Peter Pronovost, MD, a Johns Hopkins University researcher made famous by his checklist study, has been named to Time magazine's 100 list. Pronovost, 43, began investigating hospital-acquired infections at Johns Hopkins' hospital in 2001 and concluded that arming physicians with a chart reminding them of each step in routine procedures drastically reduces the medical errors that lead to such infections. Pronovost says the checklist protocol could be rolled out nationwide within two years for less than $3 million.
A New Hampshire man has developed a device that could help healthcare professionals tackle the increasing scourge of drug-resistant infections, saving billions of dollars and countless lives. He has developed the technology to kill Noroviruses, C. diff, MRSA and other problem viruses and bacteria using a section of the ultraviolet light spectrum to bombard them with killing high-energy photons.
One of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's legislative priorities this year was to kill certificates of need for hospitals, saying they stifle competition and "have failed to achieve reduced costs and greater quality of care." Hospital officials who decried Crist's initial anti-CON stance are now praising the new, and they say improved, CON law that passed the Florida Legislature on the session's final day.
The Henry Ford Health System is opening a $350-million community hospital and wellness complex on 160 scenic acres in West Bloomfield, MI. In addition to national-class clinical services, the 300-bed hospital will offer amenities ranging from homelike private rooms with couches where relatives can sleep overnight to in-room whirlpool tubs for mothers in labor. But one of the hospital's most innovative elements is its culinary program.
The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati has not filled open positions at its main offices for more than a year as it prepared for three of its hospitals to withdraw. The system, which is losing Christ Hospital in Mount Auburn and the two St. Luke Hospitals in Northern Kentucky, has reduced about 140 jobs during the last 10 months. The Health Alliance now includes Jewish, University and Fort Hamilton hospitals, the Drake Center and the Alliance Primary Care doctors group.
Contra Costa County, CA, leaders are putting a cap on some health benefits as they move to slash nearly $52 million from the county's budget. Supervisors have given approval to a budget intended to slow rising healthcare costs by limiting the amount of money it contributes for healthcare coverage for nonunion employees and managers.