Experts agree that improving the quality of healthcare can be as simple as paying financial incentives for more quality work as well as setting minimum quality standards for workers. However, William Roper, chairman of the board of directors of the National Quality Forum, told the Senate Finance Committee this week that changing the healthcare industry's views about quality initiatives won't happen overnight.
As the insurer campaigns to convert into a for-profit company, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is threatening to cut two Pennsylvania hospitals out of its treatment networks. Horizon has notified subscribers that it is terminating contracts with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Health System when they expire later this year. Roughly 28,000 subscribers use those facilities.
Many states are experiencing the expense of adding thousands of unemployed to its Medicaid rolls, followed by the decline in revenue that stems from a struggling economy. The combination now has dozens of states looking for some relief, preferably from the federal government—although that relief appears unlikely to come soon.
William McGuire, former CEO of UnitedHealth Group Inc., will pay $30 million to the California Public Employees' Retirement System in the settlement of a class-action lawsuit. McGuire had been accused of illegally backdating his purchases of UnitedHealth stocks. In addition, the settlement prohibits him from purchasing another 3.675 million shares of the company's stock.
A campaign to tap Chicago's philanthropic community for at least $600 million, or about 60% of what's needed to build a replacement for Children's Memorial Hospital, has been unveiled. Christopher Reyes, chairman of the medical center's board of directors, said the "Heroes for Life" campaign is the most ambitious in the hospital's 126-year history. Executives say they have raised $400 million and are pressing for at least an additional $200 million from philanthropy. Aside from philanthropy, Children's executives say they will put investment returns and sale of real estate toward the remaining $400 million.
Recent articles and editorials in major medical journals blast the industry while accusing drugmakers of deceiving the public, manipulating doctors, and putting profits before patients. Medical schools, teaching hospitals, and physician groups are also changing rules to limit the influence of pharmaceutical sales reps. As more voices have called for change, new guidelines for how drugmakers and doctors should interact are coming from both industries. But the industries' dealings remain fraught with potential conflict because the sectors depend on each other so much.