The Obama administration wants consumers to report medical mistakes and unsafe practices by doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and others who provide treatment. Hospitals say they are receptive to the idea, despite concerns about malpractice liability and possible financial penalties for poor performance. Federal officials say that medical mistakes often go unreported, and that patients have potentially useful information that could expose reasons for drug mix-ups, surgery on the wrong body part, radiation overdoses and myriad other problems that cause injuries, infections and tens of thousands of deaths each year.
A lawyer seeking a class-action lawsuit against Exeter Hospital in connection with the hepatitis C outbreak said his client list has grown to 169 people, including 11 former Exeter patients who have tested positive for the virus. Attorney Peter McGrath said although most of his clients tested negative for hepatitis C, they still had to endure a gutwrenching period of time fearing they were exposed to the illness. McGrath said he hopes to present his request for class-action status at a hearing in November. He filed a complaint in Rockingham County Superior Court against the hospital in June and has since added the Nebraska-based Triage Staffing Inc.
Large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina are dramatically inflating prices on chemotherapy drugs at a time when they are cornering more of the market on cancer care, an investigation by the Observer and The News & Observer of Raleigh has found. The newspapers found hospitals are routinely marking up prices on cancer drugs by two to 10 times over cost. Some markups are far higher. It's happening as hospitals increasingly buy the practices of independent oncologists, then charge more for the same chemotherapy in the same office. Asked about the findings, hospital officials said they are relying on a longtime practice of charging more for some services to make up for losses in others.
Illinois' hospitals supported a legislative package this spring that cut their Medicaid rates by 3.5 percent, or $108 million this fiscal year. But in exchange, not-for-profit hospitals all but eliminated the threat of ever losing their coveted local property-tax exemptions. The package of bills also includes an enhanced hospital provider assessment program—a program that still requires federal approval—that would generate $190 million in new federal funding for hospitals. The program includes an additional $100 million in federal funds to the state for Medicaid providers other than hospitals.
Two of the most prestigious names in Southern California healthcare—Cedars-Sinai and UCLA—are getting shut out of a major insurance plan for being too expensive. In a bold cost-cutting move, Anthem Blue Cross has eliminated doctors affiliated with the hospitals from a health plan offered to about 60,000 employees and dependents at the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles. The city opted for Anthem's plan because it will save $7.6 million in annual premiums next year by excluding physicians from the two institutions known for tending to the Southland's rich and famous.
Financial turbulence at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in recent years has nothing to do with a bid by Central Maine Healthcare to take the Brunswick hospital over, according to officials on both sides of the proposed acquisition. Parkview Interim President Randee Reynolds said Parkview posted a $1 million revenue surplus in 2011—and he said in-the-black operations have continued so far this year—and is current on its loan payments to CMHC. Reynolds said a major factor in the return to profitability was a recent electronic medical records project which has reduced costs and resulted in anticipated refunds from the state of almost $3 million.