California regulators have moved to stop Prime Healthcare Services Inc. from billing privately insured patients for unpaid medical services received at its facilities. The Department of Managed Health Care has filed a lawsuit seeking to bar Prime Healthcare from billing insured patients for unpaid medical bills that the hospital chain contends it is owed from insurers and is seeking from patients as a last resort. Prime Healthcare representatives said they believed that the hospital operator was legally allowed to send the bills to patients and that it wouldn't have to do that if insurers paid their portion of the medical bills.
Michigan has moved a step closer to getting a high-tech proton beam cancer radiation facility after the state health department gave preliminary approval to Beaumont Hospitals' plan. The decision is a setback for six other health systems working in a consortium to build a single, shared center. The consortium is expected to proceed with plans for its own site, or one shared by other hospitals.
Ohio-based Summa Health System now officially owns Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital, and plans to spend nearly $8 million to upgrade the facility's intensive care unit, emergency department, and surgical suites. Construction plans also include adding a fast-track urgent-care program as well as a new cardiac special procedures lab. In November 2007, Summa and Wadsworth signed an affiliation agreement with the understanding that the agreement would lead to a purchase.
Democratic Colorado lawmakers have proclaimed victory for healthcare consumers now that several healthcare laws passed earlier this year took effect. In a news conference, the lawmakers highlighted bills requiring medical insurance companies to get state approval before raising premiums and three other bills they said will improve access to medical treatment for the poor, elderly and those living in rural areas. They were among the approximately 50 bills dealing with healthcare that the Colorado legislature passed this year.
Located in Parrish, AL, the Capstone Rural Health Center has something even big-city medical practices lack: a functioning electronic medical records system. At the center, exam rooms have computers, medical histories are entered into databases, bills are transferred over the Internet to insurers, and patients are tracked automatically during appointments. The center is a rarity, according to a recent poll that found only 4% of medical practices in the U.S. have fully functional systems to handle EMRs, and most of those are in large practices.
River Oaks Hospital is closing both of its Houston campuses after struggling for four years to turn a profit there, says parent company Hospital Partners of America.
The hospital stopped accepting new patients at both campuses last week and transferred about 100 current patients to the 362-bed St. Joseph Medical Center, also operated by HPA. In a written statement, Chris Vasquez CEO of River Oaks, called the closure, "a very difficult decision for us to make."
Despite what HPA says were significant capital and operating investments, the hospital failed to thrive. The company blames a "challenging cost and reimbursement environment" for the hospital's financial downfall. "We have all worked diligently to turn the hospital around and have invested significant effort and financial resources in the facility. Unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in achieving an economically sustainable facility," says Vasquez.
Although HPA is not commenting on what will happen to the hospital's more than 500 employees, sources say at least some of them will be absorbed by St. Joseph's because a number of patients are being transferred there. HPA will also hold a job fair to place employees in other jobs. River Oaks—which has 524 beds between the two campuses—is a joint venture between HPA and a group of more than 40 Houston doctors. The hospitals were considered general acute-care facilities, but also performed a large number of orthopedic and bariatric surgeries.