Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web for August 29-September 4.

Iowa Headlines

Survey: Iowa AARP members support health care reform
An overwhelming majority of AARP members in Iowa want some kind of health reform, according to a new survey released Sep. 1 by AARP.   Results show 91 percent of members want at least minor changes to the country’s health care, while two-thirds said the system needs “major changes or a complete overhaul.” (September 2, 2009, Jens Manuel Krogstad, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier) 

Twitter opens a door to Iowa operating room
From anesthesia to the recovery room, 70-year-old Monna Cleary’s children followed her surgery – 140 characters or less at a time.  Twitter is opening doors to the sterile confines of operating rooms, paving the way for families – and anyone else for that matter – to follow a patient’s progress as they go under the knife.  (September 1, 2009, Michael J. Crumb, Fresno Bee/Associated Press) 

Le Mars Dialysis Service looks to start construction
A new $200,000, no-interest loan from the City of Le Mars puts the Le Mars Area Dialysis Services board a lot closer to starting construction on its long-planned dialysis center.  The City Council approved the loan Tuesday at its regular meeting.  The money will come from the city’s 1 percent local option sales tax fund and will have to be repaid by Dec. 31, 2016.  Board Chairman Kirk Klohs said it will repay the loan as soon as possible.  (September 3, 2009, Michele Linck, Sioux City Journal)

UI requiring flu immunizations
University of Iowa Health Care faculty, staff and health sciences students will receive vaccinations this fall under a new mandatory immunization program to help reduce the spread of seasonal influenza.  The new program requires all faculty, staff, medical residents, fellows, volunteers, student employees and health sciences students who are working or learning in UI Health Care settings to get a flu vaccine.  The program covers all employees of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and UI’s Carver College of Medicine.  (September 3, 2009, Iowa City Press-Citizen)

New West Des Moines hospitals promise efficiency, amenities
The Des Moines area, which hasn’t seen a new hospital in 46 years, is about to get two of them.  Mercy Medical Center and Iowa Methodist Medical Center expect to open rival West Des Moines hospitals in the next two months.  Mercy’s West Lakes facility is set to go first, with patient care starting Sept. 8.  Methodist West, which is still under construction a block to the west, is set to open Oct. 19.  (August 29, 2009, Tony Leys, Des Moines Register) 

Tiny hospital has big I.T.  agenda
Montgomery County Memorial Hospital in Red Oak, Iowa, is one of hundreds of small, rural hospitals making real progress in implementing information technology.  After implementing numerous clinical applications, the hospital is bringing electronic health records to the physician practices it owns.  (August 31, 2009, Health Data Management)

 U.S.  Headlines 

State targets health care officials’ pay
Massachusetts officials have unveiled plans to tighten their oversight of pay and other practices at nonprofit health care companies in Massachusetts, a move that promises to shine a spotlight on health insurers and hospitals at a time of rising medical costs.  The initiative was outlined by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, which regulates nonprofit and charitable health organizations, in a memo to the state’s major health insurers, and a trade group representing hospitals.  (September 3, 2009, Robert Weisman, Boston Globe) 

Patients Get Power of Fast Response
Programs vary by hospital, but most rapid-response teams include a physician and nurse with intensive-care training, and a respiratory therapist; others may have nurses and administrators who can quickly assess a patient.  At UPMC, when families or patients call the Condition H hotline from any hospital phone, operators are trained to recognize whether to alert the medical-response team—as in the case of bleeding, difficulty breathing or a report that “something just isn’t right,”—or the patient-relations team, which deals with such issues as housekeeping.  (September 1, 2009, Laura Landro, Wall Street Journal) 

Study Raises Questions About Cost Savings From Preventive Care
Preventive services for the chronically ill may reduce health-care costs, but they are unlikely to generate the kind of fantastic savings that President Obama and other Democrats have said could help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health system, according to a study.  (September 1, 2009, Lori Montgomery, Washington Post) 

State devises new health coverage for legal immigrants
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has announced that 31,000 legal immigrants whose state-subsidized health insurance was set to expire have received a last-minute reprieve—although their coverage will not resume until October.  Using $40 million in emergency money designated by the Legislature, Patrick’s health and insurance czars reached an agreement with CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts, a subsidiary of Missouri-based Centene Corp., to provide basic medical care for the immigrants through its healthcare network.  (September 1, 2009, Stephen Smith.  Boston Globe) 

Flu trackers encourage patients to blog about it
As health officials prepare for the flu season amid the global H1N1 pandemic, technology and new forms of Internet social interaction are transforming how such outbreaks are monitored.  Experts say Internet surveillance has the advantage of speed and can detect sick people who might not see a doctor.  Google’s public Flu Trends system, for example, is designed to pick up early clues by tracking and analyzing Internet searches for flu information.  (September 2, 2009, Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post) 

Recession Accelerating Aging of U.S.  Workforce, Survey Finds
The worst recession since the 1930s is accelerating the aging of the U.S.  labor force as older workers try to rebuild savings and younger Americans, unable to find work, pursue higher education, a survey found.   Almost four of every 10 workers 62 or older said they have extended their careers because of the economic slump, the survey found.  Sixty-three percent of those 50 to 61, who are approaching retirement, said they will probably have to postpone their departure from the workforce.  (September 3, 2009, Carlos Torres, Bloomberg)