If Medicare refuses to pay for treatments of preventable illness and hospitals are forced to bear the cost of their substandard care, then either, hospitals will improve the quality of their care or Medicare spending will go down. According to a recent study, so far, a well-intentioned change in Medicare reimbursement rules has yet to improve the quality of hospital care, or reduce Medicare's expenses in reimbursing for low-quality care.
General Dynamics' IT division, which helped relocate the military's Walter Reed medical center to its new home in Bethesda, will help the Army open four new hospitals and clinics under a $100 million contract. They will outfit and help activate the Irwin Army Community Hospital at Fort Riley, KS, and move a staff of 1,200 to the hospital. The company will also equip and set up the Martin Army Community hospital in Fort Benning, GA.
Senator Jack Latvala asked healthcare regulators to look into the feud that has left UnitedHealthcare customers in Tampa Bay with limited access to the region's largest hospital group, BayCare Health System. Officials at the FL Office of Insurance Regulation and the Agency for Health Care Administration are looking into the dispute.
Plans for a new Banner Health hospital, clinic and emergency department in Poudre Valley Health System's own back yard are moving forward with potential ground breaking next year. Banner announced last month it wanted to expand its CO facilities, increasing the competition for patients' healthcare dollar. A recent alignment between Kaiser-Permanente, which opened a clinic in Fort Collins, and Banner and now Banner's plan to open a health campus in Fort Collins could create a whole new medical playing field.
The Baylor University Medical Center, Baylor Health Care System and HealthTexas Provider Network will pay about $907,000 to settle allegations of submitting false claims to the government. Investigators said the healthcare claims involve various radiation oncology services by the Baylor organizations from 2006 through May 2010. The Justice Department says there was no determination of liability as part of the Baylor settlement.
Heritage Valley Health System this week began a telephone survey of residents of western Allegheny and Beaver counties to determine health status and needs, part of a health needs assessment. The calls will last about 15 minutes and the survey is being conducted by Holleran Consulting LLC. "Obtaining information directly from residents ensures that we have representation from the whole community and helps us pinpoint where to direct resources to improve community health and measure our existing efforts," Dr. Daniel Brooks, vice president of community health services said.