Facing a budget shortfall, the 47-bed hospital Sac-Osage Hospital in rural western Missouri is borrowing nearly $1 million to pitch its paper medical charts and purchase a state-of-the-art electronic health records system. The hospital is hinging its survival on what it hopes will be a $3 million windfall of federal incentives for hospitals that go digital. The hospital has already laid off staff, is operating on a $370,000 deficit, and is warning of dozens of deaths if local voters don't also approve a property tax to keep its emergency room open and ambulances running.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia will cover the H1N1 vaccine for members who have benefit plans that include coverage for vaccines. BCBSGA decided to cover H1N1 vaccines because it was formally suggested by The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which recommends initial prioritization for those administering the vaccine for five key populations.
Drug companies—the leading source of lobbyist money—now have "a seat at the table" at the White House and on Capitol Hill as healthcare legislation works its way through Congress. The pharmaceutical industry's political transformation provides an example of Obama's approach to achieving his healthcare goals, which includes negotiation and compromise, even with those that the administration previously portrayed as a source of the problem.
Dozens of large and small companies are turning to wireless technology to help achieve the Obama administration's goal of a healthcare system that keeps people healthier for less. A 2008 study that was distributed by a coalition of companies and organizations that support healthcare reform predicted annual savings from remote monitoring at $10.1 billion for U.S. sufferers of congestive heart failure, $6.1 billion for diabetes, and $4.9 billion for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. But claims about cost savings from new technology often don't pan out.
Under the Obama administration's stimulus bill and other proposals, portions of a $29 billion fund are available to reimburse hospitals and doctors' offices that invest in electronic records systems and other software that might improve care and lower healthcare costs. The government has stressed the need for increased security as part of this digitization initiative, but making patient data more accessible also creates the potential of it falling into the wrong hands.
Doctors' leaders in the United Kingdom claim the National Health Service has failed to prepare properly for cuts in junior doctors' working hours. Under the rules, junior doctors working hours were cut from 56 to 48 hours a week to comply with the European working time directive. The British Medical Association says the assembly government and NHS trusts have not planned to cover the reduced staffing that will result.