Iowa News

Iowa hospitals making an impact on state’s economy
When you think about economic growth, hospitals might not be the first thing that comes to mind. A new report by the Iowa Hospital Association shows medical facilities in the state, and their employees, are making big contributions. Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa employs more than 2,300 people. That makes them the second largest employer in north Iowa behind Winnebago Industries in Forest City. But with an aging Iowa population, folks in the medical profession hope the health care industry remains a popular career choice.  (KIMT)

Sioux City hospitals generate $233 million to local economy
St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center contribute nearly $233 million annually to the tri-state economy, according to a study released Tuesday by the Iowa Hospital Association. The study examined the jobs, income, retail sales and sales tax produced by hospitals and the rest of the state’s health care sector. The two Sioux City hospitals have a combined 2,513 employees, who spent in excess of $95 million on retail sales and contributed $5.7 million in state sales tax revenue, according to the newly released IHA report. (Sioux City Journal)

Ottumwa is desperate for new doctors
Getting a doctor’s appointment can be tough in rural America. Ottumwa is no different — yet. “Most of the primary care physicians essentially have a ‘closed’ practice,” said Beth Davis, director of physician practice at Ottumwa Regional Health Center. “Which means no new patients.” But Davis and others in the community are trying to increase the number of doctors in town. The hospital’s executive director of development, Suzie Wood, has been on the state website. “It shows that in Ottumwa, we are 12 primary care physicians short of what we should have,” Wood said. (Centerville Daily Iowegian)

Regents approve purchase of $2.2 million surgical robot
The state Board of Regents approved the purchase of a $2.2 million surgical robot by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics at a meeting Monday. The da Vinci Si Firefly surgical robot would allow surgeons to perform surgery through a remote control with small instruments attached to the robot. The method allows the surgeon to access hard-to-reach areas and is designed to be more precise, moving a half inch for every inch the operator moves. Equipment purchases at regent institutions that cost more than $1 million must be approved by the regents. (University of Iowa Daily Iowan)

Construction is ongoing at Oskaloosa hospital
Even with the cold weather, construction continues on the grounds of Mahaska Health Partnership in Oskaloosa. Mahaska Health Partnership received official notice April 21 that their new building addition to house surgery, inpatient services, and the birthing center will be financed with a direct loan of $23 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, of the nearly $25 million in total construction costs. (Oskaloosa News)

National News

Minnesota plans for exchange, even without new law
Minnesota lawmakers are grappling with a new question: How close can they get to setting up a health insurance exchange without passing a new state law? The state, which has a Democrat in the governor’s mansion and Republicans in control of both houses of the legislature, saw exchange legislation fail in the last session. And prospects for a law’s passage are not much better in the current session. (Kaiser Health News)

Rethinking hospital readmissions
Hospitals have always said there’s nothing they can do to change how people behave once they leave the hospital. But starting this October that excuse won’t wash any more. As part of the new health care law, hospitals will face hefty fines for allowing too many readmissions. At Penn, Dr. Kangovi launched a program that focuses on the five poorest zip codes in Philadelphia — responsible for 85 percent of readmissions in the city. (Marketplace)

Obama tries to ease ire on contraception rule
Facing vocal opposition from religious leaders and an escalating political fight, the White House sought on Tuesday to ease mounting objections to a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans — including those offered by Catholic universities and charities — to offer birth control to women free of charge. As the Republican presidential candidates and conservative leaders sought to frame the rule as showing President Obama’s insensitivity to religious beliefs, Mr. Obama’s aides promised to explore ways to make it more palatable to religious-affiliated institutions, perhaps by allowing some employers to make side insurance plans available that are not directly paid for by the institutions. (New York Times)

Appeals court rules that seniors receiving Social Security can’t reject Medicare eligibility
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that seniors who receive Social Security cannot reject their legal right to Medicare benefits, in a rare case of Americans suing to get out of a government entitlement. Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is among the five senior citizens who sued to stop their automatic eligibility for Medicare. But the appeals court ruled in a split decision that the law gives them no way to opt out of their eligibility if they want to keep their Social Security benefits. (Washington Post)

Iowa News

St. Luke’s creates $216 million impact on local economy
St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids generates 2,733 jobs that add $216,397,926 to the Linn County economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). In addition, St. Luke’s employees themselves spend over $82 million on retail sales and contribute nearly $5 million in state sales tax revenue. “In addition to being a not-for-profit provider of health care services to the community, St. Luke’s is also an important part of the community’s financial structure,” said Ted Townsend, St. Luke’s Hospital President & CEO. (Eastern Iowa Health)

Reforming Iowa’s mental health care
For decades, the state has funded mental health services for Iowans, but the programs have been administered at the county level. For some in the General Assembly, that means Iowans have been facing a patchwork quilt of services. County officials are concerned that the reforms will shortchange local patients. “The regionalization we don’t support at this time unless the taxes are levied-equaled out and the services are equalized out so that we don’t get hurt and our clients and citizens of Wapello County who use our services don’t get hurt,” says Wapello County Supervisor Steve Siegel. (KTVO)

New House bill could help Keokuk hospital
State Rep. Jerry Kearns, D-Keokuk, has filed a bill in the Iowa Legislature that could help financially-strapped Keokuk Area Hospital. House Bill 2065 would maximize hospital-specific disproportionate share hospital payments. The measure has been referred to the Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee. Kearns and state Sen. Gene Fraise, D-Fort Madison, updated about 20 people on the Legislature’s business during a luncheon in Keokuk Friday. Kearns responded to a statement by Keokuk Area Hospital CEO Wally Winkler that “KAH and other hospitals are getting the short end of the stick trying to take care of Medicaid and indigent patients.” (Keokuk Daily Gate City)

UIHC officials say facility upgrades are critical
A substantial increase in the demand for services at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics makes the need for new facilities and added space even more critical, hospital officials reported Monday to the Iowa state Board of Regents during its meeting. Admissions to UIHC have increased by 25 percent over the last 10 years, and the hospital has seen the number of surgical cases and outpatient visits grew by 40 percent and 22 percent, respectively, during that same time, said Jean Robillard, vice president of medical affairs at UI. The hospital has grown on the financial front, as well. Annual net revenue has grown from $518.6 million in 2001 to $943.4 million in 2010. UIHC broke the $1 billion revenue mark in 2011. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

National News

Why do cardiologists often pass up safe, low-tech treatments for chest pain?
Can American doctors say “No” to an aggressive and high-tech treatment they’re used to providing even when it turns out a less heroic and cheaper one works just as well? The affordability of American medical care in the future will depend, in part, on the ability of physicians to simplify and economize, which are two things they’ve never been good at. With national health expenditures amounting to $2.6 trillion a year — 45 percent of it paid by government — prosperity and political stability may also be at stake. (Washington Post)

Nowhere to go but up for poor lacking health insurance
In anticipation of the expansion of health insurance that will start in 2014 under the federal health care law, the Commonwealth Fund has begun tracking  coverage of low-income Americans. The first of the surveys reconfirms what’s already well-known: the poor are starting from a pretty bad place in terms of coverage. Here are a few examples. (Kaiser Health News)

Medicaid changes challenge TX hospitals to do things differently
The goal is lofty: improve and expand health care for millions of Texans. But with billions of dollars at stake and the new project under way before the rules are even written, decisions made over the next few months are causing anxiety in many Harris County hospitals. The new rules, part of a complicated, first-of-its-kind project approved by the federal government, will determine who gets paid for providing charity care, and how much. Hospitals that historically received the most government reimbursement for charity care are not guaranteed to prosper under the new rules. (Houston Chronicle)

Iowa News

County system has many traveling for care
Nate Breitfelder, 34, has lived in Dubuque, the county seat of Dubuque County, ever since he was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder 14 years ago. But because his parents’ house is over the Jackson County line, authorities in Maquoketa pay his bills and decide which public services he may use. His Jackson County case manager drives the 30 miles from Maquoketa about once a month to check on Breitfelder in Dubuque. She coordinates his care, including regular appointments with a psychiatric nurse practitioner, health checkups at his apartment and help keeping track of his finances. (Des Moines Register)

Autistic man struggles in Iowa’s mental health system
Since early October, Jeff Paprocki has been locked behind two sets of heavy wood and steel doors at a Des Moines hospital’s psychiatric ward. He hasn’t been outside a single time. He receives little therapy for his serious autism. He sees his family only every other Sunday, when they make the two-hour drive from Waterloo.  “It’s like he’s in prison,” says his brother, Jimmy. Jeff, 23, has committed no crime, and everyone agrees there should be a better place for him. (Des Moines Register)

Oskaloosa hospital makes $26 million impact
Mahaska Health Partnership in Oskaloosa generates 371 jobs that add $26,160,159 to Mahaska County’s economy, according to the latest study by the Iowa Hospital Association. In addition, MHP employees themselves spend $5,918,870 on retail sales and contribute $355,132 in state sales tax revenue. “We recognize our impact in the community as one of the top three employers,” said MHP CEO Jay Christensen. “As a business leader, we have made a commitment to be positive community partners.” (Oskaloosa News)

Allen Hospital opens new inpatient rehab department
“(Jerry Gehrke) came to us as almost a total assist on all his daily activities,” said Sarah Brown, program director for the new Allen Hospital inpatient rehabilitation department. “Yesterday, he was walking down the hall without his walker and he will probably go home Sunday or Monday.” Allen’s inpatient rehab department opened Dec. 1. The floor, which used to house the skilled nursing unit, can accommodate up to 12 patients. “There is a huge community need,” Brown said. (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)

National News

Check hospital tab
Some Medicare beneficiaries who visit the hospital are getting surprised by big bills because their stays weren’t considered inpatient services. The issue arises when a Medicare beneficiary who comes to a hospital is placed in a status called “observation care.” This is supposed to mean that patient is being watched while doctors decide if she can be discharged, or if she is ill enough to be admitted as a true inpatient. Observation is typically supposed to last 48 hours or less. The number of observation hours grew to around 36 million in 2009, from 23 million in 2006, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. The commission also saw a growing number of stays lasting 48 hours or longer between 2006 and 2008. (Wall Street Journal)

Cancer centers drive hard bargains
As New Hampshire lawmakers decide whether to bend licensing and Medicaid tax rules for a new, private cancer treatment hospital, they may want to look to Georgia and Arizona, the center’s two newest locations. In both states, Cancer Treatment Centers of America negotiated deep local and state tax breaks before building and, in Georgia, succeeded in rewriting a state licensing law, as it hopes to here. (Concord Monitor)

Insurance lags on wound care
Medical device firms across Minnesota have invested millions to develop products to heal open wounds, a $1.8 billion market that is expected to grow as the population ages and the number of people with type 2 diabetes climbs. But many of these companies are struggling to get their treatments to the masses because insurance companies often refuse to pay for their products. Chronic wounds, which range from bedsores to surgical incisions that don’t heal, differ from other ailments because of their varying types and stages. And there is disagreement within the medical community about the best way to treat them. “When new technologies come out that are beneficial, the process is so darned slow,” said Gary Goetzke, an insurance reimbursement consultant. “It’s really hard to get Medicare and others to recognize good technologies and pay for it.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

NY eyes tough reporting system for dispensing of prescription drugs
Maybe it’s the mounting death toll or the sobering addiction statistics. Or that it’s an election year for all state lawmakers. No matter the reason, efforts are taking hold for New York to join other states that require doctors and pharmacists to participate in a real-time reporting system before dispensing prescriptions for painkillers, sleeping pills and other controlled drugs. Stalled for several years, the push is on at the state Capitol to end a system that now permits growing numbers of people addicted to powerful narcotics to physician- and pharmacy-shop for their drug supplies. (Buffalo News)

Iowa News

Care for all
Hospitals in Eastern Iowa recently enacted measures to reduce the number of people incurring debt while strapping the facilities with unexpected uncompensated care costs. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, for example, added social workers and a health care benefits assistance program coordinator to its emergency department, which handles most of the uninsured patients. St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids created a unit dedicated to helping patients identify funding sources, including options through Medicaid. Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids added four counselors to its emergency department to work around the clock with patients needing financial aid. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Blue Zones creator talks health and longevity
Dan Buettner has been across the globe searching and studying the healthiest communities with the longest living residents. During a stop in the Coralville Marriot Hotel and Conference Center’s Coral Ball Room, Buettner said the nation’s first step to healthier citizens needs to start small. The world-renowned explorer, National Geographic writer and New York Times best-selling author also acknowledged the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce’s plans to take that step. “It’s gonna start with cities leading the way; here’s to Iowa City being the next Blue Zone,” Buettner said. (Iowa City News-Press)

Church affiliated hospitals upset over health care decision
A decision by the Obama Administration that forces church affiliated employers to cover birth control in their healthcare plans has outraged religious organizations across the country. The ruling means church affiliated hospitals such as Sioux City’s Mercy Medical Center would be force to pay for insurance that covers contraceptives and sterilization. Mercy spokesman, Jim Wharton, says the decision makes no sense. “A Baptist hospital, a Catholic hospital, whatever, it would no longer be considered a religious employer, which means we lose the right to exercise what we call our conscious clause. Where if it’s something that’s totally contrary to what our principles and beliefs are we still have to violate our conscience to abide by a government regulation to provide these services,” Wharton says. (Radio Iowa)

DHHS claims Iowans with Medicare saved $25.8 million
42,015 Iowa residents with Medicare saved $25,876,475 on their prescription drugs in 2011 thanks to the Affordable Care Act, according to data issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Savings for people with Medicare will increase over time. According to a new report issued today from HHS, the average person with Medicare will save nearly $4,200 by 2021 because of the new law. “The Affordable Care Act is already saving money for millions of Americans with Medicare,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  “As we move forward, we will close the donut hole completely and save even more money for everyone with Medicare.” (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Davenport doctor defends traffic cameras
raffic injuries declined “significantly” after Davenport installed red-light and speed cameras, a trauma physician said Wednesday. Last year, 120 patients were admitted to Genesis Medical Center, Davenport, for treatment of injuries suffered in Davenport vehicle crashes, Dr. Joe Lohmuller, general surgeon and medical director of Genesis Trauma Services, said during a news conference at the hospital. It is interesting that prior to the installation of these devices, the number of patients we were admitting to the hospital each month from vehicle crashes in Davenport was steady at 15 to 17,” Lohmuller said. (Quad-City Times)

National News

Hospital HCAHPS scores beat expectations
In the health reform sweepstakes to retrieve their share of $850 million in federal funds, hospitals have been scurrying to improve their patient experience scores under Medicare’s value-based purchasing rules. Now, according to the latest survey results, their efforts are paying off. For discharges in July, 2011, the month scoring began, patients’ responses were 0.7 % better than they were in June, according to Press Ganey Associates, which distributes and analyzes patient responses to the 27 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. (HealthLeaders Media)

Study: Hospitals overpay for devices
Some hospitals pay thousands of dollars more than others for big-ticket medical devices such as defibrillators and hip replacements, and a portion of the higher costs could be passed on to the federal Medicare program, a new government report says. Among 31 hospitals surveyed by investigators for the Government Accountability Office, one paid $8,723 more than another for an identical model of a device that regulates heart rhythm. The device, called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, typically costs the hospitals between $16,445 and $19,007. (Wall Street Journal)

Health care’s jobs boom
While the economy lost 7.5 million positions during the 18-month recession, the health care industry added doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel. Together with the social assistance category, which includes day-care workers, career counselors, and similar positions, the sector will add more than 5.6 million employees and be the biggest job gainer by 2020, according to new projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing is forecast to lose 73,000 jobs by then. “The first baby boomer just turned 65 last year, so when it comes to health-care jobs, we haven’t seen nothing yet,” says Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York. (Business Week)

Health law delivers $2.1 billion in savings on drugs for seniors
In the first full year of the new healthcare law, 3.6 million people in the government Medicare program saved $2.1 billion on prescription drugs in 2011, the Obama administration announced Thursday. The savings are one of the first tangible benefits of the sweeping overhaul that the president signed in March 2010. The law’s biggest changes, including the guarantee that all Americans can get health coverage even if they have a preexisting condition, do not go into effect until 2014. (Los Angeles Times)

Komen gives new explanation for cutting funds to Planned Parenthood
On Thursday, Susan G. Komen Foundation President Elizabeth Thompson told reporters that the funding decision was unrelated to the investigation into whether Planned Parenthood was illegally using federal funds to pay for abortions. Komen founder Nancy Brinker said the organization wants to support groups that directly provide breast health services, such as mammograms. She noted that Planned Parenthood was providing only mammogram referrals. (Washington Post)

Iowa News

Eastern Iowa cities striving for blue
The Blue Zones Project is a main component of Iowa’s healthiest state initiative, an effort to make Iowa the nation’s healthiest state under the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Healthways spokesman Bruce Middlebrooks says officials are reviewing applications from 54 communities across Iowa. About a dozen communities will be announced as finalists on Feb. 10. Those communities will receive expert help to make permanent environment and policy changes that improve the emotional, physical and social health of each town’s residents. “We’re preparing for it as if it’s going to happen,” says Jeni Palmer, a HealthCorps member working on the Cedar Rapids efforts through Linn County Public Health. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Still many unknowns with proposed state changes
Johnson County is home to so many dedicated individuals and organizations who have worked tirelessly for years; we want to make certain that their accomplishments and strides to date continue and move forward. Most importantly, we want to be confident individuals affected by mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families are assured full community inclusion and participation; enjoy productive and meaningful lives and full citizenship rights and opportunities. (Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Keokuk hospital pushing forward
Walt Winkler is juggling several balls to get the Keokuk Area Hospital finances where they should be, and he’s waiting for the right one to land in his hand. The CEO is keeping the hospital open on a week-by-week basis. “We do it just like the people do at home with their paychecks,” Winkler said. But unlike wage earners, the hospital is seeking help from the state and federal government in the form of disproportionate funding. “There are Medicare and Medicaid programs that are normal programs, and that’s how hospitals are paid,” he said. “The disproportionate share program has been developed in addition to normal payments and is aimed at trying to help facilities that are trying to take care of more disabled, elderly and indigent patients.” (Burlington HawkEye)

McKinley students team up with Mercy to design heart health brochure
Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids is partnering with neighboring McKinley Middle School on a science project involving the school’s sixth grade students.  As part of a science unit on the vascular system, McKinley science teacher Michele Wilson asked Mercy nurses to present information on heart disease, risk factors, diet and exercise.  The sixth graders were then invited to design and create an informational brochure that will be used to promote heart health among their peers and throughout the community. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

National News

Lawmakers urged to spare hospitals in fixing SGR
Several hospital groups urged Congress to use savings from overseas operations as a way to solve Medicare’s sustainable growth-rate formula for physicians—as long as those funds would provide for a full fix.  Organizations including the Federation of American Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems sent a letter to members of Congress that again lobbied federal lawmakers to find a permanent solution to the way the Medicare program reimburses physicians that does not compromise funding to the nation’s hospitals. (Modern Healthcare)

How one hospital entices doctors to work in rural America
Recruiting doctors to live and work in rural America is a chronic problem. Most health centers try to attract workers with big salaries and expensive homes. Shots previously reported that one center in Maine was trying to lure medical students to the countryside for their final two years with the hope that they stick around. The Ashland Health Clinic, a tiny hospital in southwest Kansas, is trying a different tack — a reverse-recruitment model. It’s called mission-focused medicine, and it’s based on serving problems most commonly found in third-world countries. (National Public Radio)

Did Susan G. Komen turn itself into a lightning rod?
Susan G. Komen for the Cure says there wasn’t anything political about its decision to stop giving grants to Planned Parenthood. But in Washington, every decision is political — and now the cancer-fighting organization may have turned itself from a “safe” charity into just another political lightning rod. It may have ruined its fundraising, too, as its Facebook page filled up with messages from Planned Parenthood supporters promising they’ll never give a dime to the charity again. (Politico)

Iowa News

Compete to be healthier
Many local, state and national education efforts have struggled to get people to change their eating habits and get more regular exercise. Change has been slow to come. So why not introduce more competition to get people’s attention and speed up change? That’s what the Blue Zones Project, a major component of Iowa’s healthiest state initiative, is doing. We applaud the effort because it’s in Iowans’ best interests. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Multi-million dollar expansion planned for Lakes hospital
Parts of Lakes Regional Healthcare, in Spirit Lake, are 50 years old. Administrators say it’s time for a multi-million dollar expansion and renovation, that’ll bring in some new tech and a better atmosphere for patients. “It’ll be the biggest renovation and expansion since the hospital was built,” said Hospital President and CEO Jason Harrington. It’ll be 40,000 square feet of new and remodeled space on the hospital’s east side. The plan is to add on to accommodate Dickinson County’s growth, plus, update an aging hospital. (KTIV)

UIHC seeks to purchase $2.2 million surgical robot
The UI purchase of the da Vinci Si Firefly surgical robot, at a cost of $2.185 million, was approved in December by Regents Executive Director Bob Donley. The board meets Monday and Tuesday in Ames and is asked to ratify the purchase. Equipment purchases at the regent universities costing more than $1 million require board approval. The executive director may approve emergency purchases exceeding $1 million, to be followed later by board ratification. Donley in this case approved the purchase in December so UI officials could buy the robotic arm at a lower price. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

National News

Thousands of Kaiser workers wage one-day strike
The California Hospital Association ran a full-page advertisement with a large photo of a crying baby in some newspapers Tuesday criticizing the nurses union for their sympathy strike. “Sympathy for who? Not for patients,” the advertisement said. “Make no mistake — this strike is not about patient care,” said C. Duane Dauner, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, in a prepared statement. “It’s about (the California Nurses Association’s) ongoing attempts to grow its membership, increase its member dues and advance its aggressive political agenda. This union already rakes in nearly $61 million in annual member dues.” (San Jose Mercury News)

Oregon nurses association seeks to change state vaccination law
The legislation also has the support of labor unions and the Oregon Health Care Association, but is opposed by the hospital association (the Oregon Association of Hospital and Health Systems), which wants individual hospitals to be able to decide what’s best for them. “We support repealing the language from current statute (that prevents health care facilities from requiring vaccinations) to allow for flexibility, community by community, hospital by hospital, provider by provider,” said Andy Van Pelt, its director of communications. “Oregon is the only state that has language in the statutes that prevents the vaccination from being a condition of employment.” (Lund Report)

Nursing homes offer plan to help cut Medicare spending
A proposal from the American Health Care Association, which represents skilled nursing facilities, has offered lawmakers a plan the group believes will help cut the readmission rate for nursing home patients to the hospital. That, the association says, would save Medicare money. Nursing homes would prefer their ideas over another money-saving provision in the payroll tax extension/Medicare “doc fix” legislation passed last year by the House. That bill would reduce Medicare’s reimbursement to cover “bad debt” incurred by skilled nursing facilities, hospitals and other providers from 70 percent to 55 percent by 2015. (Kaiser Health News)

Komen breast cancer charity severs ties with Planned Parenthood
In what looks to be a break between two organizations dedicated to women’s health, a national breast cancer awareness group said it would stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood centers for breast cancer examinations and other breast health services. Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leader in fundraising for breast cancer research and famous worldwide for its iconic pink ribbon, said Tuesday that it was halting all partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates because of recently adopted criteria that forbid it from funding any organization under government investigation. (Los Angeles Times)

Hospitals give crime lab $10K to fight ‘bath salts’
A $10,000 grant from a Dayton-area hospital association will help medical and law enforcement personnel identify the ever-changing ingredients in deadly designer drugs such as “bath salts.” The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association on Tuesday announced a partnership with the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory, which has investigated 17 deaths stemming from synthetic stimulant use since March 2011. “When we identify a compound, they change its chemical structure and we have a new compound that is out being ingested by our children,” said Ken Betz, the crime lab’s director. (Middletown Journal)

Iowa News

Country doctors: Center draws doctors to underserved areas
Dr. William Durbin believes family medicine is the second-best career in the world. The best? Rural family medicine. “Rural medicine gives you a unique opportunity to do things you won’t experience in a big city,” Durbin recently told a small group of third-year medical students from Des Moines University. “And by big city I mean anything over 1,000.” Durbin is a bit biased. He practices family medicine in Parkersburg. (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)

Woman says fitness program saved her life
Cherubim Hurdle weighs less than 400 pounds now, but her goal is to get under 200. Still, she says it’s not just the pounds that are relevant.  Hurdle was one of the first participants to successfully complete the FIT Start program. The program is being rolled out by one of Iowa’s largest medical providers, Iowa Health, as a way to cut the number of morbidly obese patients who seek gastric bypass surgery, which can be risky and expensive.  The goal is for Iowa Health patients to drop their plans for bypass surgery and instead, improve their health the natural way. (Radio Iowa)

Fairfield is ‘ready’ to become a Blue Zone
Out of 54 remaining towns, several will be selected for a site visit, and ultimately, 10 will be chosen to become a designated Blue Zones community. Fairfield will begin planning for that step when the time comes.  On Tuesday, Fairfield will host a Blue Zones Winter Walk to show continued support of the project. Supporters and community members will gather at noon in Howard Park and walk one kilometer. (KTVO)

Ban on vaginal births after C-sections increases Sioux City C-section rates
While the percentage of C-sections has increased a bit, there’s a pretty easy explanation that doesn’t involve elective inductions, a practice frowned upon by many medical professionals. “If there has been an increase, it would have been starting five years ago when we stopped doing vaginal births after C-sections,” said Dr. Paul Eastman, OB-GYN, with Siouxland Obstetrics and Gynecology. “And in Sioux City, we only do vaginal births after C-sections because we don’t have 24-hour surgery, anesthesia and surgeon coverage, OB coverage, for subsequent pregnancies.” (Sioux City Journal)

Cargill donates $100,000 toward new Iowa Falls hospital
As part of its longstanding commitment to support the communities in which it does business, Cargill has donated $100,000 to the Ellsworth Municipal Hospital Foundation to support the construction of the new hospital. The foundation has raised a current total of $6.6m to fund the construction of a new hospital in Iowa Falls, which will improve health care for area residents, attract more businesses and create jobs for the community. The new hospital will replace the outdated facility that currently serves the community. It will also include a health education area, which will be named for Cargill. (FoodBev.com)

National News

‘Romneycare,’ meet ‘Obamacare’
It’s something supporters of President Barack Obama’s health reform law will say again and again: The health care overhaul put into place in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney is the big (but smaller) sister of the federal law. His rivals for the Republican presidential nomination like to say it, too. But that doesn’t mean Romney’s law gets to stay just like it was just because it got there first. It still has to conform to the federal law, and that won’t exactly be an easy lift. (Politico)

Feeling strain when violent patients need care
I didn’t know much about the patient—just that he’d showed up on my floor the previous evening after some confusion about whether his room was ready. When I went into his room that morning, he was still asleep. I gently roused him while his doctor, who had followed me in, explained that he needed to do a physical exam. The patient, suddenly fully awake, challenged him: “Are you going to examine me or are you just going to stand there and talk about it?” His voice had an edge to it that, I’ll reluctantly admit, scared me, especially when he quickly got up out of the bed and started yelling at the doctor and me. (New York Times)

Highest health care pay found in California, Alaska
California dominates the pay rankings for several lines of work, so it comes as no shock that California markets set the U.S. pace for health-care salaries. But Alaska? Its strong performance is much more surprising. On Numbers has analyzed compensation data for two closely related employment sectors — health-care practitioners and support staffers — in 406 metropolitan areas and divisions. The following rankings are based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for 2010, the latest year for which official numbers are available. (The Business Journals)

Iowa News

Ward: Bill would set up mental health services by region
After months of meetings on the redesign of the Mental Health and Developmental Disability plan, we finally have a bill. Thursday morning the bill was distributed to Legislators and the public at the Capitol. The bill pulls together the recommendations from seven work groups and more than 100 people consisting of state legislators, county supervisors, providers, consumers, and family members. We spent months identifying what we believed would be the best system, regardless of cost. The governor and the Department of Human Services are determining the costs of the proposed changes to the mental health services. (Des Moines Register)

Advocates encouraged by mental health plan
Patient advocates were heartened by many provisions of a state mental health reform plan unveiled at the Statehouse on Thursday, but they were concerned by the measure’s repeated use of this phrase: “Subject to the availability of funding.” “That’s huge, huge, huge,” said Teresa Bomhoff, a Des Moines activist for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Bomhoff remains optimistic that legislators will make big improvements in Iowa’s patchwork mental health system. But the lack of a firm commitment to spend tens of millions of dollars on the effort worries her and others who work closely with the system. (Des Moines Register)

Eastern Iowa cities striving for blue

Both Cedar Rapids and the Iowa City area plan events this week to ramp up efforts as they compete to become one of the first Blue Zones communities in Iowa. About 20 Eastern Iowa communities have applied, with hundreds of people seeking to solidify each town’s chances. The Blue Zones Project is a main component of Iowa’s healthiest state initiative, an effort to make Iowa the nation’s healthiest state under the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. (Eastern Iowa Health)

Ames hospital receives $250,000 gift
Sauer-Danfoss has pledged $250,000 to the Mary Greeley Medical Center Extraordinary Visions campaign. The hospital’s foundation launched the Extraordinary Visions campaign in late September. The $6 million campaign will support the medical center’s $129 million building project, the largest in the hospital’s history. To date, $3.7 million has been raised, including the gift from Sauer-Danfoss. The project includes a new six-story tower with larger patient rooms that will provide better healing environments and accommodate new technologies. (Mary Greeley Medical Center)

Mercy mom delivers 13-pound baby; no epidural
A woman gave birth to a 13-pound, 12-ounce baby boy without medication at Mercy Medical Center on Thursday. When asked about the birth experience Kendall Stewardson, 24, of St. Charles, said she couldn’t talk about it. “It wouldn’t be TV appropriate,” Stewardson joked. Baby Asher was born healthy and nine days late. He was 23.5 inches long. His family has a history of big babies. Asher’s big brother Judah weighed 12 lbs., 1 oz. when he was born. Both Stweardson and her husband Joshua were born weighing more than 10 Lbs. (KCCI)

National News

Hospital hiring of physicians picks up steam
Hospitals increased their physician hiring in 2011, and hospital employment of doctors shows no signs of slowing in 2012, with doctor hiring becoming a major strategy for hospitals getting ready for health system reform. “We have a work force shortage,” said Alan Kaplan, MD, vice president with Iowa Health System and president of Iowa Health Physicians and Clinics, based in Des Moines. “We would look at any physician seeking employment. I’m not saying we would want to employ all specialties, but we would look at them.” (American Medical News)

Minor mistakes, deadly results
Alarms have been sounding for more than a decade, ever since the Institute of Medicine—the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences—estimated that as many as 100,000 people a year were dying in US hospitals due to preventable errors. Despite those warnings, the situation has gotten worse. In 2010, the federal government estimated that faulty medical care contributed to the death of about 15,000 Medicare patients per month. By these measures, faulty hospital care is one of the leading causes of death, behind heart disease and cancer. Why haven’t hospitals made more progress on patient safety? (Washingtonian)

Outpatient move saves hospital
Genesis Health System in Davenport, IA, is in the midst of an agreement with Mercer County, IL, to run the county’s hospital. When the 670-licensed-bed Genesis system took over operations a few years ago, Mercer had an $800,000 deficit. Genesis began a slow process of changing the hospital culture, with the biggest emphasis on a change in outpatient care, says Ted Rogalski, hospital administrator. The latest financial figures showed a $500,000 positive margin, with immediate changes in vendor contracts and improved management controls helping to better the hospital’s fiscal status, Rogalski says. “It was really putting policies and procedures to ensure that we were collecting dollars owed us,” he adds. Once those financial areas were strengthened, hospital officials then focused on revised clinical improvements, with better outpatient care as a primary target. (HealthLeaders Media)

Iowa News

Woodbury County fears mental health service cuts
If pending state legislation is enacted, one-fourth of Woodbury County residents receiving mental health services would lose that care, county officials said Tuesday. The County Board and county Social Services Department Director Patty Erickson-Puttmann again aired fears that a state redesign in how mental health services are administered and paid for could harm local programs. (Sioux City Journal)

Iowa guides Obama
President Barack Obama waxed nostalgic during his return to Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, but only long enough to say his time in Iowa still guides his blueprint for an “economy built to last.” The morning after delivering his third State of the Union speech that laid out four pillars — made in America manufacturing, American energy, raising educational levels and fair play — Obama flew into Cedar Rapids to repeat that message in front of about 400 people at Conveyor Engineering & Manufacturing. (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Cedar Rapids named in Top 3 for quality health care in U.S.
Patients hospitalized in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area have lower complications and death rates than most parts of the country, according to a new study that ranks the Corridor’s health care system third best in the nation. HealthGrades, a health care research firm headquartered in Denver, based today’s report on a study of 5,000 hospitals nationwide. Cedar Rapids, which also includes the Iowa City area, ranked third behind Baltimore and Phoenix/Prescott, Ariz., as the group’s Top Cities for Hospital Care in America. (Eastern Iowa Health)

By 2020, expect some sticker shock on Iowa cost of health care
The coming year will determine whether — or in what form — health reform survives. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the health care law’s constitutionality before it adjourns in June. If it survives the court challenge, it will at least face a political gauntlet — if not its demise — if the Republicans capture the White House, Congress or both in the 2012 presidential election. If health reform survives, the U.S. health care landscape will change more in the next decade than it has in the last 50 years. However, health reform is mostly health insurance reform. (Des Moines Register)

Mom donates 100 ‘sleep sacks’ to Mercy in Des Moines
An Iowa mom who lost her baby to sudden infant death syndrome is working to help prevent more deaths. Julie Tuttle lost her 3-month-old daughter Taryn in 2009 to SIDS. Wednesday, Tuttle and her new baby, Marilyn, stopped by Mercy Medical Center to donate 100 sleep sacks to the hospital. The product is designed to be safer alternative to blankets, bumpers and crib bedding. (KCCI)

Dubuque emergency room sees jump in weather-related injuries
It’s been nearly two weeks since eastern Iowa’s first major snow storm of the year, and already, emergency rooms are seeing an uptick in weather-related injuries. Dr. Mark Singsank works in the emergency room at Mercy Medical Center in Dubuque. He said the number of patients the ER sees jumps as much as 10 percent in the five days following a major snow storm. (KWWL)

National News

Colorado wants mandatory flu shots for most hospital and nursing home workers
State health officials want to mandate flu vaccinations for nearly all hospital and nursing-home employees, with no religious or other personal exemptions, saying patient protections outweigh individual choice. The state board of health will vote next month on new rules requiring low- and high-risk medical facilities to hit employee flu-vaccine targets that step up each year, to 90 percent of workers in 2014. The Colorado Hospital Association supports mandatory flu vaccine in hospitals, which along with nursing homes make up most of the high-risk facilities. Individual hospital systems, though, have varied policies. (Denver Post)

GOP leaders want ‘replace’ bill ready if Supreme Court nixes health law
House Republican leaders are drafting a bill to replace President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul if the Supreme Court strikes it down this summer. Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Pitts, chairman of a health care panel, says the GOP leadership wants to seize the opportunity if Obama’s signature legislation is ruled unconstitutional. The Republican bill would include malpractice reform, high-risk insurance pools for people with pre-existing conditions, tax breaks for individuals and small businesses, and would allow people to buy cheaper coverage from insurers in another state. (Associated Press/Washington Post)

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation aims to cut health-care costs
The Obama administration touts it as a key solution to the nation’s runaway health-care spending: a new national center set up by the 2010 health-care law to test and implement groundbreaking ways to cut costs while improving patient care. On Thursday, a little more than 14 months after the center opened, officials will release a report summarizing its progress: 16 recent initiatives, funded with more than $1.7 billion in federal money, that will involve more than 50,000 providers over the next five years. (Washington Post)

Jurors side with Garth Brooks in hospital naming-rights lawsuit
A jury awarded Garth Brooks $1 million Tuesday night in a civil dispute involving the country music entertainer and a naming-rights’ promise he said was made by the largest health-care system in the state. A Rogers County jury deliberated for three hours in awarding him $500,000 on breach of contract and fraud claims against Integris Rural Health Inc. and only 15 minutes before awarding the same amount of punitive damages. The amounts were the legal maximums in this case. (Tulsa World)

Iowa News

Iowa public health warns of norovirus outbreaks
Reports of the norovirus illness have been increasing across Iowa in recent weeks, and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids is seeing more patients than usual with the symptoms. The Cedar Rapids medical center is classifying the apparent spread as a “sporadic outbreak,” with an average 10 to 15 people coming in for treatment daily for the past 10 days. “The busiest week we had was the first week of January,” said Mercy spokeswoman Karen Vander Sanden. “And that was with people who were sick enough to be admitted.” (Cedar Rapids Gazette)

CR Blue Zones community forum set for Feb. 2
The purpose of the forum is to identify the major health issues facing the Cedar Rapids and Linn County communities. Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, will make an appearance to discuss possible solutions to the issues. The first 100 attendees will receive a free copy of Mr. Buettner’s book. During the first hour of the CR Blue Zone Check-Up event, Stephanie Neff, interim director of Linn County Public Health; Tim Charles, CEO of Mercy Medical Center; Dr. James Levett, chief medical officer of Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa; and Ted Townsend, CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital, will discuss the most prevalent health issues facing the community. Pat Baird, retired CEO of AEGON, will moderate the discussion. Attendees will be invited to share their observations and join the discussion. (Corridor Business Journal)

Broadlawns first in state with 3-D mammography
Mammograms just got a lot more advanced in Iowa. The FDA approved the 3-D technology just last year, and Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines is the first in the state to use it. From seeing a still image to seeing layer after layer of breast tissue, a 3-D mammogram, also known as breast tomosynthesis, gives doctors a never before seen look at the breast. “We’re actually able to detect cancers at a smaller size, thus at an earlier stage, and we’ll increase the patient’s risk of survival,” said Dr. John Tentinger, a radiologist at Broadlawns. He said early studies show up to a 7 percent increase in the detection rate for cancer. (WOI)

National News

Landmark health overhaul get nary a mention
When it came to health, what was most surprising was how little President Obama had to say in his State of the Union address. His landmark 2010 health overhaul — whose fate is currently before the Supreme Court and whose repeal is the top priority for every GOP presidential candidate — got barely a passing mention. The president also resisted the urge to use the speech to criticize House Republicans for their passage last year of a budget plan that would dramatically reshape the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled. (National Public Radio)

CBO report on Medicare demos draws mixed response
A Congressional Budget Office report critical of the Medicare fee-for-service demonstration projects in disease management, care coordination, and value-based payments has received mixed reviews from stakeholders who acknowledge the report’s significance while contending that it contains no surprises for the healthcare industry. Meanwhile, officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees the demonstration projects, have remained almost silent. (HealthLeaders Media)

Senate watchdog targets high-prescribing Medicaid docs
An influential U.S. senator is grilling officials in nearly three-dozen states, demanding to know how they are cracking down on physicians who prescribe massive amounts of potentially dangerous prescription drugs. Iowa Republican Charles Grassley sent letters to 34 states Monday asking what steps they had taken to investigate doctors whose prescribing of antipsychotics, anti-anxiety drugs and painkillers to Medicaid patients far exceeds that of their peers. (Pro Publica)

Florida hospital loses $178M judgment in negligence case
A Florida man and his family have won a $178 million judgment against the HCA-owned Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, FL, and a doctor accused in the lawsuit of medical negligence in a case involving weight-loss surgery gone awry. A Duval County, FL, jury found Memorial was liable for damages of $168 million. And on Monday, the jury awarded an additional $10 million in punitive damages in the case. (Nashville Tennessean)