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Editor's Picks
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Maine set to launch RHIO
Maine healthcare providers have unveiled a new information-sharing system that will eventually give doctors instant access to patients' medical histories no matter where they are located around the state. HealthInfoNet, or HIN, will allow doctors to call up a complete medical history report for patients that displays recent diagnoses, lab test results and prescribed medications even when the work was done by physicians hundreds of miles away. More than $4 million has been raised so far to fund development of the online network. A 24-month demonstration phase of the project will involve more than 2,000 healthcare providers from around the state, and 15 rural and urban hospitals have signed on to the program. [Read more]
Minnesota hospital sees regional role in its future
Although Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, MN, has long been a community facility, the 73-bed hospital is positioning itself to become a regional health center due to growth internally and externally. To prepare for a major expansion, hospital officials want a change from their current residential zoning status so they can more easily make changes to the building. The hospital is licensed to have 97 beds, and Lakeview leaders say they'll need them all to fulfill their mission. They plan to invest $30 million to $40 million for the expansion at the hospital's current site in Stillwater. [Read more]
North Carolina hospital pleas made
Critics are blasting the partnership of Rex Healthcare and a Florida for-profit healthcare company for planning to move a hospital from central Franklin County, NC, to a location near Wake County, NC. Rex and Franklin Regional have asked the state for permission to move the 70-bed Franklin Regional Medical Center in Louisburg 12 miles away to a planned $103.9 million building in Youngsville. Opponents say shifting the hospital from Louisburg to Youngsville will move it farther away from what are the poorest parts of the county and where the largest portion of the aging population resides. [Read more]
East St. Louis community hopes to save hospital
Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, which owns Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis, wants to merge the hospital with another it owns in Centreville five miles away, Touchette Regional Hospital. At a time when the community is already beset by poverty and violence, closing the only access to healthcare seems like certain death for the neighborhood, according to advocates who are rallying to keep Kenneth Hall open. In recent weeks, East St. Louis residents have rallied to try to save the facility. A similar situation is happening in Newark, NJ, where more than 700 residents and hospital employees recently crowded into a church to protest plans to close the 107-year-old Saint James Hospital. [Read more]
Upbeat diagnosis for clinics
After CVS announced plans to open dozens of medical clinics in Massachusetts, critics warned of inferior care driven by profit. Some have even predicted that patients would sacrifice an ongoing relationship with a doctor because of the clinics. Increasing evidence presented by independent researchers, insurers, and regulators in other states has painted a far more positive portrait, however. When patients are treated for sore throats and other minor illnesses at retail clinics, the care may actually be as good as--if not better than--in more traditional doctor offices, some experts say. [Read more]
Tennessee hospital's expansion set for April
Representatives from StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna, TN, say construction will begin in April on a $15.8 million expansion that would give it another 26 beds and four surgical suites. Stonecrest has seen admissions grow 30 percent since 2004, while the number of surgical cases performed annually has risen by about 25 percent. Once construction is complete, StoneCrest will have 101 beds and an additional 27,000 square feet of space. It also expects to add 75 jobs within one year of completing the expansion. [Read more]
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Leaders Forum
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RHIOs: The Keys to Sustainability:
Although Regional Health Information Organizations share the same goals, they are using a variety of business and information technology strategies to get there, say contributors Marybeth Regan, PhD, and Robin Randall-Lewis. [Read more]
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Resources from HealthLeaders Media
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Learn how your hospital can measure the ROI of physician relations.
With A Marketer's Guide to Physician Relations from HealthLeaders Media, learn how to take your physician relations program to the next level.
The Satisfied Patient, Second Edition illustrates how focusing on patient satisfaction can better your organization.
With Service Line Execution 2.0 from HealthLeaders Media, get the definitive guide to successful execution of service line management from subject expert Preston Gee. | |
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Why Is The ED Such A Pain?
The emergency department has a culture all its own with a unique set of challenges to match. It's also your hospital's window to the community. So you'd better make it work. [Read more]
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Audio Feature
Physician Creates, Offers Free EMRs: Shelbourne, MA-based physician Stefan Topolski MD, discusses the development of his own electronic medical record program--and why he decided to give it away to other doctors for free. |
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