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

Iowa News

Perry hospital leader picked to run West Des Moines medical center
The chief executive officer of the Dallas County Hospital has been chosen to run Mercy Medical Center-West Lakes in West Des Moines. Laurie Conner has led the Dallas County Hospital in Perry for 10 years. The public hospital, which is affiliated with the Mercy system, has 25 beds. Mercy Medical Center-West Lakes, a $100 million facility that opened last September, has 82 beds and could be expanded to 146 beds. (Des Moines Register)

Condon, 93, dies; founded House of Mercy
Sister Mary Brigid Condon, who was a leading nurse educator and co-founder of Des Moines’ House of Mercy center for women and children, died Thursday at a hospital in Aurora, Ill. Condon, 93, had already built a distinguished career in health care and education when she helped found the House of Mercy in 1988. (Des Moines Register)

Culver: Flooding is “new normal”
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said today flooding is such a constant threat, the state needs to adopt a more intense long-term flood-fighting strategy. And he argued the controversial IJOBS initiative must continue, saying it’s pumped $300 million into flood-related projects. (Quad-City Times)

U.S. News

For insurers, fight is now over details
The law requires health insurers to spend at least 80 cents out of every dollar they collect in premiums on the welfare of patients, a critical issue for the companies’ bottom lines. But state regulators are only now deciding what precisely that means, as they draft the rules to enact the law. (New York Times)

Does Minnesota need all those back MRIs?
Doctors, hospitals and patients in the state have a well-established reputation for being thrifty when it comes to using expensive, high-tech health care. But those frugal ways apparently don’t apply to initial treatments for low-back pain, according to a new federal report. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

Rose Ann DeMoro wants hospitals to scream
As head of the 155,000-member National Nurses United, DeMoro’s attitude toward hospitals and insurers (“They think I’m radical, that basically it’s unreasonable that I think that the nurses should win every battle, but I do.”) doesn’t suggest a demeanor amenable to shifting from agitator to stateswoman. Which means DeMoro’s opponents should expect lots more pain in the years ahead. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)

Where are the innovators in health care delivery?
Almost everyone believes there is an enormous amount of waste and inefficiency in health care. But why is that? In a normal market, wherever there is waste, entrepreneurs are likely to be in hot pursuit — figuring out ways to profit from its elimination by cost-reducing, quality-enhancing innovations. Why isn’t this happening in health care? As it turns out, there is a lot of innovation here. But all too often, it’s the wrong kind. (Kaiser Health News)

Health law augurs transfer of funds from old to young
Since the creation of Social Security and Medicare, younger workers have funded programs for the elderly. It’s a compact in which workers paid for retirees with the understanding that they’d be looked after by the generation behind them. The health overhaul diverges by tapping a program for the elderly to help provide insurance to 32 million Americans of younger generations. (Wall Street Journal)

Some insurers stop writing new coverage for kids
Some major health insurance companies have stopped issuing certain types of policies for children, an unintended consequence of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul law, state officials said Friday. Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said in his state UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield have stopped issuing new policies that cover children individually. Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland said a couple of local insurers in her state have done likewise. (Associated Press)

Disabled see progress, but problems persist
Although problems persist, particularly in employment, the Americans with Disabilities Act has transformed the United States, improved the lives of the 50 million people with disabilities (half of them severely disabled) and served as a model for much of the rest of the world. (New York Times)

‘Villages’ let elderly grow old at home
The explosive growth of the USA’s older population is fueling a grass-roots “village” movement in neighborhoods across the country to help people age in their own homes. More than 50 villages in a neighbor-helping-neighbor system have sprouted in the past decade from California and Colorado to Nebraska and Massachusetts. (USA Today)

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

Iowa News

Manning hospital will connect with hospitals around the state
Manning Regional Health Center will be connecting with 82 hospitals in 84 locations around the state of Iowa through the Iowa Rural Healthcare Telecommunications Program.  The program under the direction of the Iowa Hospital Association uses the ICN Network to tie the hospitals together to benefit patients. (KCIM)

Iowa governor’s race: Early, costly attacks keep TVs crackling
Gov. Chet Culver and Republican challenger Terry Branstad have already spent more than $1.2 million on advertising in the early weeks of the general election campaign, most of it attacking each other. The pace and volume of advertising at this point are far ahead of those in any other Iowa campaign for governor and 10 times the levels of four years ago. (Des Moines Register)

U.S. News

States, hospitals still hope for Medicaid help
With states facing a recession double-whammy of less revenue and more demand for health care services, Congress included extra money to Medicaid programs in the February 2009 federal stimulus package. Before the stimulus, the federal government’s share of Medicaid costs was between 50 and 76 percent (depending on the per capita income of the state). The federal match increased to between 61 and 84 percent of all Medicaid spending. The higher matching rate was originally slated to expire at the end of 2010, but an early version of the jobs bill extended the funding another six months, at a cost of $24 billion. (Kaiser Health News)

Feds move to improve health insurance appeals
The Obama administration took the first step Thursday to guarantee that consumers can appeal to a neutral referee if their health insurance company denies a medical claim. However, because health insurance and President Barack Obama’s overhaul law are both complicated, the new federal safeguards will not immediately apply to most Americans with private coverage. (Associated Press)

Mediating malpractice: hospitals agree to court alternative
To cut medical-malpractice costs, five New York City hospitals have agreed to a pilot program to divulge medical mistakes early, offer settlements quickly and use special state “health courts,” where judges will help negotiate agreements before cases go to trial. The program, funded for three years with $3 million from the federal government, aims to cut the $1.4 billion spent annually in New York State on medical-malpractice premiums, hospital and state officials say. (Wall Street Journal)

Sullenberger urges hospitals to adopt aviation culture of safety
Hospital leaders attending the American Hospital Association’s Leadership Summit in San Diego Thursday got a stern lecture from Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who told them adopt the mentality of the aviation industry. They must stop thinking of accidents “as inevitable and start thinking about them as unimaginable,” he said. “We in aviation have learned a lot, and we’re anxious to share it with you.” (HealthLeaders Media)

Computer Science Corp. opens online community on meaningful use
Computer Sciences Corp., a $16 billion provider of IT and managed services to businesses and the public sector headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, said it has launched an interactive, online community whose main focus is to provide a forum for health care professionals to share information on meaningful use of electronic health record technology. (IT Channel Planet)

Company seeks to prevent hospital errors with simple sensor
The new tool, by Seattle-based Mirador Biomedical, could be incorporated into central venous procedures that are performed 6 million times a year in the U.S., and could have potential to prevent thousands of mistakes that can cause severe complications, or even death. (Xconomy)

GAO investigators say DNA tests give bogus results
A government investigator told members of Congress on Thursday that personalized DNA tests claiming to predict certain inheritable diseases are misleading and offer little or no useful information. An undercover investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that four genetic testing companies delivered contradictory predictions based on the same person’s DNA. (Associated Press)

Sister Mary Brigid Condon, a former IHA executive and a longtime advocate for nurses and nursing education in Iowa, died this week at Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, Illinois.  She was 93 years old. 

A graduate of the University of Iowa with both master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing, Sister Mary Brigid was well known in the field of nursing education, especially in Iowa, where she spent nearly 50 years.  She began in Marshalltown in 1943, where she was the director of nursing and the school of nursing and then took on similar duties at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. 

She was head of the department of nursing and a professor at Davenport’s St. Ambrose College (now St. Ambrose University) and Marycrest College from 1954-1973.  In March 2010, St. Ambrose recognized Sister Mary Brigid by dedicating a classroom in her honor at the school’s new Center for Health Sciences Education, located on the campus of Genesis Medical Center. 

At IHA, Sister Mary Brigid was a vice president for seven years in the 1970s and 1980s and was appointed by the governor to the Iowa Board of Nursing and the Physicians Assistants Board.  During this time she served as a consultant to all Iowa hospitals and spoke at medical seminars nationally and abroad.  At age 70, she became the founder and executive director of House of Mercy, a home for single mothers and children in Des Moines. 

A Liturgical Wake service will be held July 26, at 2 p.m., followed by visitation until 8 p.m. at Provena McAuley Manor, 400 W. Sullivan Road, in Aurora.  Mass of Christian Burial will be July 27 at 10 a.m. in McAuley Chapel, also at Provena McAuley Manor.  Interment will be at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Aurora.  In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Sisters of Mercy.

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

Iowa News

State fines midwife over lack of hospital privileges
A Des Moines nurse-midwife has agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and to take ethics training to settle allegations that she failed to tell a patient two years ago about her inability to deliver babies in a hospital. The Iowa Board of Nursing said Carey Ann Ryan should have told the patient that she did not have admitting privileges at any local hospitals. (Des Moines Register)

State social service officials warn of cutbacks as costs rise
Some of the nearly 30 presenters at a budget hearing held by the Iowa Council on Human Services worried that dire circumstances for agencies serving Iowa’s most vulnerable populations could be in the offing if federal stimulus money to bolster Medicaid and other programs is not extended beyond December. (Sioux City Journal)

Wright Medical Center continues to grow, embarks on $18 million expansion
In its most recent building project, Wright Medical Center added a new emergency room entrance and ambulance bays on the north side of the facility. Now the hospital is expanding to the south side of the campus and CEO Steve Simonin feels it is the right time to do it. (Wright County Monitor)

Cancer treatment at Trinity to expand
Trinity Regional Medical Center got the green light Wednesday to acquire the equipment necessary to provide radiation therapy for cancer patients. The State Health Facilities Council acted favorably on the local medical center’s request to purchase a linear accelerator and CT simulator at a cost of approximately $5 million. (Webster City Daily Freeman-Journal)

Permanent MRI unit arrives at Virginia Gay Hospital
“It’s a very big deal to have one of these here permanently at VGH,” Radiology Technician Susan Bender said.  “We can do the same thing here, actually with newer technology, and save our patients time so they can get on with their day.” (Vinton Today)

U.S. News

Health reform takes aim at hospital readmission rates
Uncle Sam currently doesn’t pay for a readmission on the same day as a discharge, unless it’s for an unrelated reason. But the new law goes much further, directing Medicare to recover payments made for unnecessary readmissions within 30 days of discharge after a stay for three conditions: heart attack, pneumonia, and heart failure. In the first year, a hospital’s total Medicare payments can be reduced by up to 1 percent. The cap rises to 2 percent the next year, and 3 percent the third year. Eventually, more diseases will be added to the list. (U.S. News & World Report)

New rules guarantee patients’ right to appeal insurance claim denials
Patients will find it easier to appeal the denials of health insurance claims under rules being issued Thursday by the Obama administration, which is trying to boost political support for the new health care law by highlighting potential advantages for consumers. The regulations guarantee consumers the right to appeal denials — directly to their insurers and then, if necessary, to external review boards. (Washington Post)

Administration officials defend “meaningful use” before Congress
On Tuesday, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal and Director of CMS’ Office of e-Health Standards and Services Tony Trenkle defended the final rules on the “meaningful use” of electronic health records before a hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health. (iHealth Beat)

Consumer group: Insurers kept surplus while hiking premiums
Non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans stockpiled billions of dollars during the past decade, yet continued to hit consumers with double-digit premium increases, Consumers Union found in an analysis of 10 of the plans’ finances. (USA Today)

Hospitals stress cost cuts saving billions
Massachusetts hospitals say in a new report that they have substantially slowed the rise in their costs in the past 18 months, saving insurers and employers billions of dollars, and showing that they do not deserve all the blame for skyrocketing health insurance premiums. (Boston Globe)

Firms ready for health IT push
Now that the Obama administration has finalized the rules by which health care providers can be reimbursed for the systems with billions in stimulus dollars, they’re making serious plans to transition from paper to digital records — an expensive process that information technology and telecom companies are eager to help with. (Politico)

Proposed deficit remedy: the healthcare ‘public option’
Creating a major government health insurance program was roundly rejected last year, but 128 House Democrats are pushing to reconsider the idea, contending that it would hold down federal spending. Their bill, which faces long odds, would allow Americans who do not get insurance at work to choose a government health plan starting in 2014. (Los Angeles Times)

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)