UnitedHealth Group is testing a new model of healthcare that many policy experts say holds great promise but has yet to prove itself. Under the medical home model, the insurer will try giving doctors more authority and money than usual in return for closely monitoring their patients' progress, even when patients go to specialists or require hospitalization. The insurer will also move away from paying doctors solely on the basis of how many services they provide, and will start rewarding them more for the overall quality of care patients receive.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is near the top of President Barack Obama's list of candidates to head the Health and Human Services Department, a senior administration official said. Other candidates, including former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, remain in the mix. A decision is not imminent, a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Ever since Hurricane Katrina, Charity Hospital has been an emblem of misery for New Orleans. Nearly 3½ years after the flood ended, Charity is still empty. Plans to replace the hospital with a new one are stalled. Instead, Charity has become perhaps the most notable symbol of the languid pace of government efforts to rebuild or replace billions of dollars worth of public works wrecked when Katrina and Hurricane Rita hit the Gulf Coast in 2005. Among thousands of projects that still haven't moved forward, none has been as big or contentious as Charity.
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center shut down its rooftop helicopter pad, months after exhaust fumes began leaking into the new hospital's ventilation system. The move came one month after state officials began investigating complaints. County-USC's ventilation system problems were apparent soon after the hospital opened in November, said Pete Delgado, the hospital's chief executive.
Officials are relieved their communities will not suffer a major loss of services from recent cutbacks announced by a regional Cambridge (MA) Health Alliance. The health alliance announced that as a result of the financial crunch created by state budget cuts and the slow economy, it plans to eliminate more than 300 jobs, end inpatient services at Somerville Hospital, and close six medical clinics. But word that the cuts spared the alliance's Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett, the Revere Family Health Center, and the Malden Family Medical Center came as welcome news to officials in those cities.
In the aftermath of a close vote by Loudoun County, VA, supervisors to reject a proposed 164-bed hospital in Broadlands, Loudoun officials have started debating whether the vote effectively killed the county's chances of getting a second hospital in the foreseeable future. Board Chairman Scott K. York, who supported the Broadlands project proposed by HCA Virginia, predicted Loudoun would never see another hospital built. But Supervisor Kelly Burk said HCA and Inova Health System own property along Route 50, an area in which Inova has expressed interest in developing a hospital. Other hospital networks also might want to build in Loudoun, she said.