Last week a Detroit doctor pleaded guilty to eight-figure fraud in his chemotherapy practice, and a Los Angeles ambulance company manager confirmed in court that he charged the government for millions of dollars in unnecessary trips. In Pittsburgh, U.S. Attorney David Hickton put the finishing touches on a plan to probe health care fraud that could bring more such prosecutions to the U.S. Courthouse, Downtown. Mr. Hickton is ramping up a team of four assistant U.S. attorneys — backed by the FBI — whose primary focus will be fighting crime in the medical industry.
It is now nearly a year since the roll-out of Obamacare. The launch was a shambles, and Obamacare is a totem for every American who hates big government. Republicans will deride it, yet again, in the mid-term elections. Obamacare is indeed costly and overcomplicated. Yet it is not to blame for America's health mess, and it could just contain the beginnings of a partial solution to it. But that will only happen if politicians treat health care like a patient: first, diagnose the disease, then examine whether Barack Obama's treatment helped, and then ask what will make the patient better.
The choice facing small hospitals isn't whether to remain independent or partner with a larger facility. It's which network to join and what the merger will look like. Bristol Hospital is considering joining Yale-New Haven Health System and Tenet, a for-profit nation-wide hospital group based in Texas. Different hospital networks, such as the Yale and the Hartford HealthCare Corporation, have different approaches for how they integrate new hospitals and how much local control is retained. While Bradley Hospital in Southington merged with New Britain General Hospital in 2006, the two hospitals had been more loosely connected as the Central Connecticut Health Alliance for the previous 10 years. Proponents of the formal merger of the two hospitals said it would help cut costs.
The Enterovirus D-68 is causing breathing problems for kids across the country, with a case found in Connecticut. It may have already spread to children in Massachusetts. "If the child is breathing very hard, gasping, if the parents are able to look at the breathing muscles above the clavicle or in between the ribs, and if the muscles are working extra hard, that's a patient that should be brought to the Emergency Department," said Dr. Michael Agus of Boston Children's Hospital. Agus says more than 150 children have already come to the hospital with similar symptoms. The three most severe cases used ventilators to help with breathing.
The state board of health last year received 283 complaints related to 99 of the 172 hospitals licensed by Indiana in 2013. Every one was investigated by a surveyor trained to review documents and medical records, make in-person observations and conduct interviews. In a typical year, about one-third of allegations made to the state are confirmed. As of Sept. 5, 170 hospital-related complaints had been filed this year, and investigations found that 32 percent were confirmed. However, although a health department official might confirm that an incident occurred, what happened might not violate state licensing rules.
Public hospitals across Hawaii are finding ways to reduce staff and cut services because they don't have enough money to make ends meet. Executives from the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation told lawmakers Friday that even after layoffs they are facing a $30 million deficit in 2015. One hospital on Maui chose to close its adolescent psychology unit because it couldn't sustain the appropriate staffing levels to provide the services. It's also considering cuts to oncology and dialysis services if the situation doesn't improve. "We're the only hospital in the community," said Wesley Lo, regional CEO of Maui Memorial Medical Center. "We're exploring every other option first."