The disease management sector has been evolving rapidly since the concept was introduced in the mid 1990's. The initial focus was to treat chronic conditions in the most cost efficient way in the hope of reducing the spending associated with chronic diseases, which are estimated to drive approximately 75 percent of the nation's total health care spending. The initial response was that of skepticism. While many players have attempted to demonstrate their respective disease management program returns on investment, no standardization was established to measure the amount of cost savings and the quality of outcomes as a result of their programs.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton came closer to explaining how she would enforce her proposal that everyone have health insurance, but declined to specify, as she has throughout the campaign, how she would penalize those who refuse. She added that the focus on enforcement clouded the more important point that her proposal to cover the uninsured was superior to Senator Barack Obama's because she would mandate coverage for all, but he would require it only for children.
The biggest problem facing the healthcare industry isn't the quality or availability of treatment. The real danger to our national medical system is the soaring cost of getting the bills collected. Each year, more than $350 billion is spent needlessly as bills bounce among patients, doctors and insurers, says J.R. Thomas, chief executive of Irving (TX)-based MedSynergies Inc
The subsidized insurance program at the heart of Massachusetts' healthcare initiative is expected to roughly double in size and expense over the next three years. Thisn unexpected level of growth could cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars or force the state to scale back its ambitions. The state has asked the federal government to shoulder roughly half of the program's cost from 2009 through 2011, but there is no guarantee of that funding. The Commonwealth Care program provides free or subsidized insurance for low- and moderate-income residents.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL-based Holy Cross Hospital is buying one of its main rivals, the financially struggling North Ridge Medical Center in Oakland Park. The Catholic-owned Holy Cross is acquiring the 332-bed North Ridge from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in Dallas. The entities did not disclose a purchase price, saying the transaction must still be approved by state regulators.
In a move that has been fiercely debated by legislators and the hospital industry, Mount Sinai Medical Center opened a stand-alone emergency room Monday less than a mile from Aventura Hospital. The money-losing hospital is gambling $5 million that it can attract Aventura residents to a 'round-the-clock ER and, if needed, rush them by ambulance to their half-empty facility in Miami Beach for surgery or other extensive care.