Starting May 1, hospitals and other healthcare providers that allow patients to pay bills using credit must put written identity theft prevention programs in place. The "red flag rules" from the Federal Trade Commission were supposed to go into effect in November, but enforcement was delayed to give healthcare outlets and others more time to comply. "You'll find more hospitals . . . asking for a picture ID, so they would know the person sitting in front of them is the person on the insurance card," said David McClure, vice president of finance with the Tennessee Hospital Association.
Hermitage, TN-based Summit Medical Center wants to build an emergency and diagnostic medical complex in Mt. Juliet. Summit, part of HCA Corp.'s TriStar division, has presented Mt. Juliet with a letter of intent to develop and operate an "outpatient medical facility providing emergency services, diagnostic imagery, laboratory services and/or physician office space." Jeffrey Whitehorn, the hospital's chief executive, said his hospital is the emergency room of choice for about three-fifths of Mt. Juliet's residents who seek such care.
A merger between St. Elizabeth Medical Center and St. Luke Hospitals is complete, making all of Northern Kentucky's hospitals under one umbrella. The hospitals now employ more than 4,600 full-time workers and have over 2 million square feet of medical facilities in the Kentucky counties of Boone, Kenton, Campbell, and Grant.
Citing the economic downturn, Milwaukee-based Columbia St. Mary's eliminated 74 jobs as part of a systemwide initiative to control costs. The eliminated jobs did not affect any registered nurses or the healthcare system's nurse-to-patient ratio, Columbia St. Mary's said in the announcement to its employees. The system operates hospitals in Milwaukee and Mequon, WI.
Hundreds of healthcare delegates from more than 50 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Brazil, Germany, France, and Singapore, will gather this week for the Dubai Congress on Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine in India. The event will feature information about new innovations and treatment solutions said to prevent and even reverse the signs of aging and degeneration, and emphasize the importance of education in the aesthetic anti-aging market.
Star Hospitals has launched a new medical tourism Web site that offers up-to-the-minute information about medical travel. The new site goes beyond the North American medical tourism service's existing benefits, as it features a "live chat" function with facility doctors to address patients' questions about traveling overseas for healthcare.