Dade County. The 756-bed Mount Sinai, a not-for-profit teaching hospital, would transfer 260...

Other Voices.(Bill Frist investing in HCA Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... "We are stunned by (Sen. Bill Frist's) recent move to divest himself and his family of controversial stock holdings in hospital giant HCA. Was the move driven by insider information and greed, or did Frist naively and blindly stumble into...

A market doubles--overnight; Baton Rouge hospitals face unprecedented planning and logistical challenges.(Commentary)(Column)
October 3, 2005... Byline: William Holman As Hurricane Katrina brewed in the Gulf of Mexico during the final days of August, more than a million people fled the New Orleans area. Hundreds of thousands found shelter in my community of Baton Rouge, La., just...

Prices fluctuate wildly: GAO; Study finds no correlation between prices, costs.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans In a study that health economists say is an intriguing first, the Government Accountability Office found private insurers pay radically different prices for patients' care from one U.S. city to the next, regardless of...

Patients like HSAs: Blues.(health savings accounts)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Contradicting a recent Commonwealth Fund survey, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association released survey results Sept. 28 that indicated people enrolled in consumer-driven health plans are more satisfied with their coverage than those in...

Agenda forges ahead; DeLay scandal not seen as affecting GOP plans.(Tom DeLay)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong and Matt DoBias Despite a furor over allegations that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a long-term-care lobbying group violated campaign-finance laws, the GOP healthcare agenda continues to move forward and healthcare...

Good news and bad news; EMR financial gains high, quality gains low: study.(electronic medical records)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Solo and small-group physician practices can receive financial benefits from the use of electronic medical records, according to a report in the September-October issue of the journal Health Affairs. But initial...

GE makes big move in IT; Healthcare unit to buy IDX for $1.2 billion.(GE Healthcare)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker GE Healthcare made a big grab for the healthcare information technology market last week when it announced plans to acquire IDX Systems Corp. in Burlington, Vt.-in a deal valued at $1.2 billion. Officials boast...

Charting new HMO territory; The action was in the Northeast last week, as WellPoint moved on WellChoice, and HIP-Group Health merger announced.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko Consolidation continued to reshape the health insurance landscape last week as one national insurer sought out new markets and two regional health plans sought to protect their old turf. The planned mergers...

Talking points; Book tells of how to prepare for the conversations that matter.(Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High book by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan )(Book Review)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director There are times when your ability to be heard by others, get your point across and truly communicate can change your life. Sometimes it can be a key presentation at a...

HHS mum on IT contracts.(Department of Health and Human Services)(Information Technology)(Brief Article)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn HHS left the industry hanging when it declined to announce the winners of three contracts aimed at removing major obstacles to creating a national healthcare information-technology system. Names of the contract...

In the Spotlight.(News Makers)
October 3, 2005... * The American Medical Association and its former CEO, E. Ratcliffe Anderson Jr., settled a lawsuit filed by Anderson in June 2001 charging breach of contract and defamation of character. Terms were not disclosed. Anderson was seeking at least...

Demanding change; Brailer decries healthcare's "broken,' inefficient system.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Problems with the nation's error-prone healthcare system include a culture of low expectations, a lack of public trust and a design that relies on the heroic efforts of individuals to overcome its flaws, said...

Late News; For-profit quality on par.
October 3, 2005... The seven largest publicly traded for-profit hospital companies had quality scores close to the average for all U.S. hospitals, according to an analysis of CMS Hospital Compare data by Morgan Stanley & Co. Triad Hospitals achieved the highest...

Feds turn up heat on HCA.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro The Securities and Exchange Commission stepped up its inquiry into sales of HCA stock by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and the probe now includes some stock sales made by HCA executives, published reports said....

West.(Sutter Health mergers with San Francisco hospitals )(California Pacific Medical Center)
October 3, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO-Sutter Health said it will merge its two San Francisco hospitals, California Pacific Medical Center and St. Luke's Hospital, in an arrangement designed to save the latter from closure. St. Luke's, which serves a large portion of...

Inundated with patients; Hurricanes boost volume at Houston, La. hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 3, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone In the aftermath of two Gulf Coast hurricanes, Houston and Baton Rouge, La., hospitals have struggled to keep pace with increased demand, which isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Last week, Houston hospitals...

Midwestern University plans Ariz. expansion.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
October 10, 2005... Midwestern University, which operates osteopathic medical schools in Arizona and Illinois, announced plans to expand its Glendale, Ariz., campus and increase its medical school class size from 150 students to around 250 over the next several...

Not one but two movie deals in works on Scrushy's life.(Richard Scrushy)
October 10, 2005... If you didn't get enough of former HealthSouth Corp. Chairman and CEO Richard Scrushy during his turbulent tenure, indictment on accounting fraud, lengthy trial and acquittal, you may be able to see more of him in a theater near you. Already,...

Reshuffling the DRG deck; New cardiac DRGs praised for more equitable reimbursements while post-acute-transfer changes are generating some worries.(Diagnosis related groups)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias They have the power to change hospital utilization patterns and hospital balance sheets. They are Medicare's diagnosis-related groups, or DRGs, and with the start of the government's fiscal 2006 on Oct. 1, hospitals...

Catholic-Jewish deal in Ky. Joint venture in Louisville is called "historic'.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Officials touting the merger of Louisville's only Catholic hospital and only Jewish health system say it's a savvy pairing of two dissimilar, but complementary Kentucky healthcare providers. The deal joins Caritas...

Briefly: Hospitals.(The Week In Healthcare)(Community Health Systems intents to acquire Vista Health)(Tenet Healthcare Corp sells hospitals to Karykeion)(Brief Article)
October 10, 2005... Community wants to buy Vista Community Health Systems, Brentwood, Tenn., signed a letter of intent to acquire cash-strapped not-for-profit Vista Health, Waukegan, Ill., whose previous merger provoked a Federal Trade Commission look-back...

It starts with staff satisfaction; Experts link quality to letting all make contributions.(Physician Affairs)
October 10, 2005... Improving patient safety and satisfaction can start with improving the job satisfaction of hospital staff, according to quality experts addressing a conference in late September in Chicago sponsored by Joint Commission Resources and the...

HHS looks for IT fast track; Approved products could hit market by next summer.(The Week In Healthcare)(information technology)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The information technology contracts awarded by HHS last week open the door to electronic health records gaining a stamp of approval as soon as next summer. HHS awarded the three contracts as part of the Bush...

ABOVE-BOARD? Governing bodies for GPOs come in many forms, but how they're formed can be less than transparent.(group purchasing organizations)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Until recently, hospital group purchasing organizations flew under the radar of nearly everyone, including patients, the front-line workers and, arguably, member hospitals' own boards of directors. But that all changed...

Waiting at Rainbow Bridge; A group of friends, canine and human, mourn the loss of one of their own.(Letter to the Editor)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Diane and Scout came into my life almost five years ago. They joined my dog-walking group, or rather we joined them. The dog group starts its walks every morning at...

HCA tries to think small; Company to reorganize hospitals into three groups.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro HCA is trying to enjoy the fruits of being the largest for-profit hospital company in the world, yet garner the advantages of smaller, nimbler companies by splitting its 191 hospitals into three groups rather than...

The business case for reform; Employers must demand needed change to create a sustainable system of care.(Commentary)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brian Klepper and Patricia Salber Among the revelations of the latest Kaiser Family Foundation annual Employer Benefits Survey was a precipitous drop in employer-sponsored coverage. The percentage of employers offering health...

VHA goes for gain-sharing.(The Week In Healthcare)(acquires Goodroe Healthcare Solutions)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospital alliance VHA leapt into the physician gain-sharing business last week with the acquisition of Goodroe Healthcare Solutions, a private consulting firm that has cracked the code for approvals of such programs....

Late News; Feds should pay for poor: study.
October 10, 2005... About 85% of 252 healthcare experts polled for the Commonwealth Fund said the federal government should fund healthcare coverage for all uninsured people earning less than 150% of the poverty level. In addition, 77% said the government should...

Sidestepping Stark; HHS easing way for hospitals to help docs buy IT.(Department of Health and Human Services)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong The threat of prosecution for violation of physician self-referral laws-cited as a major deterrent in the adoption of electronic healthcare technology-could become a thing of the past if HHS proposals made last week...

Ruling a win for Scruggs; Oregon judge grants class-action request.(Richard Scruggs)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Cinda Becker Plaintiff attorney Richard Scruggs last week claimed his first significant legal victory in a sweeping battle over uninsured billing practices at not-for-profit hospitals. An Oregon Circuit Court judge in Portland...

Another try; Nemzoff looking to start his own for-profit system.(The Week In Healthcare)(Joshua Nemzoff)(StoneBridge Healthcare)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro For most of the past 25 years, Joshua Nemzoff has been in the business of negotiating hospital deals in which he was neither buyer nor seller, handling more than $7 billion in healthcare transactions without ever...

Better quality, fewer patients; More plans report quality gains, but they cover fewer.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong The good news is that health plans reporting to the National Committee for Quality Assurance improved in most areas in 2004. The bad news is that fewer Americans are benefiting from those improvements. In its annual...

Connect the dots; Employers and insurers are behind the wheel on "consumer-driven healthcare'.(Editorial)
October 10, 2005... Byline: David Burda, Editor One of the greatest public-relations coups in the history of the healthcare industry is the creation of the term "consumer-driven healthcare.'' Anyone who follows healthcare knows that consumers had nothing to...

Harvard docs are taking their own advice: survey.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
October 10, 2005... Harvard Medical School physicians practice what they preach, according to a report in the October Harvard Health Letter. As part of the publication's 30th anniversary, a survey was conducted of Harvard Medical School faculty physicians that...

On the move ...(News Makers)
October 10, 2005... HOSPITALS Jim Barksdale will become board chairman of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., starting February 2006. Barksdale, 62, who will succeed Arizona businessman Bert Getz, is former president and CEO of Netscape Communications Corp.,...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
October 10, 2005... "As hospitals and clinics commit billions of dollars to new projects to serve patients and higher salaries for their workforces, the announcements are treated as good news, which they are. But later, when these same costs generate statistics...

Sizing up the market; Large IT companies paying little attention to physician practices.(Outsourcing Trends)
October 10, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Earlier this year, the TriZetto Group issued its financial report for 2004, announcing that the company had made a profit for the first time in its eight-year history. In addition to strong software sales, the...

Better communication tied to reduced costs: study.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Family physicians who focus on communicating with patients can lower the overall cost of care, according to a research report published in the September-October issue of the Annals of Family Medicine. A team headed...

Shortage spurs greater use of temporary docs.(temporary physicians)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician More hospitals and medical groups are using temporary physicians because of a national shortage of doctors, according to a survey by a national physician staffing company. Staff Care said its new survey, made...

HealthPartners opens EMR-integrated clinic.(electronic medical records)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician HealthPartners opened a 130,000-square-foot, $22 million specialty clinic in St. Paul, Minn., with fully integrated electronic medical records, allowing physicians at 396-bed Regions Hospital and its clinics to...

Brailer's IT plans draw fire; Privacy, RHIO concerns surface as contracts awarded.(David Brailer)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn The near monolithic public support for the information technology agenda of David Brailer, HHS' national health IT coordinator, is showing signs of cracking. Following the Oct. 6 disclosure of three HHS contract...

Study sees quality gap widening; All may be improving but the best are getting better at a faster rate.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn In aggregate, hospitals are improving their quality of care, but the best hospitals are improving more quickly and are pulling away from subpar hospitals on quality, according to an annual study of hospital performance....

Point, click, cut, close--medical training goes virtual.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
October 17, 2005... If anyone needed any more proof that video games have become a serious business, they need look no further than the products of BreakAway, which makes games for recreation as well as training tools for public safety, military-and now healthcare...

Late News; Euthanasia charges denied.
October 17, 2005... The head of anesthesiology at Memorial Medical Center, New Orleans, said he heard no discussions about nor saw any evidence of acts of euthanasia during the days that followed Hurricane Katrina, contradicting allegations made by a hospitalist...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... "Hopes were high that the president's tax reform panel would start the process of vastly improving the nation's tax code.... The panel favors capping tax deductions for healthcare plans businesses provide to employees.... Deducting healthcare...

The preachin' CFO; Texan mixes numbers and scripture to inspire others.(Arthur Johnson)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko You might call him Houston Town & Country Hospital's "chief inspiration officer.'' Arthur Johnson was recently named chief financial officer and assistant vice president of the new 99-bed hospital, set to open...

Evolving and expanding; Wash. county's only hospital anchors network.(St. Joseph's Hospital (Phoenix, Arizona))(Company Profile)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn In Washington state, the Whatcom Health Information Network, or HInet, began humbly in the mid-1990s as a provider of Internet-based messaging services subsidized by just two organizations. One was 226-bed St. Joseph...

Destination RHIO; As regional data networks continue to grow in number, some find financial strength.(Special Report)(regional health information organizations)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn While regional health information organizations, or RHIOs, are still uncommon-numbering only about 100 nationwide according to a recent survey of the realm-their growth has been rapid and is accelerating. What is far...

Words to live by; Some guidelines for building a better life and career.(Lauer's Letter)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director I call them "terms of endearment.'' Others might call them "keys to success.'' Then there are many books with titles such as The Seven Habits of Highly Effective...

Hospitals taking new look at doc-employment models.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Modern Physician Many not-for-profit hospitals and systems are revisiting physician employment models, a strategy that fizzled for many in the mid-'90s, according to a report by bond-rating agency Moody's Investors Service. But...

Legal implications; National standards needed to ensure interoperability, prevent fraud in EHRs.(Commentary)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Linda Kloss In addition to its essential role in clinical care, the medical record is the healthcare organization's most important business and legal record. Defining this legal record in a predominantly paper environment was a...

It's not just for hospitals; Long-term-care facilities have distinct needs for information systems.(Information Edge)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Rule No. 1 in establishing an electronic medical-records system in a long-term-care setting is that "You don't try to have an acute-care system forced into a nursing home,'' says John Derr, who has developed an...

Corn, soybeans and fiber optics; Ind. county providers make sure network takes root.(Special Report)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Conn Since 1985, Anthony Lennen has worked in administration at Major Hospital in Shelbyville, Ind., a quaint county seat with a fountain in the downtown square. It's the only hospital in a county of about 44,000 people...

Temp industry merger mania; While a backlash from pinched hospitals has cut into revenue, temp firms see chances for growth with spiraling nurse shortage.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Paula Carynski, chief nursing officer at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, scored a $1.2 million victory for her northern Illinois hospital by sharply curbing its use of temporary nurses in 2004. By analyzing...

HCA doesn't hit expectations; Third quarter beset by falling volume, hurricane costs.(Late News)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro HCA said its profits for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 fell short of expectations because of declining patient volume, an increasing percentage of uninsured patients and hurricane-related costs, although a tax...

In deep; The federal spending spree is squeezing out funds for healthcare.(Editorial)(Editorial)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed The levees around the U.S. Treasury have been breached. Fiscal policy is now at sea. Swimming in red ink, policymakers are flailing about, spending unaccounted billions on misdirected...

Universal's behavioral boost; Two acquisitions add day schools to treatment options.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Vince Galloro Just seven months ago, Universal Health Services said that a sale or spinoff of some of its behavioral health facilities was a possibility because the company's executives believed that investors were undervaluing...

ICU effort saved lives, money: organizers; More than 70 hospitals took part in the Keystone: ICU program.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks A quality-improvement program involving intensive-care units at more than 70 hospitals saved an estimated 1,578 lives, $165.5 million in healthcare costs and 81,020 hospital days from March 2004 to June 2005,...

Two Providences seek merger; Deal would create Pacific Northwest powerhouse.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Laura B. Benko Seattle-based Providence Health System is considering a merger with Providence Services, Spokane, Wash., in a nonmonetary deal that would create the largest not-for-profit hospital system based in the Pacific...

On the move ...(News Makers)(Brief Article)
October 17, 2005... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Vanguard Health Systems, Nashville, is promoting Kent Wallace, the top executive of its five-hospital Baptist Health System, San Antonio, to president and COO of Vanguard, replacing Larry Hough, who retired. Before...

GHX to buy Neoforma; VHA sees advantage in single e-commerce platform.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone The sale of Neoforma took a little longer than expected, but in the end, the e-commerce company was sold to a likely party-competitor Global Healthcare Exchange. San Jose, Calif.-based Neoforma-partially owned by...

Focus stays on charity care; New class action filed, as one system wins in court.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor One West Coast Roman Catholic system felt the sting of a newly filed class-action lawsuit on charity care last week, while a Midwest Catholic system celebrated court victories on the issue. And a new study indicated...

Saved by the budget; States' revenue gains stanch some Medicaid cuts: study.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias Revenue gains across all 50 states have resulted in an eleventh hour reprieve from cuts for most-but not all-Medicaid programs, according to a recent study. So claims a 120-page report quietly released in...

Hospital CEOs lead the way; They top not-for-profit pay list and expect even more.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Despite increased scrutiny of executive compensation, hospital chief executive officers again topped the list of highest paid not-for-profit executives and many in the industry expect their pay to continue rising,...

Asset transfers go unseen: GAO; Dems use report to critique commission proposals.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 17, 2005... Byline: Joseph Mantone Government researchers scratched the surface of the claim that nursing-home residents defraud the government by transferring assets to qualify for Medicaid and concluded that states do little to monitor transfers,...

New voice emerging; Nascent think tank may have trouble being heard.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Matthew DoBias A newly minted policy group, which boasts a board of heavy hitters from the public and private sectors, says it wants to become a go-to player for data collection and analysis. Problem is, it's an already crowded...

Outrage and anxiety at ENH.(Evanston Northwestern Healthcare)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Employees and physicians at Highland Park (Ill.) Hospital reacted with outrage, fear and anxiety to last week's decision by Federal Trade Commission Chief Administrative Law Judge Stephen McGuire ordering three-hospital...

Firefighter to fraudfighter; HHS' new inspector general brings decades of government experience, legal scholarship.(United States Department of Health and Human Services )
October 24, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor It's not true that HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson learned everything he needed to know about government from fighting forest fires in Northern California as a college student. But he admits it helped. ...

Fla. pushes ahead; Legislature still must OK Medicaid demo project.(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans Florida's far-reaching bid to move Medicaid into the private market faces one last hurdle after state and federal officials successfully negotiated a waiver that includes up to $1 billion per year in subsidies for...

Get certified; Medical practice administrators need to master a core body of knowledge.(Commentary)
October 24, 2005... Byline: William Jessee There are approximately 200,000 medical practices in the U.S., and almost all the physicians in those practices are certified by their relevant medical specialty boards. Yet a relatively small proportion of those...

South.(Nashville to open new hospitals)(Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital dispute settles)(GP Medical Ventures sale)(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... NASHVILLE-HCA announced on Oct. 19 plans for $517 million in capital projects over three years in the Houston area, including a new hospital in suburban Pearland, Texas, a heart hospital in Webster, Texas, and routine upkeep at HCA's 10 current...

Changing the balance; In ordering Evanston Northwestern to divest a hospital, the FTC could give insurers more power in negotiating with providers.(Federal Trade Commission)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor The Federal Trade Commission last week closed off an avenue that hospitals have used to escape the price-squeezing impact of managed-care consolidation. And those hospitals that dare to bypass the FTC's roadblock may be...

Few deposits; Feds fail to report malpractice cases to databank.(The Week In Healthcare)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Michael Romano HHS, which is supposed to make sure all U.S. hospitals report malpractice payments to the National Practitioner Data Bank, violated its own rules by failing to acknowledge 474 of these cases from three of its...

A call to action; AHIMA members urged to get involved in IT efforts.(American Health Information Management Association)(Inforamtion Technology )
October 24, 2005... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Speakers at the American Health Information Management Association's 77th annual convention told the 4,000 attendees they can influence the direction of the national push to adopt healthcare information technology...

CMS budget passes hurdle.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services )(Brief Article)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Tony Fong Against the odds, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) forged a legislative package at the last minute last week moving cuts to Medicaid and Medicare one step closer to realization. On Oct....

Seeking more disclosure; Proposed 990 Form would ask about loans, conflicts.(not-for-profit reporting form new rules)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Melanie Evans To combat abuse and alleviate public concerns, the Internal Revenue Service is weighing significant changes to disclosure requirements of its 990 not-for-profit reporting form. Earlier this month, the IRS unveiled...

Applying the brakes; UAW deal to affect providers as well as workers.(United Auto Workers union)
October 24, 2005... Byline: Mark Taylor Last week's tentative contract agreement between General Motors and the United Auto Workers union to scale back union healthcare benefits is likely to be a drag on Michigan's healthcare providers in the long term,...

Championing local cancer care; Kurt Tauer honored for his leadership of Community Oncology Alliance.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Kathleen Harkness Passarelli After 20 years at the West Clinic in Memphis, Tenn., Kurt Tauer, M.D., makes it his goal to give patients the best possible cancer care by focusing on the individual rather than the disease. As a...