A coalition of groups opposing healthcare legislation, led by the United States Chamber of Commerce, is singling out 27 Democrats who supported the healthcare bill last year and 13 who opposed it. The organizations have already spent $11 million on advertising against the campaign this month focusing on these lawmakers, with more spending to come before an expected vote next weekend. An alliance of groups supporting the healthcare plan, which works closely with the White House and Democratic leaders, had been spending far less and focusing on fewer districts, the New York Times reports.
After a year of political wrangling and debate over where to build a new hospital in New Orleans' St. Bernard Parish, the parish's hospital board formally inked a deal with a local non-profit group to use a donated piece of land. The Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation had offered up the 11.5-acre piece of land in January 2009 for free. But some hospital board members and Parish Councilmen had issues with specific language about who would have control over the type of services the hospital could offer.
Last year, a national accrediting agency put a Mass. General Hospital program on probation for violating patient-protection rules that limit trainees' work hours. Some residents had been staying too late because they didn't want to sign over their very sick patients to other doctors, out of a combination of duty to patients, work ethic, and unspoken peer pressure. Now, senior surgeons and residents say the program is in complete compliance with the rules that require trainees to average no more than 80 hours of work a week and have 10 hours off between shifts, the Boston Globe reports.
A contract dispute between one of the country's largest insurers and a major New York City hospital system has been settled, officials said, ending the prospect that tens of thousands of New Yorkers would be cut off from their doctors and the hospitals they use. The negotiations between the insurer, UnitedHealthcare, which includes Oxford health plans, and the hospital system, Continuum Health Partners, which includes Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, had been extremely contentious. But hospital officials said that they were able to negotiate compromises on insurance rates for hospitals and on a proposed rule that would require hospitals to notify the insurance company within 24 hours of a patient's admission or face a stiff financial penalty, the New York Times reports.
Patient satisfaction surveys are being increasingly used in hospitals nationwide. Press Ganey, a leading organization measuring patient satisfaction, counts more than 10,000 medical institutions in the U.S., and over 40% of hospitals, among its clients. While gauging patient sentiment with satisfaction scores is a useful way to point out deficiencies and improve the patient experience, focusing too much on patient satisfaction actually be detrimental, says Kevin Pho, MD, a primary care physician who writes a column in USA Today.
There are two daunting tasks facing Minnesota hospitals now that Gov. Tim Pawlenty and legislators have struck a deal to continue state-funded healthcare for the state's poorest and sickest residents, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports: First, create a new system to provide comprehensive medical care for 32,000 adults, many of them homeless and chronically ill, add social work and psychological counseling, do it on a budget slashed from $219 million to $91 million—and roll it out in 12 weeks. Second, convince skeptical users of General Assistance Medical Care that the best care starts in a low-cost medical clinic, not an expensive hospital emergency room.