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

Iowa News

Iowa Legislature: Complex reforms on priority list for 2012 session
Republican and Democratic legislators and the governor have said they want to reform Iowa’s mental health system to reduce waiting lists and provide more equitable services. Currently, each of Iowa’s counties performs or contracts for mental health services for indigent residents. Critics contend the 99-county system has led to pockets of inferior, inequitable service, particularly in rural areas. One idea is to eliminate a $125 million mental health tax that counties collect and instead to have the state and federal governments fully pay the costs. (Des Moines Register)

A year after senseless tragedy, hospitals remain linked by hope
Diana Crook, a nurse who supervises the evening shift here at Pella Regional Health Center, began wrestling with how she might respond more meaningfully to a violent tragedy 1,500 miles away that shattered fellow medical professionals whom she’d never met. Thanks to Crook’s brainstorm — or “heartstorm” as she prefers to call it — a pair of scrapbooks have been swapped between hospitals in response to the Tucson shootings, forging a bond between nurses and doctors as a new, more hopeful coda to the monstrous act. (Des Moines Register)

Volunteers touch lives at Onawa health center
“Volunteers — Touching Lives, Lifting Spirits” was the theme Burgess Health Center used for National Volunteer Week. “What a perfect theme to describe how all of the volunteers at Burgess Health Center touch lives and lift spirits as they go about their volunteer work at Burgess and in the community,” said Margie Rostyne, marketing communications specialist for the hospital. The volunteers’ hours were equal to 4.5 full-time positions, according to Jeanne Pekarek who coordinates volunteers. (Sioux City Journal)

Cedar Rapids residents learn how to transform their city into a Blue Zone
It was standing room only last night at Coe College Alumni House as Cedar Rapids residents learned how they can help transform their community into a Blue Zone Community.  Attendees at the Blue Zones Cedar Rapids Ambassador Kick-Off heard from Mayor Ron Corbett, members of the Cedar Rapids Power 9 Advisory Board, and keynote speaker Dr. Matt Dietz, owner of Discover Health Chiropractic, about how they can assist in Cedar Rapids’ efforts to create a healthier, happier environment for the entire community. (Examiner)

National News

Health care created 314,000 jobs in 2011
Healthcare created 22,600 jobs in December, finishing a strong year for job growth that saw 314,700 payroll additions in 2011. Healthcare accounted for nearly for nearly one in five new jobs in the overall economy, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. Hospitals created 9,800 new jobs in December, and 89,100 jobs in 2011, more than double the 37,300 jobs hospitals created in 2010. (HealthLeaders Media)

Ohio begins value-based measure for Medicaid
The state of Ohio Monday launches a formal effort to shift the health care industry’s business model from one based on volume to one based on value. When the state’s Medicaid program rebids contracts this year for 2013, it will base a greater portion of its payments to managed care plans such as Dayton-based CareSource on how effectively patients are treated. The Medicaid program also will require that managed care plans develop incentives for health care providers to improve enrollees’ health. (Dayton Daily News)

Administration to high court: Congress acted within rights on health care law
Congress was “well within” its constitutional powers when it decided that the way to resolve a crisis in health-care costs and coverage was to mandate that Americans obtain insurance or pay a fine, the Obama administration told the Supreme Court on Friday. The government filed its opening brief in the battle over the 2010 health-care overhaul, which has become the most controversial accomplishment of President Obama’s domestic agenda. Its resolution will define the court’s term. (Washington Post)

Doctors going broke
Industry watchers say the trend is worrisome. Half of all doctors in the nation operate a private practice. So if a cash crunch forces the death of an independent practice, it robs a community of a vital health care resource. “A lot of independent practices are starting to see serious financial issues,” said Marc Lion, CEO of Lion & Company CPAs, LLC, which advises independent doctor practices about their finances. Doctors list shrinking insurance reimbursements, changing regulations, rising business and drug costs among the factors preventing them from keeping their practices afloat. But some experts counter that doctors’ lack of business acumen is also to blame. (CNN)

10 hospital technologies to watch carefully
Just in case some hospital chiefs have millions in the coffers to spend but can’t figure out what to buy, a report by the ECRI Institute lists ten high-priced gadgets and systems that bear at least a look. “Hospitals have very high pressure on their budgets right now,” says Diana Robertson, director of ECRI’s health technology assessment information service which helped prepare “Top 10 C-Suite Watch List: Hospital Technology Issues for 2012.” (HealthLeaders Media)