Seattle-based Providence Health & Services has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and improve its patient information security to settle privacy complaints from 2005 and 2006. Federal officials say Providence failed to properly secure backup tapes, disks and laptops with electronic patient information several times during a seven-month period. The backup data and laptops were lost or stolen, and Providence has agreed to revise its policy on transporting patient records outside of company buildings and improve training of its employees.
More than 4,000 union nurses, service employees, and technical staff have reached a contract with Seattle-based Swedish Medical Center that includes pay raises but higher healthcare costs for dependents. Over the contract's three years, registered nurses will receive up to a 15% pay raise, while service and technical staff will receive up to a 10.5% increase. The agreement also includes a no-layoff pledge, and management agreed not to subcontract most bargaining-unit work.
King County, WA's projected budget deficit next year is poised to drain $10 million from public health services, health officials have warned. Members of King County's medical community and the Board of Health gathered at Columbia Public Health Center to oppose cuts to the $193 million public health budget that they said could put lives at risk. Without additional funding one or more of the county's 10 public health clinics will likely be shut down, affecting tens of thousands of residents, including uninsured, low-income and immigrant populations, said Board of Health Chairwoman Julia Patterson.
WellCare Health Plans, the Tampa, FL-based managed-care provider being investigated by U.S. and Florida law enforcement authorities over possible fraud, has hired Thomas L. Tran as chief financial officer. Tran replaces Paul Behrens, who resigned in January along with Chief Executive Officer Todd Farha and general counsel Thaddeus Bereday amid investigations by the U.S. Justice Department and Florida authorities.
Creating a planning group to address healthcare challenges on a national level could help ease the looming shortage of doctors, nurses and other health professionals, a panel told reporters at a news conference. The recommendation by Nancy Dickey, president of Texas A&M University's Health Science Center, and Shelton Retchin, CEO of the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, echoes a study conducted by a nonprofit seeking to improve the country's healthcare system. The Association of Academic Health Centers said that the federal government needs to develop a national health work force policy that would help recruit and retain the hundreds of thousands of physicians needed to serve a growing and aging population.
Patients are now being cared for at Sumner Regional Medical Center's new 87 million patient tower in Gallatin, TN. The tower features 90 new private rooms and includes the latest in healthcare design, patient safety and infection control. Built with eco-friendly features, the tower uses energy-efficient elements, recycled materials, and local goods and services. Other features include a new, expanded emergency department, a new medical imaging department, patient lobby and registration area, 18 advanced critical care rooms, six new surgical suites, and a renovated women's and children's center.