Physician group practice operator IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc. will buy Hospitalists of America, allowing it to expand into Southeast Florida. By buying HOA, IPC said it will gain a network of independent physicians who will offer services to HOA's health plan and hospital customers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. IPC representatives said the company expects the deal to close in the third quarter but did not disclose financial terms.
Washington, DC, should spend $90 million in tobacco settlement money to expand primary and urgent healthcare through community health centers in the city's underserved areas, the independent Rand Corp. advised in a report. The report provides guidance on Washington's critical health needs and how the settlement money could be used to address them. The city has a total of about $245 million from a 1998 national settlement between tobacco companies and states. Rand also suggested spending $24 million on improving electronic medical records systems and reserving $7.5 million for mental and oral health issues.
According to those at Infosys Leadership Institute, leadership cannot be taught, but it can be learned. The increasingly successful, India-based company Mysore offers leadership guidance in a three-tiered mentoring program for its employees, which many believe leaders in the healthcare industry can learn from.
A report by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the improper use of prescription drugs killed three times more Floridians in 2007 than did all illegal drugs combined.
The annual Drugs Identified in Deceased Persons report analyzed 168,900 autopsies performed in Florida in 2007 and found that 8,620 people died with one or more of the drugs specified in the report in their bodies.
Cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine played a role in 989 deaths. Legal opioids like the painkillers Vicodin and OxyContin caused 2,328 deaths, and depressants like Xanax and Valium were involved in 743 deaths.
The report prompted calls by law enforcement officials for improved monitoring of prescription drug abuse and increasing public awareness about its potential dangers. "The rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs is over three times as high as the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined," says Bill Janes, director of the Office of Drug Control. "We have not yet implemented a statewide monitoring plan that will help reduce the problem. The monitoring plan is our priority effort, but that is not enough."
Janes also wants doctors and pharmacists to help law enforcement identify and stop doctor shoppers. He says the state must also find a way to curb illegal Internet sales of prescription drugs. "Only through a comprehensive, coordinated strategy will we be able to reverse this tragic, unacceptable trend," Janes says. Traces of alcohol were found in 4,179 autopsies, and it was determined to be the cause of death in 466 instances. There were 843 cocaine-related deaths, 25 methamphetamine-related deaths, and no marijuana-related deaths.
The report also found that 110 of the autopsies found traces of heroin, an increase of 14% since 2006, while another 1,253 autopsies found traces of oxycodone, an increase of 36% over 2006.
Erie County's attempt to force New York state to close either Buffalo General Hospital or Erie County Medical Center has been dismissed in the state Supreme Court. Judge John Curran ended the effort in a decision that indicated the June 23 settlement between the health systems averted any action to shutter a facility.
The U.S. House has voted to postpone a planned cut in payments to physicians who treat Medicare patients by approving a reduction in payouts to private insurers. The legislation would forestall a 10.6% cut in Medicare payments to doctors and hospitals for 18 months. Democrats warned that such a decrease would lead to many physicians opting out of treating Medicare patients.