Sutter Health is cutting ties with its decades-long partner, Radiological Associates of Sacramento, from its capital hospitals and plans to expand its own imaging services. RAS executives said they were taken by surprise last fall when Sutter negotiators broke off talks that would have extended the radiology firm's contract with the hospital system beyond March 31, the Sacramento Bee reports. Doctors from RAS have handled such imaging services as X-rays and CT scans in Sutter facilities since Sutter General Hospital opened in 1923.
At a time when the United States is trying to overhaul its healthcare system to provide more Americans with coverage, China is struggling with the fallout of abandoning its socialist model in favor of Western-style privatized medicine. Government efforts to modernize China's healthcare system and reduce Beijing's role have led to deep funding cuts for public hospitals. The results are familiar to many Americans, the Los Angeles Times reports: Patients with good health insurance or ample savings can get first-class treatment at the best medical facilities, while millions of the uninsured and poor live in dread of a serious illness that could bankrupt their families.
Medicare payments to doctors are set to be cut by 21% on March 1, but the jobs bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is putting together includes a "short-term patch" that would temporarily block the cuts. The bill is still in draft form and has not been formally released, but a draft calls for blocking the scheduled pay cuts through the end of September, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports.
Doc Shop, a program Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford launched to connect patients with obstetrician-gynecologists, was modeled after speed dating events. The first Doc Shop took place in September, with seven scheduled for 2010. The program has been successful enough that the hospital is expanding it to include pediatricians, with longer-term plans to include other primary care specialists.
President Barack Obama and leading lawmakers from both parties met at the White House to showcase potential areas of cooperation, the Wall Street Journal reports. On healthcare, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said after the meeting the president should start from scratch. But President Obama repeated he was open to new approaches as long as they achieve his goals, and argued that many Republican ideas are already in the pending bills. The president said he would consider new limits on medical-malpractice lawsuits, but suggested this policy would have only a minimal impact on the rising cost of care and would have to be coupled with other changes. But Obama said he hoped that a bipartisan health summit set for Feb. 25 would be a serious conversation on the issue, the Journal reports.
Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Holy Cross Hospital has signed a collaboration agreement for oncology services with Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. The agreement gives Holy Cross cancer patients access to specialists at Mass General for second opinions and treatment in cooperation with local physicians. The 571-bed Holy Cross is part of Catholic Health East.