by Scott McIntyre on Monday, April 26, 2010
Leave a CommentFeaturing hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Stable employers help county weather economy
Local experts say there are a number of reasons why Johnston County was able to handle the recession better than most, but all point to the stability exhibited by the county’s largest employers, particularly the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. (Iowa City Press Citizen)
Davis County Hospital opens doors for all
Davis County hospital opened the doors to show off their expansion work at the hospital. Nearly finished, the $7.1 million project features 25 new beds, a new emergency room, hospice suites, two infant labor and delivery suites, and a new MRI service area. (KTVO)
Mercy will open autism center
Alyson Beytien, a Dubuque mother of three autistic boys, had few places to turn for information when autism first entered her family’s life 14 years ago. Beginning in July, she will help local families find answers at an autism center based at Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque. (Dubuque Telegraph Herald)
Harkin: $35 million to cover uninsured Iowans with pre-existing conditions
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, announced today that Iowa will receive $35 million in federal dollars to provide health insurance for Iowans with pre-existing conditions who have been without health insurance for six months. The program is funded through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health reform bill, which was signed into law last month. (IowaPolitics.com)
U.S. News
Health care law’s unfinished business: cost curbs
What’s it going to cost me? That’s the single biggest unanswered question about President Barack Obama’s new health care overhaul law — and its weak spot. Many experts believe the law falls short on taming costs, and that will force Congress to revisit health care in a few years. (Associated Press)
Road to healthcare coverage may have fewer bumps
The overhaul is expected to provide more options for students, young adults and those with preexisting conditions. (Los Angeles Times)
States warn of ‘ObamaCare’ scams
In Illinois, a telemarketer recently sold an elderly woman a fraudulent health insurance plan that supposedly protected her against “death panels,” the state insurance director says. In Alabama, a con artist has been offering “government health care reform” insurance over the phone in exchange for customers’ bank account numbers, according to the local Better Business Bureau. (New York Times)
Health care providers experiment with lump-sum pricing
Charging a predetermined fee for common surgical procedures would eliminate surprises for patients and could help control costs, proponents say. In one closely watched test beginning in August, several of California’s best-known healthcare providers — including Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the UCLA Health System and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach — will begin charging lump-sum fees for hip and knee replacements.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital trims costs
Department managers are being told to submit financial plans for the fiscal year starting October 1 that trim spending by about 3 percent, roughly $35 million of the hospital’s $1.8 billion budget. (Boston Globe)
Wheaton doctors, administrators extend meeting timeline
More meetings have been scheduled for the doctors and administrators at Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital who are trying to develop a new leadership model for the health care provider. (Racine Journal Times)
Haiti’s medical crisis goes on long after earthquake
As a nurse working in northern Haiti, Melissa Curtice doesn’t have the luxury of modern medicine. In one corner of the room – a baby born prematurely weighs less than three pounds. In the other, pregnant a mother struggles. The only oxygen machine in the clinic is taken from the preemie to help save the unborn baby. The head nurse says the clinic does not have the capability to do a cesarean section “so what’s going to happen is going to happen.” (CBS News)
Seeking a shot at free clinic
Nearly 5,600 people lined up outside the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sunday, many camping out in the cold on the sidewalk overnight, to claim wristbands and a chance for free dental and medical treatment at a massive health clinic this week. “It’s kind of hard to ignore,” said organizer Don Manelli. “Somebody waits all night outside to see a dentist — that tells you something.” (Los Angeles Times)
by Scott McIntyre on Friday, April 23, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Wellmark warns workers: There’ll be no lighting up
Smokers need not apply. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is sending that message to potential employees in a policy that will go into effect June 1. The insurer will “require applicants to assert that they are tobacco-free in order to be considered for a position,” said Rob Schweers, spokesman for Wellmark, which employs approximately 1,600 people in Des Moines and another 200 throughout the rest of the state. (Des Moines Register)
Where are Iowa no-smoking rules toughest?
Some Iowans continued to criticize Thursday a Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield plan to stop smoking by employees while at work. But Wellmark is not the major Iowa employer to enact tough new anti-smoking rules. Hospitals in central Iowa implemented a similar policy for employees more than four years ago. Iowa Health, Mercy and Broadlawns started enacting their employee smoking policies in July 2006. (KCCI)
Two parents … 27 specialists … three minutes = four babies
It’s been a long while since Iowa Methodist Medical Center delivered a set of multiples larger than triplets. Many Iowans have heard of them. On Nov. 19, 1997, Bobbi McCaughey of Carlisle, aided by fertility drugs, delivered her seven babies here. They were the world’s first surviving septuplets. Carrying, delivering and then raising large broods of multiples is rife with risk. “Being premature by itself has lots of complications,” said Samir Alabsi, a neonatologist at Blank Children’s Hospital. (Des Moines Register)
Metro Waste Authority hands out awards for improving the environment
This is the eighth year Metro Waste Authority is handing out the awards to people for their efforts to improve the environment. One of the organizations is Iowa Health System. One of the reasons for the award is the system’s Central Laundry Plant. Workers sort, wash, dry and fold 50,000 pounds of laundry everyday at the facility. The system opened it on East Washington Street three years ago. (WHO-TV)
Little “green” changes save hospitals big bucks
A committee at one of the metro’s largest health organizations is helping save the company cash by finding new ways to go green. Methodist, Lutheran and Blank Children’s hospitals formed the Go Green Committee last year. (KCCI)
Get to know: S. Kent Lehr II, Administrative Fellow, Iowa Health System
I am motivated by wanting to serve others and improve the way patients receive care in order to live a healthier life. Health care is a field that affects everyone, which makes it challenging yet rewarding. I hope I can have a positive impact on the way care is delivered, so the patient and their family have a better experience. (Des Moines Register)
Simulated loss, real tears: Organizers hope Every 15 Minutes saves lives
“I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted emotionally,” said Amy Sievers, Driver’s License supervisor at Spencer Drivers Services office. She and Laura Manwarren, head trauma coordinator at Spencer Hospital have spent the past 10 months preparing for the two-day payoff that was Every 15 Minutes at Spencer High School. Conducted on and within the campus in a 48-hour window, the program tested the emotional limits of the high school students, the administration and teachers, and the parents. (Spencer Daily Reporter)
U.S. News
Poll: Americans confused about health care
More than half of the nation is confused about President Obama’s recently enacted health care law and 56 percent of Americans say they don’t have enough information to understand how the measure will affect them, according to a poll released today by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation. (USA Today)
New health care law brings better coverage for women
Among the many goals of the new health law is one that hasn’t received much attention: to improve women’s experiences in the health insurance world. For some women, insurance policies cost far more than those for men their age; some women simply can’t find an insurer to cover them. And, even for women who have insurance, sometimes it just doesn’t cover certain scenarios, like pregnancy (National Public Radio).
Report says health care will cover more, cost more
President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law is getting a mixed verdict in the first comprehensive look by neutral experts: More Americans will be covered, but costs are also going up. Economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department concluded in a report issued Thursday that the health care remake will achieve Obama’s aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million to the coverage rolls. (Associated Press)
Nearly 4 million people could pay without health coverage
Nearly 4 million Americans — the vast majority of them middle class — will have to pay a penalty if they don’t get insurance when President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law kicks in, according to congressional estimates released Thursday. The penalties will average a little more than $1,000 apiece in 2016, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report. (Associated Press)
In Florida, the health care overhaul is on the ballot
Voters will decide this fall whether to ban health insurance mandates, including those required by the federal health care overhaul. The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature voted on Thursday to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would ban any laws that compel someone to “participate in any health care system.” (New York Times)
An unforeseen complication of electronic medical records
For every one who is using, struggling with or considering adopting an electronic records system, one thing has become increasingly clear: just because EMR improves information sharing and retrieval, it doesn’t necessarily follow that our communication with patients and colleagues will also be better. (New York Times)
Military’s health care costs booming
Military health care spending is rising twice as fast as the nation’s overall health care costs, consuming a larger chunk of the defense budget as the Pentagon struggles to pay for two wars, military budget figures show. (USA Today)
Court backs Maine rate on insurance
A state court upheld a Maine official’s decision to deny a profit margin for a WellPoint Inc. unit in a health-insurance rate request—a ruling that may resonate in other states where regulators are battling premium hikes. Thomas E. Humphrey, chief justice of the Maine superior court, wrote that the approved 2009 rate for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s individual health-insurance product line met the state’s legal standard and wasn’t “inadequate,” as the company argued in its challenge.
by Scott McIntyre on Thursday, April 22, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
UIHC near top nationally in organ donations
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics officials strive to educate people about the importance of organ donations, and they have been successful in increasing donation rates. UIHC has one of the highest organ-donor rates in the nation, and it recently received the Department of Health and Human Services Medal of Honor for Organ Donation as a part of Donate Life Month. (University of Iowa Daily Iowan)
U.S. News
Reputation versus quality: U.S. News Hospital Ranking
“The Role of Reputation in U.S. News & World Report’s Rankings of the Top 50 American Hospitals,” by Ashwini R. Sehgal, MD is in the current edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Sehgal finds that the portion of the U.S. News ranking based on reputation is problematic because reputation does not correlate with established indicators of quality. (The Health Care Blog)
Doctor groups set new policy to curb industry sway
No more letting industry help pay for developing medical guidelines. Restrictions on consulting deals. And no more pens with drug company names or other swag at conferences. These are part of a new ethics code that dozens of leading medical groups announced Wednesday, aimed at limiting the influence that drug and device makers have over patient care. (Associated Press)
Black Americans look to health plan for new hope
Death rates for cancer, stroke and diabetes are solemn warning notices for African-Americans, who suffer from those and other diseases at a higher rate than do whites. So when some members of Congress called the new health care overhaul the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century, many African-Americans agreed. (National Public Radio)
Something lost, something gained in primary care
Across the country, the discussion continues about the primary care physician shortage, and the hardship of doctors trying to keep it all together in a small practice. The primary care physician is seen as a collective aging body. But is that an accurate picture? (HealthLeaders Media)
by Scott McIntyre on Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.
Iowa News
Recession hurts care throughout tri-states
Both Dubuque hospitals have seen a decline in patient admissions, and Finley has seen an increase of ‘charity care. (Dubuque Telegraph Herald)
Health care reform: What will it cost?
The health care reform legislation extends an immediate carrot to small businesses, in the form of a tax credit available to companies with 25 or fewer employees and average annual compensation below $50,000. Locally, consultants have mixed views on how relevant that incentive will be for small businesses in Iowa, however. (Des Moines Business Record)
Obama to visit S.E. Iowa, talk economy next week
President Barack Obama is expected to visit southeast Iowa next week, bringing his series of national economic listening events to rural America for the first time, administration and Iowa Democratic sources said Tuesday. Congressional sources said White House advance officials were looking at venues in Fort Madison, Mount Pleasant and Ottumwa as part of a three-state swing set for April 27 and 28. (Des Moines Register)
Belmond gets $21.6 million for hospital
Belmond Medical Center has been granted a $21.6 million low interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Community Facilities Program to build a large new addition at the hospital and to remodel the existing facility and clinic. The money is part of $193 million released last week through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (Belmond Independent)
Wellmark makes adjustment to health insurance age rule
Iowa’s largest health insurer is loosening rules to let young adults stay on their parents’ health insurance plans a bit longer, but the change will affect a relatively small number of people. The change, announced Tuesday by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, will let some people stay on their parents’ policies until they’re 26. They will be able to keep the coverage even if they’re no longer in college. (Des Moines Register)
C.F. school nurses’ future to be decided by Monday vote
The Cedar Falls School District is considering four nursing plans or “models” which will be voted on Monday during the regular Board of Education meeting. Should the board vote to continue on with its current model – the district has nine registered nurses, including one who is contracted through the Black Hawk County Health Department – termination notices would be retracted. (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)
U.S. News
Nominee for Medicare-Medicaid agency has reputation for being a ‘visionary’
For two decades, Donald Berwick has made a career of finding innovative ways to improve health care and then persuading hospital administrators and doctors to adopt his recommendations. That experience could prove useful if the 63-year-old Harvard University professor is confirmed as administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Washington Post)
Senate bill sets a plan to regulate premiums
Fearing that health insurance premiums may shoot up in the next few years, Senate Democrats laid a foundation on Tuesday for federal regulation of rates, four weeks after President Obama signed a law intended to rein in soaring health costs. (New York Times)
Three health insurers give many young adults a break
UnitedHealthcare, WellPoint and Humana say people under 26 can remain on their parent’s policies until September 23, when they are guaranteed coverage under the health care reforms. (Los Angeles Times)
Hospitals warn new TennCare cuts would ‘ruin’ deal
Tennessee Hospital Association President Craig Becker warned Tuesday that any new state cuts to TennCare provider reimbursements will derail the group’s proposal to charge a 3.52 percent fee to its members. The fee is designed to offset previously planned TennCare reductions. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)
Alaska will join health care overhaul lawsuit
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said Tuesday the state will join 20 others led mostly by Republican governors in suing to overturn the health care overhaul bill signed into law last month by President Barack Obama. (Anchorage Daily News/McClatchy)
by Scott McIntyre on Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Donald Berwick
Bringing real value to government-supported health care will be Dr. Berwick’s foremost challenge. And with health care reform set to trim billions of dollars from the Medicare program while adding millions of new enrollees to Medicaid, it is a formidable challenge, indeed.
But Dr. Berwick has two things going for him. First, he knows what he is talking about. His work and leadership at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), which he cofounded nearly 20 years ago, has led to changes in the way hospitals provide health care that have saved lives, lowered costs and improved quality. IHI’s current initiative, it’s “Improvement Map,” is perhaps its most ambitious.
The Improvement Map is an interactive, Web-based tool designed to bring together the best knowledge available on key process improvements that lead to exceptional patient care. It offers clear guidance through the often confusing health care landscape, helping hospitals set change agendas, establish priorities, organize work and optimize resources. The Improvement Map is also a testament to IHI’s dedication to shared learning, which it established from its beginning through collaboratives, learning networks and mentor hospitals (among these are Mercy Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City and Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake).
But leaders succeed only when they energize followers, and that is Dr. Berwick’s other strength. Throughout the medical world, Dr. Berwick is highly respected not only for his ideas but for his ability to bring key players to the table and keep them there. Time and again, Dr. Berwick has been described as “a visionary.” Hospital leaders in Iowa continue to be pleased about his nomination:
“I was very excited to hear of the nomination of Dr. Don Berwick as the administrator for CMS,” said Jim FitzPatrick, CEO at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City. “Dr. Berwick has spent his career on a quest for improving quality in the nation’s health care system. His passion for improving processes for our patients and keeping focus on the ‘big dot’ issues to eliminate defects in care makes him the perfect leader for CMS.
“Dr. Berwick’s appointment to CMS would be very positive for the health care industry,” said Eric Lothe, administrator at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines. “He has a long history of setting transformational goals for health care quality and then achieving great results. Dr. Berwick would continue the focused work of IHI to help physicians and hospitals improve quality, reduce errors and eliminate adverse events.”
The real question is, can Dr. Berwick’s ability to unite diverse interests come through in a U.S. Senate that remains bitterly divided over health care reform? Can he show that not only can Medicare and Medicaid lead the way in improving care, but they can do it at less cost? And can he hold his ground should talk of “rationing” and perhaps even “death panels” rear its ugly head?
Answers should come fairly quickly, as Dr. Berwick’s first stop will be in front of the Senate Finance Committee and its ranking Republican, Iowa’s own Chuck Grassley.
