SSM Health Care-St. Louis has announced a $59 million capital improvement plan, most of which will be targeted at St. Joseph Health Center and St. Mary's Health Center. System representatives called the plan "a major step to improve patient care, enhance services and reinforce competitive strength."
St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis has implemented a Web-based work force management system created by San Diego-based Bidshift, Inc. The scheduling program gives the medical center's more than 2,000 nurses greater flexibility in identifying extra shifts and linking the vacancies to their expertise and interests. The shift was made as hospital executives sought an up-to-date method of communicating open nursing shifts and attracting qualified workers.
The vast majority of North Carolina's 3,000 or so emergency room patients examined for sexual assaults each year shoulder some of the cost of a rape kit test, according to state records and victim advocates. An analysis of records and interviews with hospital officials and administrators at several of North Carolina's major insurers suggest that charging the patients is a widespread practice. For those without insurance, hospitals send the bills to the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which has a modest fund to help.
The latest news out of Missouri is that another state-led initiative to expand coverage for uninsured residents is about to fall by the wayside--an increasingly common trend on the healthcare reform front.
The program known as Insure Missouri was pushed through last year by Gov. Matt Blunt as a way to cover 200,000 Missourians, but is now facing stiff opposition because it goes too far, does too little, would cost too much or some combination of the three (depending on who you ask). The program would leverage existing federal matching funds against premiums paid into the system by individuals and small employers.
Initially the program would offer coverage to working parents and caregivers with children in families earning less than the federal poverty level. Later expansions would subsidize the cost of coverage for low-income working adults and offer a reinsurance plan for small employers. Coverage would be provided by managed care plans through the state's Medicaid program.
That the proposal is coming under fire is not surprising.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about San Francisco's legal battles to implement a program offering access to healthcare coverage for all city residents. Shortly after that column ran, I received this e-mail from a Missouri insurance regulator that offered some insight into that state's healthcare reform efforts.
"There's a lobbyist here in Jefferson City Missouri that's fond of comparing health insurance reform efforts to sticking your hand in a bag of rusty nails and broken glass. Legislators and regulators in Missouri recently stuck their hands in that bag. We haven't come up yet and we're already pretty cut up.
It seems to me that the ERISA/HIPPA/COBRA minefield is navigable, but it takes considerable expertise and experience. In Missouri, the bureaucrats (me) that have the expertise and experience couldn't make themselves heard by the legislators who desperately wanted to get a political victory on this issue. In addition, lawmakers in Missouri are term limited. There's just not enough time or capacity to adequately grasp every layer of complexity in our health coverage reform efforts. As a result, Missouri has a new law on the books that we can't implement or enforce without triggering prosecution from at least 4 federal agencies."
A key point in that e-mail is the reference to legislators lacking the necessary experience and expertise to adequately address the healthcare crisis. This problem is not limited to Missouri and seems to have been replicated in state houses across the nation. The problem, however, is not likely to be resolved anytime soon...kind of like the healthcare reform issue.
...And thanks for all the fish.
As an aside, this is my last column for Health Plan Insider. Les Masterson, editor of HCPro's Disease Management Advisor and the voice on the numerous audiocasts that have appeared in this space, will be writing a column for HPI beginning next week.
Brad Cain is editor of California Healthfax and executive editor for managed care with HealthLeaders Media. He may be reached at bcain@healthleadersmedia.com.
A unique fundraising initiative has children at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, NC, entertained and happy this Valentine's Day. TAP Interactive, an interactive media marketing and promotional division of Themis Group in Durham, took a fresh approach to a Valentine's Day themed fundraising event. The event, called A Gamer's Valentine, auctioned interesting dates (like a private tour for four of the Big Boss Brewing Company, two scooter rentals for a day, or two tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes and a pre-game ride on the Olympia ice machines) with five men and five women gamers from local game development and production companies. All proceeds benefit Duke Children's.
By advertising the event on a Facebook event page and accepting new or gently used video games and video game systems donations as well, the event appealed to a young and motivated demographic. "We work in a young industry and the concept, along with the collection of games and consoles, appeals to a young audience. Even outside of the young techie audience [though], most people receive information about business and social events online. It's one of the best ways to raise awareness," says Meghan Murphy, Account Manager for TAP Interactive.
Overall, $10,000 in donations and gaming equipment was raised and, according to Karen McClure, Director of Children's Miracle Network Services at Duke Children's, the children love the games and game systems they were given. "The response [from the children] was terrific, and the Child Life staff is so excited to have new games to share with the kids and replacements for some of the most popular equipment that has begun to wear out--like the Guitar Hero [guitars]," says McClure.
After the event, the TAP Interactive group was also able to tour the facility. "I think everyone in the group was impressed by Duke Children's Hospital and happy we could see first hand who was benefiting from the event," says Murphy. "I would do this again in a heartbeat and we have already begun planning next year's event."
Kandace McLaughlin is an editor with HealthLeaders magazine. Send her Campaign Spotlight ideas at kmclaughlin@healthleadersmedia.com If you are a marketer submitting a campaign on behalf of your facility or client, please ensure you have permission before doing so.
The British government has made a big commitment to promoting the benefits of weight loss, the centerpiece of which is a three-year advertising campaign. Disagreements over the scope of the campaign, however, have been clouding the effort.