The Oklahoma Hospital Association launched a Web site giving patient quality and safety information for 80 Oklahoma hospitals. The site also will help hospitals learn best practices for improving care, said Craig Jones, the hospital association's president. The Oklahoma site allows users to search and compare hospital data on 45 patient safety measures.
Independence, MO-based Centerpoint Medical Center has settled some disputes with the Nurses United union, a move that could hasten the effort some nurses have taken to oust the bargaining unit. Early in February, Centerpoint posted notices throughout the hospital that it will not prohibit employees from discussing union activities or distributing union literature at nurses' stations. The Independence hospital also said it will not fail to bargain with Nurses United on weekend-duty issues involving some nurses. About 370 Centerpoint nurses are represented by Nurses United Local 5126, and voted to join the bargaining group in November 2007. However, negotiations have failed to result in an initial contract.
About 1 in 5 newly licensed nurses quits within a year, according to one national study, and that turnover rate is a major contributor to the nation's growing shortage of nurses. But there are expanding efforts to give new nursing grads better support. Many hospitals are trying to create safety nets with residency training programs, for example.
The House and Senate have reached agreement on an economic stimulus package with a price tag less than the amount approved in either chamber. At $789.5 billion, the wide-ranging measure includes hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks and new spending, and there are several health provisions included, according to this analysis from Sg2.
When President Obama and his allies pulled together the $787-billion bill that he is to sign, they talked about helping those rapidly swelling the ranks of America's more than 46 million uninsured. But in the scramble to pass a bill, lawmakers made changes that left out millions of middle-class Americans who have lost their jobs and are struggling to fill a prescription or pay for a visit to the doctor. That reflected a frenzied process in which sometimes arbitrary decisions were made to speed agreements and satisfy an array of political interest groups working to influence the massive bill, according to this article in the Los Angeles Times.
North Texas' not-for-profit hospital systems defended their level of charity care and their million-dollar executive compensation packages following the release of a government report questioning the benefit of tax-exempt hospitals. The two-year study by the Internal Revenue Service underscores a longstanding debate among health policy economists on whether not-for-profit hospitals are worthy of their tax-exempt status.