HealthLeadersMedia.com - Physician Leadership News

Lower ED Margins Demand a Better Strategy

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:35:00 GMT

In this new Intelligence Report, we examine how resolving organizational problems in the emergency department will remain a challenge as demand for ED services increases, overcrowding elevates patient safety concerns, and quality metrics draw greater attention.

Healthcare Costs Hit Record High, But Growth Rate Slows

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:28:00 GMT

The 2013 Milliman Medical Index pegs the annual cost of PPO coverage at 6.3% higher than last year. Physician and other professional services account for one third of annual healthcare spending.

Incentives push doctors to electronic medical records

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:57:00 GMT

WASHINGTON -- More than half of doctors' offices and 80% of hospitals that provide Medicare or Medicaid will have electronic health records by the end of the year, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. "We have reached a tipping point in adoption of electronic health records," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and they "are critical to modernizing our health care system." The announcement comes as a key part of the 2010 health care law: Doctors with have can better track errors and prevent future problems.

Intermountain Healthcare alerts patients to cumulative radiation exposure

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:51:00 GMT

Roughly 25 patients a day are wheeled into Intermountain Medical Center's "cath lab" for CT scans to look for calcium buildup in their coronary arteries. Coronary artery scans — the newest addition to radiologists' growing arsenal of diagnostic tools — can aid doctors in diagnosing heart problems early. But they expose patients to 50 to 150 times the radiation of a chest X-ray, raising their risk for developing cancer later in life. "We want to make sure patients are getting tests only for the right reasons," said cardiologist Donald Lappé at a news conference Wednesday touting a 9-month-old initiative aimed at ensuring just that.

3-D printer makes life-saving splint for baby's airway

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:45:00 GMT

A 3-D printer is being credited with helping to save an Ohio baby's life, after doctors "printed" a tube to support a weak airway that caused him to stop breathing. The innovative procedure has allowed Kaiba Gionfriddo, of Youngstown, Ohio, to stay off a ventilator for more than a year. The splint that changed Kaiba's life was implanted in February of 2012, when he was 3 months old. Resembling a vacuum cleaner's hose, with ridges to resist collapse, the splint is made out of bioresorbable plastics that will dissolve within three years, according to the University of Michigan doctors who developed the unique treatment. They wrote about the implant in today's issue of the .

Keys to Managing Transitions of Care

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:15:00 GMT

Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System's focus on care transitions for its elderly and heart failure patient population has continually resulted in good readmission scores. Other hospital leaders could do the same, but the process has taken years and attention to detail.

$6.4B Henry Ford, Beaumont Merger Failed on Cultural Hurdles

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:49:00 GMT

A merger between two Michigan healthcare providers has been called off because of stark cultural differences between them, observers say. Those differences include the patient populations they each serve and the organizations' physician compensation models.

Less Blood Testing for Some Surgeries Safe, Cost Effective

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:29:00 GMT

The ordering and testing of blood for surgery that rarely requires blood transfusions is expensive and "overutilized" by hospitals, researchers say. At Johns Hopkins alone, more appropriate blood ordering practices could save $200,000 a year.

UC hospitals cancel surgeries, divert patients amid strike

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:23:00 GMT

A strike by University of California patient care workers Tuesday caused the cancellation of hundreds of surgeries, the closure of laboratory stations and the diversion of emergency room patients, officials said. The hospitals prepared for the two-day strike by postponing elective surgeries and hiring temporary workers, but services still were affected after thousands of employees took to the picket line at the medical centers in Los Angeles, Irvine, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento, where the UC Davis facility is located.

Scramble at Moore Medical Center as tornado hit

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:21:00 GMT

A massive tornado swept through the Oklahoma City area Monday afternoon, leaving ruin in its path. Moore Medical Center, which stood directly in the tornado's path, was . But the workers, patients and their families in the hospital escaped. Nick Stremble, a registered nurse and manager at the hospital, told Shots Tuesday what he saw. "My ER is destroyed," he said. "My department was at the Moore Medical Center. I mean it's wiped out. The building is roped off so we're not doing anything there." About 250 or 300 people were inside as the storm approached. The staff was able to direct everyone to designated zones located in the center of the hospital.

Latest from Parkland: All the good stuff happens in executive session

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:16:00 GMT

Parkland Memorial Hospital's board of managers met Wednesday for its monthly committee meetings, an all-day affair starting at 8 a.m. and ending somewhere around 3 p.m. The agendas promised lively discussions about: – The federal Affordable Care Act, which likely will bring dramatic changes to Dallas County's lone public hospital. – Review of recent "safety events" at the hospital, which actually describe mistakes that had the potential to harm patients. And, most importantly, an update on the hospital's efforts to satisfy a System's Improvement Agreement with the federal government, Parkland's on-going effort to retain its government funding. However, none of these discussions occurred during the board’s public session. They took place behind closed doors so that the media and members of the general public could not hear what anyone said.

KY short 3,800 doctors even before Medicaid expansion

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:10:00 GMT

FRANKFORT, KY. — Kentucky needs 3,790 more doctors, including 183 additional primary care physicians, to meet current demand for care — and those numbers will grow when more Kentuckians get coverage through a Medicaid expansion and health benefit exchange under health reform. Those are some of the findings in a workforce capacity study report by Deloitte Consulting that was the subject of a briefing Wednesday held by the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. The report is scheduled to be made available on the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange website next week.

Lake Erie Regional Health System cuts jobs at two hospitals

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:08:00 GMT

The parent corporation of Lake Shore Health Care Center in Irving and Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk has laid off at least 40 employees over the past two days to lower costs and eliminate overlapping services, The Buffalo News has learned. Lake Erie Regional Health System of New York laid off about 40 employees at Lake Shore Health Care across a variety of departments, with workers learning their fates late Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a current hospital employee and an employee who was laid off, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.

Opinion: Colonoscopy mill operator doesn't concern insurance company

Thu, 23 May 2013 12:02:00 GMT

To hear Health Plan of Nevada's advocates tell it, Dr. Dipak Desai was a master of deception. He was a real sleight-of-hand artist, a veritable David Copperfield of the colonoscopy. The fact Desai and a nurse anesthetist are on trial facing a list of criminal charges including second-degree murder illustrates the fact he's the one at fault. HPN, on the other hand, is a dedicated and charitable servant of nearly 500,000 Nevadans' health care needs. Its reputation has been besmirched by last month's staggering $500 million punitive damage award for its role in the hepatitis C outbreak at Desai's now-closed Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

Uncompensated Care Faces a Double Hit in Some States

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:27:00 GMT

Hospitals in states that opt not to expand Medicaid are at a severe disadvantage to their counterparts in other states, not only because they will miss out on additional Medicaid-based reimbursement, but also because they will face the same cuts in disproportionate share funding as everyone else.

House Lawmakers Grill CMS Over Health Exchange Navigators

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:11:00 GMT

The role of navigators, expected to help millions of uninsured make their way through the health insurance market, came under fire Tuesday by members of Congress who raised questions about oversight and the role of the IRS in the implementation of healthcare reform.

Tornado struck hospital but patients, staff unharmed

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:12:00 GMT

Hospital emergency department manager Nick Stremble didn't need the television to tell him the tornado would hit Moore Medical Center. All he had to do was look outside the window. "There's a big window area that faces southwest," Stremble said, recalling his final check before heading to the safe area on the first floor of the hospital in Moore, Okla., about 10 miles from Oklahoma City. "I could see the tornado in the neighborhood across the street from us. I could see the debris. It was more than obvious it was going to be there in under a minute."

Hospital 'code black' before flood of tornado patients

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:08:00 GMT

The injured children came into the Children's Hospital at the Oklahoma University Medical Center in Oklahoma City fast. So fast that the hospital set up a triage center in its own facility. "Every once in a while, a trauma trickles into the emergency room at OU Children's," said Bob Letton, pediatric trauma medical director at the hospital. But not Monday. In the wake of a powerful tornado that ripped through the area, he said, "a facility used to seeing one or two traumas a day all of a sudden had over 50."

Loophole in healthcare law could stick doctors with tab

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:05:00 GMT

A loophole in California's upcoming health care overhaul could be exploited by families gaming the system or responding to hardship in a way that doctors say could leave a pile of unpaid bills. A chain of events would create a two-month period during which a family has medical coverage but no insurer must pay its claims. Nonpayment of premiums for subsidized policies would trigger the oddity: Federal law provides a three-month grace period before cancellation - but insurers are responsible only for the first month.

WI hospitals reduce central-line infections

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:53:00 GMT

Painstaking work by Wisconsin hospitals in recent years has sharply lowered the occurrence of one of the most deadly types of infections: those from central lines used to deliver fluids, medication and blood to patients. Infections in intensive care units from central lines — tubes placed in a large vein in a patient's neck, chest or arm — were 56% lower last year than a national baseline established in 2008, according to a report by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. That progress — which included a 21% reduction from 2011 — has stemmed from a series of initiatives since 2009 by the Wisconsin Hospital Association, as well as from projects by individual hospitals.