Facing a drastic cut in federal healthcare dollars for the uninsured beginning in July, the Florida Legislature has proposed a new model — set to be finalized this week — for distributing the smaller pool of cash and encouraging hospitals to cooperate like never before, including voluntary financial contributions among competing medical centers. Some of Florida's largest public hospitals, including Miami-Dade's taxpayer-owned Jackson Health System, could lose tens of millions of dollars under the proposal while some other not-for-profit medical centers, including Baptist Health South Florida, stand to gain.
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice recently issued a report card on how the United States provides healthcare to seniors by region. Using Medicare enrollment and claims data from 2012, the report compares regions on such factors as where seniors spend the most time with doctors, where they are most likely to be hospitalized, or be subjected to unnecessary tests or risky medications. The report also points to ways seniors – or children helping to care for elderly parents – can navigate the healthcare system to receive better care. The research is being used to discover whether best practices are being used – and where. The answers vary widely across the country.
Trinity Health, one of the country’s largest Catholic health-care systems, is taking greater control of its supply chain by building its own distribution network. The new setup, which starts with a distribution hub in Fort Wayne, Ind., would cut $20 million a year in costs, the health system said this week. The announcement comes as the health-care industry has seen a wave of consolidation in recent years as companies seek to gain scale because of pressures to constrain costs under the Affordable Care Act. [Registeration required.]
Cancer specialists clashed Wednesday over a Medicare proposal to test new ways to pays for drugs given in doctor's offices and hospital outpatient clinics. The proposal by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services applies to Part B drugs, a class that covers certain cancer drugs, antibiotics and eye-care medications. Some cancer drugs are among the costliest on the market, ranging from $9,000 to $100,000 a month, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
When Inova Health System announced it would create a $100 million venture fund— unveiled as part of a splashy White House event last month highlighting precision medicine investments— it was just the kind revelation Inova has gotten so good at making in the last year. The buzz began a little more than a year ago as the hospital system enlisted Gov. Terry McAuliffe to help publicize its acquisition of the former Exxon Mobil campus for its new $180 million Inova Center for Personalized Health.
After a monthslong courtship, two local health systems are "engaged to be engaged." That's according to Baptist Healthcare System Inc. CEO Steve Hanson, who offered Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services president and CEO Daniel Eichenberger his pin at a news conference Wednesday. It was a symbolic gesture that came after the two signed a letter of intent for Louisville-based Baptist Health to buy New Albany's Floyd Memorial for $150 million. Baptist Health would assume all Floyd Memorial assets and liabilities in the deal and would make a total commitment of $300 million, Eichenberger said.