St. Luke's Health System plans to end its provider network contract with UnitedHealthcare early next year, although the insurer hopes to negotiate a new contract. According to officials at the health system, the partnership's end was prompted by United's inconsistent reimbursement rates that have made it difficult for St. Luke's to offer "the quality of care it is committed to."
Numerous Birmingham, AL-area hospitals are starting to branch out from the urban core and locate in surrounding suburbs, but competition among them guarantees that all such moves will be long and drawn out through the state regulatory process. The regulatory process is intended to keep healthcare costs in check by preventing unnecessary duplication of services, but its critics believe it does the opposite by stifling competition.
Winston-Salem-based hospital chain Novant Health wants to build a 46-bed, $110 million hospital in Holly Springs, NC, but it will face a battle to win approval from the state. Novant Health announced plans for the Holly Springs hospital that would serve the town and southwest Wake County. If Novant wins approval, it would hire 200 to 300 people and open in 2012. It plans to submit its application to state regulators Aug. 15, but approval will likely be hard-fought because the plan would use up all the new hospital beds that state regulators have allocated for Wake County.
An untold number of people have been rejected for medical coverage because insurance companies are using huge, commercially available prescription databases to screen out applicants based on their drug purchases. Privacy and consumer advocates warn that the information can easily be misinterpreted or knowingly misused. The practice is adding another layer of anxiety to a marketplace that many consumers already find baffling, reports Business Week. The obstacle primarily confronts people seeking individual health insurance, not those covered under an employer's plan.
A service offered by employers called Health Advocate is a call-in center that helps customers find the right doctor, haggle over insurance coverage, and manage other medical system headaches. Health Advocate is one of a growing number of U.S. companies offering advocacy services to medical consumers. Revolution Health, a Web-based medical consumer services company overseen by AOL co-founder Steve Case, has been considering getting into the same business. The health advocacy business may be on track to become a $1 billion industry based on the demand for the service, experts say.
Fancy touches and posh chemotherapy clinics at the $150 million, 405,000-square-foot Indiana University Simon Cancer Center facility are expected to help draw cancer patients from across the state and the country. The hospital, which will begin accepting patients at the end of August, has 34 chemo treatment spaces and may expand to 60. Patients can opt for a private room with a bathroom, or they can sit in semi-private spaces and shield themselves from the next patient with sliding wood doors with opaque windows. Inpatient rooms come with similar personal touches in an effort to make patients and visitors feel comfortable.