Palmetto Health and Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center have formed a new corporation to run Palmetto Health Baptist Easley, effectively making GHS a co-owner of the Pickens County, SC-based hospital. Under the recently approved plan, GHS will pay $45 million for a 50% interest in the hospital, said GHS CEO Michael Riordan. GHS also has agreed to give as much as $5 million to Baptist's foundation, he said.
Raleigh, NC-based Rex Healthcare recently started an online "wait meter" for its urgent-care clinics in Cary and North Raleigh, a tool designed to help patients avoid the busiest times when possible. A third Rex Express Care clinic in Knightdale also will post its wait times online when it opens in May. Eventually, the system could handle online patient registration, said Lisa Schiller, Rex's vice president of marketing.
The American Board of Physician Specialties has formed the American Board of Hospital Medicine. Representatives from the ABPS, the American Board of Medical Specialties, and the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists founded the ABHM. It is first board of certification specializing exclusively in hospital medicine, according to a release.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved expansion by subsidiaries of WellCare Health Plans Inc. in several states. CMS approved the expansion of the company's Medicare Advantage private fee-for-service plan for three WellCare subsidiaries, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. They are WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona, WellCare Health Insurance of Illinois Inc., and WellCare Health Insurance of New York.
Under a new California law which took effect Jan. 1, health insurers are required to provide patients who lack English comprehension with an on-site interpreter or access to one through telephone or Web-hosted video conferencing. The new law also requires health plans to translate their standardized documents into the top two languages spoken by their members, typically Spanish and Mandarin or Cantonese.
Hospitals across California are reeling from the effects of the economic downturn and the troubled financial markets. When these hospitals need working capital the most, the credit markets are all but frozen. And in California, low Medi-Cal reimbursements for poor patients and the state budget crisis are making matters worse. The latest complications follow a dozen years during which more than 70 hospitals closed in California, and there is concern that some may not pull through this downturn.