The Mayo Clinic wasn't sure what to expect from social media when it gave it a test run four years ago, but it has come a long way in just a few years since adding a Facebook page with more than 3,000 friends, a YouTube channel with videos of doctors talking about illness, treatments and research, a health blog for consumers and another for media to improve the process of medical reporting. It's also creating "secret groups" on Facebook to connect patients to others with similar illnesses, an area it hopes to expand in the future. But that's just the tip of the iceberg in the brave new world of Health 2.0. as more providers use social software and its ability to promote collaboration between patients and the rest of the medical industry.
Federal regulators investigating serious failings in University of California-Irvine Medical Center's anesthesiology department threatened to cut off Medicare funding after identifying dozens of new problems. In a 127-page report, regulators described repeated examples of poor oversight and inadequate systems to protect patients.
Iowa hospital leaders say increasing numbers of uninsured patients are seeking free care in their emergency rooms, and the hospitals are bracing for more such costs as the economy continues to slump. Although Iowa still has fewer uninsured residents than most other states, the problem appears to be worsening and some hospitals are reporting particularly sharp increases. Fort Dodge-based Trinity Regional Medical Center's charity care, for example, jumped from $3.3 million in 2007 to $5.9 million in 2008.
Amid signs that Pennsylvania's insurance commissioner is laying out a course for Independence Blue Cross and Highmark Inc. to follow as they pursue their proposed and controversial merger, members of the boards of the two insurers are meeting. Even though by law an official decision cannot be rendered until next week, the Insurance Department has let the insurers know privately that it will not approve the merger unless the new company agrees to make an important change in how it markets health insurance in Pennsylvania, among other conditions. The marketing change has to do with how the new company, which would become the largest health insurer in the state and one of the largest in the nation, would use the popular "Blue" trademark.
Kettering Health Network has named Roy Chew president of Kettering (OH) Medical Center, the hospital announced. Chew, formerly president of Grandview and Southview Medical Centers, replaces Fred Manchur, who was promoted to president of the network. Richard Haas, senior executive officer of the Sycamore Medical Center, will replace Chew as president of the medical centers.
A group of Ohio business leaders and 24 hospitals has launched Solutions for Patient Safety, a program particpants hope will become a statewide effort to reduce hospital medication errors and infections. The collaborative is using $1.5 million in start-up money from the charitable arm of Cardinal Health Inc., a drug distribution company based in suburban Columbus. Solutions for Patient Safety begins as Ohio is preparing to publish hospital quality data, including some infection rates, on the Web for consumers.