HIPAA and outdated communications devices can make it harder to deliver effective patient care, according to a survey of physicians, hospital administrators and IT pros. The survey by the Ponemon Institute is based on responses from 577 healthcare and IT professionals in organizations that ranged from fewer than 100 beds to more than 500. Fifty-one percent of respondents say HIPAA compliance requirements can be a barrier to providing effective patient care. Specifically, HIPAA reduces time available for patient care (according to 85% of respondents), makes access to electronic patient information difficult (79%) and restricts the use of electronic communications (56%).
A top official at Parkland Memorial Hospital acknowledged Tuesday that construction costs for the replacement hospital were $16 million over budget as currently approved. It was the first time anyone from Parkland has admitted that the $1.27 billion hospital was running over budget. Dallas County taxpayers have approved $747 million for the new hospital with the remainder of the cost coming from hospital reserve funds and private donations. Walter "Ted" Shaw, the hospital's interim chief financial officer, acknowledged the expected shortfall during an update on the project to the Dallas County Commissioners Court.
In less than five months, on Oct. 1, the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges will go live online. Millions of Americans will suddenly be able to log on to a website and choose their own heath-care coverage from a menu of subsidized options for prices and coverage levels. As the opening day gets closer, anxiety is increasing over how well these online exchanges will function. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are operating their own exchanges, seven states are operating exchanges in partnership with the federal government, and the federal government is running exchanges for the remaining 26 states that opted not to create their own.
A Texas doctor sued the U.S. over President Barack Obama's health-care reforms on claims the U.S. Supreme Court overlooked when it upheld the Affordable Care Act last year. Steven Hotze of Houston claims the law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, violates the U.S. Constitution's origination and takings clauses, which weren't part of arguments before the Supreme Court. The high court upheld the act by a 5-to-4 vote. Hotze's suit, filed today in federal court in Houston, targets the "shared responsibility payment" business owners will be required to pay the U.S. under the act if they choose not to provide government-approved minimum health coverage for their workers. That penalty kicks in on Jan. 1.
WASHINGTON — Though it's little comfort to Central Florida veterans, top Veterans Affairs officials told Congress on Tuesday that they've learned from their mistakes in trying to build a new VA hospital at Lake Nona, which is now years behind schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. But lawmakers on the U.S. House Veterans' Affairs Committee were unconvinced and questioned whether the agency had taken the proper steps to improve. "I am not quite certain VA is getting the message that its construction program is dysfunctional and not in keeping with industry best practices or veterans' expectations," said U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who chairs the committee's oversight panel.
What if you're doctor smoked marijuana and then performed surgery on you? Not a comforting thought, but it could happen. That is why two Johns Hopkins doctors and patient safety experts say hospitals should make alcohol and drug tests mandatory for physicians. The doctors shared their views in a commentary published online April 29 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. They say doctors should also be tested if a patient dies suddenly or is unexpectedly injured during surgery.