Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has given its backing to a 424-bed, $1.2 billion academic teaching hospital in downtown New Orleans designed to treat a majority of the region's uninsured patients and serve as the hub of a revamped medical corridor. The proposed size is smaller than the 484-bed configuration suggested last year in a state-commissioned business plan. But the administration's support helps clear up months of uncertainty about a project that is expected to anchor the state's public healthcare system and train the next generation of medical professionals.
Several senior-level administrators at Slidell (LA) Memorial Hospital, as well as numerous unit managers and patient-care coordinators, are losing their jobs as part of a plan to consolidate the hospital's management structure and streamline services. The efforts will save the hospital about $4 million per year, or about 3% of the hospital's total annual expenses. Administrators cited the downward economic trend as a reason for the reorganization, as well as their responsibility to the community to run an efficient, fiscally sound hospital.
Physicians are working together to form larger groups or becoming employees of hospitals as they try to deal with what many see as a financial squeeze from tighter reimbursement policies by insurers and government health programs. Some physicians are giving up private practice to join corporate America, or they're adding new services to boost fee income.
As medical tourism continues to grow, the American Medical Assocaciation is providing guidance to patients about traveling abroad for care and to employers about covering such procedures.
The AMA approved the guidelines at its annual policymaking meeting in Chicago, and representatives said about 150,000 Americans in 2006 received some form of medical care overseas. About half were for "medically necessary procedures," according to AMA representatives.
A series of three eight-hour discussions focusing on healthcare reform showed that 88% of the participants put a high priority on all Kansas residents having some health insurance coverage. The forums also turned up strong support for preventive healthcare, for funding those costs through taxes, and for making sure everyone has a health professional who would oversee the person's healthcare. Each of the three discussions included about 30 people who were asked to consider different approaches to healthcare reform.
In 2009, SSM Health Care plans to open SSM St. Clare Health Center, a full-service acute-care center and state-of-the-art replacement for the 65-year-old SSM St. Joseph Hospital in Kirkwood, MO. The $236 million hospital is scheduled to open on March 30. SSM officials sought to streamline the healthcare delivery process through a facility that maximizes patient and practitioner efficiency. They started by scrutinizing processes like outpatient admissions and emergency department procedures and soliciting opinions from staff, physicians and patients.