In the past decade, hip- and knee-replacement surgery has nearly doubled to about 750,000 operations a year and fueled a multibillion-dollar implant industry with profit margins approaching 20%. With so much money in play, competition among artificial hip and knee manufacturers has fostered a system of five-, six- and seven-figure payments to doctors in royalties, consulting deals, and speaking fees. Those financial arrangement have now come under intense scrutiny from federal prosecutors and members of Congress, who are considering legislation requiring disclosure.
UCLA Medical Center’s new hospital has admitted its first patients after successfully moving patients across the street from its old facility in a tightly scheduled operation. The 335 patients were moved at the rate of one every two minutes, and the operation capped years of planning that began after the 1994 Northridge earthquake badly damaged the old site. The opening came after significant delays, with the facility's cost growing from $597.7 million to $829.3 million.
The Texas Medical Association, the main political arm of physicians in the state, withdrew its endorsement of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn for not helping doctors avoid looming cuts in their Medicare fees. Texas Medical Association spokesman Steve Levine said its 43,000 doctors and medical students are furious because Mr. Cornyn voted to block Senate consideration of a House-passed bill to stave off 10.6% cuts in doctors' Medicare fees. Cornyn said in a prepared statement that he voted against considering the House bill because "the current physician payment system is broken" and needs to be overhauled.
The Atlanta-based Piedmont Heart Institute announced it has acquired another group of heart specialists, Cardiac Disease Specialists, and that its doctors will become PHI employees by July 1. Cardiac Disease Specialists became the third major cardiovascular physician group to join the Piedmont Heart Institute, making PHI Physicians one of the largest cardiovascular specialist groups in the Southeast. Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed, but PHI purchased CDS' hard assets, including nuclear cameras, echo machines and diagnostic test equipment, said PHI representatives.
The faith-based Salvus Center clinic will open a facility in Hendersonville, TN, to serve the uninsured. The clinic plans to be open by mid-July and will include three examination rooms as well as offices for a nurse practitioner and physician who will donate their time to work at the clinic. Patients will pay for their service according to a sliding scale, and additional diagnostic testing will be available through arrangements with Sumner Regional Medical Center and Hendersonville Medical Center.
A federal appeals court has rejected an advocacy group's attempt to get U.S. marshals to seize dozens of Tennessee officials' home computers, including Gov. Phil Bredesen's. The Tennessee Justice Center was trying to get the computer records to garner evidence that the state is failing to provide adequate healthcare for the 640,000 children on TennCare, the state's healthcare program for the poor and disabled.