Doctors who supervise cancer treatments have long been concerned about side effects, including fatigue, hair loss and depression. To that list, some now add the potentially harmful effects of costly treatments. Researchers call it "financial toxicity." The financial burdens that some patients suffer as a result of the cost of their treatments can cause damage to their physical and emotional well-being. Repercussions can include delaying or forgoing the treatment and only partly filling or even avoiding taking prescribed medication. To help such patients, Jonas de Souza, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center, has developed a questionnaire that physicians can use to assess whether cancer patients are financially stressed. [Subscription Required]
Christ Hospital has negotiated a contract with Optum, the data services division of national health insurer UnitedHealth Group, that could make the Cincinnati medical center the preferred destination for some of the nation's largest employers. Those who work for employers with access to Optum's Center of Excellence network now have the option of choosing Christ Hospital's Joint & Spine Center for total hip and knee replacements as well as some kinds of spine surgery – and having the cost of the surgery fully covered. Employers with the program will have their insured workers and dependents guided through the joint- and spine-care process by a nurse navigator, who will help them choose a doctor, provide information about the procedures and offer medical care from diagnosis through recovery.
Two lawmakers from the Burlington area have introduced a bill that would provide consumers and regulators with more information about the market power of health systems. Sens. Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, and Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, have introduced Senate bill 245, legislation that would require hospitals to notify state regulators and their patients every time the hospital buys a new independent practice. Ashe told his colleagues in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee last week that the state should "get to the heart" of why hospitals are acquiring so many independent practices and whether the trend increases costs for Vermont's health care system.
Two competing health systems in northeast Tennessee are looking for state approval of a merger that would establish a single operation, which, according to their leaders, is the best way for the two to navigate a challenging health care environment. Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance, each a not-for-profit system with a regional footprint, filed Tuesday for a certificate of public advantage, or COPA, from the Tennessee Department of Health. Their headquarters are about 25 miles apart: Wellmont is based in Kingsport, and Mountain States is based in Johnson City.
Several doctors with the Urology Group have taken leadership positions with St. Elizabeth Healthcare, but they will remain independent under a co-management agreement with the dominant medical provider in Northern Kentucky. "We're giving them more authority to help us make the right decisions," said Dr. Robert Prichard, chief clinical integration officer for Edgewood-based St. Elizabeth. "We will pay them for their time – the administrative time they invest in meetings outside of professional services. We also have program incentives based on quality and outcomes. If we can change and improve care and meet (certain) metrics, they get rewarded as well."
The Baltimore health system put Robert Peace back together after a car crash shattered his pelvis. Then it nearly killed him, he says. A painful bone infection that developed after surgery and a lack of follow-up care landed him in the operating room five more times, kept him homebound for a year and left him with joint damage and a severe limp. "It's really hard for me to trust what doctors say," Peace said, adding that there was little after-hospital care to try to control the infection. "They didn't do what they were supposed to do."