HealthLeadersMedia.com - Daily News & Analysis

AHA: Labor is Biggest Factor in Hospital Cost Growth

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:47:00 GMT

While hospital care accounts for one-third of dollars spent in healthcare, overall spending for hospital care has shown the slowest growth among healthcare services, according to a new American Hospital Association report that examines spending growth on patient care. From 2007 to 2008, spending for hospital care rose by 4.5%. The single most important factor driving up costs was labor, accounting for about 35% of overall growth.

Practice Board Meeting: What's on the Agenda? What's Not?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:47:00 GMT

Depending upon how well they are organized, board meetings can provide vital monthly or quarterly face-to-face time among the decision-makers to keep your physician practice running smoothly. At Radiological Associates of Sacramento, the monthly practice board meeting is a model of efficiency.

Seniors Often Get Inappropriate Drugs in ED, Says Study

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:39:00 GMT

It is common for patients 65 and older to get potentially inappropriate medications when treated in emergency departments, a new University of Michigan Health System study has found. Nearly 19.5 million older patients, or 16.8% of eligible emergency visits from 2000-2006, received one or more potentially inappropriate medications, said the study.

Partnership's Aggressive Policies Prevent H1N1 Outbreak

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:55:00 GMT

Now that H1N1 fears have seemingly subsided, many infection control departments are evaluating their flu prevention programs, looking for deficiencies, while also noting effective policies and procedures. Two Seattle area facilities created an aggressive prevention program that resulted in no increase of H1N1 cases in the facility month-to-month, despite a 100-fold increase in H1N1 cases in the area.

RAC Audits Now a Potential Risk for Physicians

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:49:00 GMT

Two of the four RACs added Medically Unlikely Edits to their list of CMS-approved issues earlier this year, which gives RACs a new set of issues to study, including physician services. While physician services have not been the target of RACs since early in the demonstration project, the approval of MUEs by Connolly and HDI puts them back on the RAC radar.

Congressional Democrats Expect Health Reform Passage Soon

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:01:00 GMT

With a change here and a discussion there, a healthcare reform measure appears to have inched its way closer to a starting point on the route to a final passage. However, there are several new twists.

Employers Miffed That Workers Are Not Changing Unhealthy Habits

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:45:00 GMT

Employers are frustrated that too many of their workers are failing to change their unhealthy habits and take advantage of health and wellness programs that include financial incentives, according to a survey by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health.

Senate Jobs Bill Expands EHR Incentive Eligibility

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:41:00 GMT

Many hospital-based physicians puzzled by their apparent exclusion from EHR meaningful use incentives may find some relief in a provision included the latest Senate jobs bill, "The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213)," which passed on Wednesday.

CT AG Charges Antitrust Practices in Health Insurance Industry

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:32:00 GMT

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office has uncovered a potentially anticompetitive practice by health insurance companies that could raise healthcare costs and lower competition.

Caring for a Child's Unique Needs: PA Health Network Plans Pediatric ED

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:29:00 GMT

To meet increasing demand for pediatric care, Lehigh Valley (PA) Health Network has announced plans to establish a pediatric emergency department. The facility will be constructed in space adjacent to the current emergency department at Lehigh Valley Hospital Center-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township, PA, and is expected to be completed in spring 2011.

Nurse Survey Finds Hospitals are Making Cost-Cutting Moves

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:14:00 GMT

A recent survey among 179 nursing professionals in the healthcare industry show how the tumultuous 2009 economy had varying effects on facilities of all sizes in acute care, critical access, long-term care, ambulatory, home health, and rehabilitation settings.

Poor Air Quality Leads to More Hospital Costs, Says RAND

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:03:00 GMT

California's long-standing and severe smog problems cause many avoidable hospitalizations that added $193 million in hospital costs between 2005 and 2007, according to a RAND Corp. report. The researchers broke the cost of that dirty air down by the number of patients treated at sample hospitals in certain high air pollution counties in the state.

AMA Wants Permanent Fix on Physician Pay Issue

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:23:00 GMT

The president of the American Medical Association criticized the Senate's vote on Wednesday to delay a 21.2 % physician pay cut in Medicare until October 1, saying it is "pushing the problem off into the near future."

Federal Leaders Promote ACOs as Part of Health Reform

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:19:00 GMT

Current and former top Medicare officials told an American's Health Insurance Plans conference on Wednesday that new directions for healthcare payment reform could include public and private collaborations, such as Accountable Care Organizations.

Comparative Effectiveness Research is Lacking, Says Study

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:15:00 GMT

An analysis by researchers of comparative effectiveness studies found that only a few compared medication use with nonpharmacologic interventions, and that only a few examined safety or cost effectiveness, according to a study. Researchers looked at the characteristics and prevalence of CE research on medications published between June 2008 and September 2009 in six general medicine and internal medicine journals.

Hospitals Could Save Millions By Eliminating Five Hospital-Acquired Conditions

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:12:00 GMT

An average 200-bed hospital could save approximately $2 million annually if it eliminates common but high-cost hospital-acquired conditions among inpatients, according to the Healthcare Management Council, Inc., a Needham, MA-based company focusing on hospital and healthcare performance improvement.

Report Questions Patient Safety Training, Recommends Improvements

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:07:00 GMT

Today's medical students are not learning enough about patient safety, the importance of teamwork and communication, and safety science, according to a new white paper released by the Lucian Leape Institute at the National Patient Safety Foundation on.

Senate Approves Delaying Physician Pay Cut Until October 1

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:16:00 GMT

The Senate voted to delay a 21.2% physician pay cut in Medicare reimbursement until October 1. The vote was 62 to 36.

White House Announces Plan to Crack Down on Medicare Fraud

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:39:00 GMT

President Obama announced a new effort to crack down on waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid and other programs through expanded use of payment recapture audits. The audits offer specialized private auditors financial incentives to root out improper payments.

More Children Hospitalized With Severe Clostridium Difficile, Says Study

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:01:00 GMT

The strain of clostridium difficile causing severe disease in children has been increasing from 7.24 per 10,000 hospitalizations in 1997 to 12.8 in 2006, most of it during the latter six years, according to a new study. The study's author says the finding should prompt health providers to be even more careful with the use of antibiotics, which may pave the way for the dramatic increase.