Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web.

Iowa News

Trustees hear labor dispute at Broadlawns
A national union is complaining that Polk County’s public hospital is illegally trying to block efforts to organize hospital employees. The Service Employees International Union already represents about 175 nurses at Broadlawns Medical Center. It now is trying to organize about 475 other workers there. The hospital’s leaders say they are legally trying to help employees understand the pros and cons of unionizing. (Des Moines Register)

Flooding sinks Appanoose County
One report to the National Weather Service from north of Centerville recorded 7.1 inches of rain beginning at 6 p.m. Another report indicated three feet of water flowing over the intersection of 285th Avenue and 570th Street. The rain turned normally quiet streams into roaring torrents and it appears to have been enough to put Lake Rathbun at risk of going over the emergency spillway for the first time since the flood of 1993. (Ottumwa Courier)

CRMC nursing staff utilizes cutting edge technology
In a rapidly changing health care environment, Cherokee Regional Medical Center continues to advance by utilizing the latest technology. Inspired by the seemingly endless possibilities available at her fingertips, Jessica Mattioda, a nurse supervisor at CRMC, recently spearheaded a project to implement multifunctional Apple iPads into the facility’s day to day nursing practices. (Cherokee Chronicle Times)

Iowa soldier views son’s birth at Grinnell hospital on Skype
The video conferencing technology, called Skype, allowed Corporal Alexander Moore to witness firsthand the birth of his son from the Middle East. Skype permitted Moore to watch while Jeffrey Knobloch, DO, and Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s Kintzinger Women’s Health Center staff delivered the couple’s first child on Sunday, July 18. Moore’s wife, Lené Moore, 22, gave birth to their son, Gabriel James. (KCCI)

Investing in children’s health and development (podcast)
The Assuring Better Child Health and Development initiative was designed to improve the delivery of developmental services though policy and practice change in selected states. In Iowa, a focus on screening, as well as on the mental health of the family and referrals to appropriate providers for treatment, has led to more comprehensive care. (Commonwealth Fund)

U.S. News

Despite parity law, mental health coverage may still fall short
Andrew Sperling, the director of federal legislative advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has some concerns, including the continued exemption of small businesses and individual health insurance plans from parity requirements, but is optimistic that the new health reform law will advance the effort to “eradicate” differences in how mental health treatment is covered by insurers. (Kaiser Health News)

Cuts in home care put elderly and disabled at risk
As states face severe budget shortfalls, many have cut home-care services for the elderly or the disabled, programs that have been shown to save states money in the long run because they keep people out of nursing homes. (New York Times)

U.S. Chamber to launch website for businesses to air health reform grievances
The business lobbying group will launch the site next Monday in Washington surrounded by business leaders and conservative lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). Johanns last week introduced legislation to repeal a controversial provision of the health care law that requires businesses to file 1099 forms when they purchase goods from another business in excess of $600. (The Hill)

Maryland has three-step plan for getting health IT goals on fast track
Gov. Martin O’Malley outlined a new vision for positioning Maryland as a national leader for health IT, during a roundtable forum of industry leaders and experts, which convened on Tuesday to discuss healthcare reform and innovation in the state. (Healthcare IT News)

Harvard puts tighter limits on medical faculty
Harvard Medical School will prohibit its 11,000 faculty from giving promotional talks for drug and medical device makers and accepting personal gifts, travel, or meals, under a new policy intended partly to guard against companies’ use of Harvard’s prestige to market their products. (Boston Globe)

Wal-Mart is sued over care
The lawsuit alleges that Wal-Mart broke state and federal laws by using a subsidiary to control the treatment for employees with workplace injuries. Wal-Mart sent the injured workers to clinics run by Concentra Inc., which operates 300 medical centers and 250 workplace clinics in 40 states. (Wall Street Journal)