Orlando Health ended the year in the black, making $82.1 million for fiscal year 2012. Orlando Health is in a good overall financial position, with total assets going up over the year, but the hospital system actually posted a loss during the last two quarters: $689,000 in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2012 and $2.9 million in the third fiscal quarter. The hospital system is laying off employees to save costs and medical services could also be at risk of closure. That's because the system lost $21.65 million on operations.
MN will receive about $828,000 from a subsidiary of AIG Inc. as part of a multimillion-dollar fine over accusations that the company sold health insurance policies through misrepresentation and false marketing practices. MN was 1-of-5 lead states in the case against National Union Fire Insurance Co. (NUFIC). The states accused NUFIC of selling health insurance group policies to individual consumers, which is illegal in many states. The fine equals $1 million for each state that joins the agreement. So far 41 states have done so, and 9 states and Washington, D.C., have until Thursday to join.
Two new studies suggest laws meant to prevent the overuse of expensive healthcare services don't stop doctors from using pricey prostate cancer treatments. Researchers found doctors used robots and special radiation to treat prostate cancer regardless of whether their area had laws requiring government approval before money is spent on healthcare facilities and new equipment. In one study, the use of robotic surgery to remove prostates in Medicare patients increased regardless of whether there were strict, less strict or no laws in place. Also, the chance a surgeon used robots had nothing to do with the laws. A second study looked at whether the laws limited the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
We are fast approaching a point in the development of the Health Internet where ubiquitous exchange of health data to improve care coordination and health care quality and ultimately lower costs might be possible. The Nationwide Health Information Network Exchange (now called the eHealth Exchange) has successfully transitioned to an independently sustainable public-private partnership. This new organization, called HealtheWay, includes 4 federal agencies, as well as 21 non-federal entities that all share patient records for episodes of care. All of these efforts are also closely aligned with the Stage 2 Meaningful Use requirements for health information exchange.
A new hospital assessment fee program created by the Indiana Medicaid system has worked out well so far for Indiana University Health and Community Health Network. The 2 Indianapolis-based hospital systems enjoyed net gains of $267 million and $23 million, respectively, from the program during the fiscal year ended June 30. The assessment fee program is a way to increase fed matching dollars paid to IN's hospitals through the federal-state Medicaid program. The federal government currently matches IN's spending on Medicaid at about a 2-to-1 ratio. And rules allow IN to raise its payments to hospitals in order to draw even larger fed payments.
The Supreme Court questioned a monopoly on hospital services in southwestern GA. The justices heard arguments in the federal government's claim that 2 private corporations used a public hospital authority to complete a deal that left one company as the owner of the only 2 hospitals in Albany. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says the deal violates federal antitrust law. Lower federal courts allowed Albany's Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital to buy Palmyra Medical Center from Hospital Corporation of America for $195 million over the FTC's objection.