Maryland officials face a decision Wednesday on a controversial plan that would effectively freeze payment rates to hospitals in the state over the next year. Hospital representatives say they could be forced to lay off workers if the proposal is approved by the Health Services Cost Review Commission—an independent agency made up of seven commissioners appointed by the governor. For the past two years, the commissioners have increased hospital rates by less than the inflation rate hospitals faced, said Carmela Coyle, president and chief executive of the Maryland Hospital Association. "We are very concerned that this will really jeopardize hospitals' financial condition at a time when we need to strengthen it," Coyle said. "This will have serious consequences."
In his final days as CEO of Memorial Health System, Dr. Larry McEvoy said he's focused more on thanking the hospital's 4,000 employees for their hard work and less on the furor that details of his $1.15 million departure package has caused. He said stepping aside was in the best interest of the city-owned hospital as the city negotiates to lease Memorial to University of Colorado Health. Despite that, the 18 months' severance that McEvoy will receive, along with perks like keeping his company car, a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid, and $20,000 in job placement assistance, has drawn condemnations from the mayor and some City Council members, and also internal criticism.
The state NAACP and other groups representing low-income and working families on Tuesday called on Carolinas HealthCare System to stop suing patients who can’t afford to pay their hospital bills. Their plea came in response to an investigation by the Charlotte Observer and The (Raleigh) News & Observer, which last week revealed that the nonprofit hospital chain has filed more than 12,000 bill-collection lawsuits in the five years ending in 2010. Other groups calling for change include the N.C. Justice Center, Action NC, the N.C. AFL-CIO, and the Black Women's Caucus. The groups also demanded that Carolinas HealthCare remove the liens it currently holds on the primary residences of former patients.
The idea that a simple "I'm sorry" could help reduce the number of medical malpractice lawsuits is gaining a foothold in Massachusetts. Seven hospitals in the state recently adopted an apology program, and the governor's healthcare cost control bill includes this approach, too. The thinking behind it is that when doctors apologize for making mistakes, patients are less likely to sue—and everyone benefits. But Gabriel Teninbaum, an associate professor at Suffolk University Law School, has a contrarian view. He spoke with WBUR's All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer.
Thousands of registered nurses from eight Bay Area Sutter Health-managed hospitals are striking Tuesday and are planning to participate in rallies to protest a proposed decrease in their employer-covered health care expenses. It is the third strike in seven months by members of the California Nurses Association over contracts that have been under negotiation for nearly a year. Some 4,500 nurses went on strike 7 a.m. today, and plan to strike a full 24 hours, according to the nurses association. Discussions have reached an impasse because nurses say Sutter is demanding that they forgo paid sick days and pay more toward their healthcare, among other requested concessions.
Many emergency care workers believe that a family's presence can distract the medical team in these critical moments. But a new study suggests that having loved ones present in the trauma ward when children are being treated has no detrimental effect on their care. In the study, medical teams performing invasive and potentially lifesaving procedures at Children's National Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center in Washington, D.C., that receives the most serious injury cases, did just as well whether family members were present or not.