Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web for August 15-21.

Iowa Headlines:

Dr. Gawande’s View Of Cutting Health Costs
One man who has the ear of President Obama on health care is Dr. Atul Gawande. He’s a surgeon who also teaches at the Harvard School of Public Health. He says the debate over how to pay for expanding coverage to the uninsured has focused on only two options, raising taxes or rationing care. (August 15, 2009, Guy Raz, National Public Radio)

Grassley says status of ‘public option’ is unclear
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley said Monday that he was unsure what to make of suggestions that President Barack Obama would drop proposals for a new government-run insurance plan. “We’re finding that it’s like a lot of … trial balloons that are put up,” the Iowa Republican said in an interview.  (August 18, 2009, Tony Leys, Des Moines Register)

Boswell may not vote for health care reform
Congressman Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines, says there’s a chance he may not vote for health care reform.  Boswell held a town hall meeting in Sigourney and a man from Norwalk asked him whether he would vote “yes” or “no” on the health care reform plans which have cleared three House committees. (August 15, 2009, O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa)

Hospital officials have concerns on health reform
Area hospital administrators have serious concerns with the health reform legislation being considered by Congress. Their fears have nothing to do with socialized medicine or death panels, as some have worried about in town hall meetings across the country. (August 14, 2009, Christina Crippes, The Burlington Hawkeye)

U.S. Headlines:

Senators Investigate Hospital Purchasing
Lawmakers eager to broaden health care coverage while holding down costs are examining the institutional market for medical supplies, a largely unseen $60 billion-a-year realm where things like bedpans and heart implants change hands.

Senators from committees like finance, judiciary and aging are investigating the practices of companies that represent big networks of hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions. These group purchasing organizations select “preferred” manufacturers and negotiate the prices of medical products, which are a closely held secret. They then use a variety of carrots and sticks to make sure their hospitals buy those brands at the contracted price. (August 14, 2009, Mary Williams Walsh, New York Times)

Lack of Medicare Appointee Puzzles Congress
President Obama has made health care his top priority. He says the cost of Medicare and Medicaid is “the biggest threat” to the nation’s fiscal future.  But to the puzzlement of Congress and health care experts around the country, Mr. Obama has not named anyone to lead the agency that runs the two giant programs. (August 17, 2009, Robert Pear, New York Times)

Doctor shortage looms as primary care loses its pull
Longer days, lower pay, less prestige and more administrative headaches have turned doctors away in droves from family medicine, presumed to be the frontline for wellness and preventive-care programs that can help reduce health care costs.  The number of U.S. medical school students going into primary care has dropped 51.8% since 1997, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). (August 18, 2009, Janice Lloyd, USA Today)

Medicare Test Pays for Hospital Performance
A pilot project by Medicare that links hospital payments to the quality of care has helped prevent infections in pneumonia patients and cut death rates in heart-attack patients, according to data to be released Monday.
In the project, hospitals compete for cash incentives from Medicare, the government insurance program for the elderly and disabled. On Monday, Medicare officials are expected to announce that 225 hospitals will divide $12 million in bonuses; three poor performers will be penalized. (August 17, 2009, Jane Zhang, The Wall Street Journal)

Obama administration hints that public option is not only way to go
Racing to regain control of the health-care debate, two top administration officials signaled Sunday that the White House may be willing to jettison a controversial government-run insurance plan favored by liberals. (August 17, 2009, Ceci Connolly, The Washington Post)