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

Iowa News:

Manning Regional Healthcare Center awarded for work with Carroll County Relay
The American Cancer Society is recognizing the Manning Regional Healthcare Center for its contributions to relay for life. MRHC has been named a Silver Sponsor this year with donations by their 15 member team named Strides of Hope.  Fund raisers this year for strides of hope included a spaghetti supper, a Valentine’s Day basket auction, and a Christmas stocking auction. Members of the team say that preliminary totals raised for this year’s Relay are over $5,700 dollars. (1380KCIM.com)

St. Luke’s CEO: Hospital taking risk in buying land for medical mall
It’s well known that St. Luke’s Hospital has been buying up property in the new Cedar Rapids Medical District centered along 10th Street SE, including land on which Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa plans to build a $36-million medical building it calls a medical “mall.” However, Ted Townsend, president/CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital, said this week that St. Luke’s Hospital has taken a risk in buying property because it has no signed agreement that commits PCI to build its new building in the Medical District. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

H3N2 seasonal flu already surfacing in Iowa
Flu cases in Eastern Iowa are getting national attention. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is citing two Iowa flu outbreaks as it advises doctors to be on the lookout for seasonal influenza. Four members of an Iowa college sports team became ill in one outbreak last month. In the second case, nine children in a child care center became ill with the flu, according to the CDC. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

U.S. News:

Senate Gives Final Passage To State Aid Bill, House Summoned For Tuesday Vote
Senators voted Thursday to give $26 billion in aid to states and schools, $16 billion of which will be directed to Medicaid programs around the nation as the House prepares to return during its recess to cast votes on the legislation. (Kaiser Health News)

IBM unveils strategy in electronic health records
I.B.M. has been quietly saying for months that it planned to enter the market for electronic health records, a business being primed with hefty government subsidies. The only question has been how Big Blue, a company geared to deal with big corporations, would cater to the messy, fragmented market of physicians. I.B.M. provided its answer Thursday morning. It’s not going in alone, but as a technology partner. The offering will be a Web-based subscription service, but enhanced by I.B.M. data-mining technology and tweaked by the scientists in its research labs. And I.B.M. is going into electronic health records selectively, and not yet marketing to small practices with just a few doctors. I.B.M.’s partner is a subsidiary of the insurer Aetna, ActiveHealth Management, which makes disease management software and personal health records. ActiveHealth will provide the user record and decision support technology, while I.B.M. provides the cloud computing services and data-intelligence technology. (The New York Times)

States enact healthcare law as lawsuits proceed
State governments are implementing the controversial healthcare law, even in places where elected officials are challenging its constitutionality. Across the country, state employees are working to define new rules that health insurance companies will have to follow. They’re also applying for a wide variety of federal grants offered under the law. Government officials offer a number of reasons why states are implementing a law their governors and other elected officials oppose. Some cash-strapped states are taking the opportunity to grab federal funds. Many governments are taking a cautious approach in making sure they comply with the new federal law — at least until the courts tell them they don’t have to. (The Hill)

McKesson CEO talks about transforming healthcare
Most of McKesson’s work is behind the scenes, distributing drugs to pharmacies and hospitals. Over the past decade, under the leadership of CEO John Hammergren, the company has built up a large healthcare information technology business as well. Hammergren spoke with Forbes Technology Editor Kerry Dolan about how the company is growing, who it’s partnering and competing with, and how technology can improve the delivery of healthcare in the future. (Forbes)