A campaign to rebuild San Francisco General Hospital took a critical step with a proposal for an $887.4 million bond measure. The existing hospital treats about 100,000 patients annually, but fails to meet state seismic requirements and must be replaced or closed as an acute-care facility. If voters approve the general obligation bond measure in November construction would begin in summer 2009. The new hospital would open in 2015.
Under Tennessee law, insurers can deny payment of medical claims for trauma victims that come in to the hospital with alcohol or drugs in their system at the time of an accident. Doctors and hospitals argue that this not only costs them money, but also could serve as a disincentive to screening patients for drug and alcohol. Hospitals and doctors say they should be paid when they provide medical care no matter the condition of the accident victim, and Tennessee lawmakers are now reviewing the state's alcohol and drug laws.
The proposed use of unoccupied TV airwaves for high-speed Internet service across the country could affect the signal that monitors critically ill hospital patients. The medical community says that the move could result in possible interference from unlicensed portable gizmos operating in a nearby spectrum. Hospitals and medical device makers say using empty channels for unlicensed uses could disrupt the monitoring of patients' heart rates, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs at medical facilities.
Illinois lawmakers are using an audit's findings to blast Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration for trying to expand state-subsidized healthcare when the current Illinois Medicaid program is racking up deficits and is taking months to pay doctors who care for the poor and elderly. The report found it is taking the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services an average of 77 days to pay doctors and pharmacists who are not associated with large hospitals. Representatives from the state healthcare department blamed the slower payments on Illinois lawmakers, who trimmed $250 million from the governor's healthcare budget in 2007.
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver has signed legislation that increases spending by $25 million over the next three years to extend healthcare to more than 50,000 Iowa children who currently lack coverage. The plan also sets a goal of ensuring universal coverage for all Iowans within five years, and the measure builds on a plan already on the books that covers children with working poor parents. Iowa officials estimate that about 53,000 children aren't covered.
Changes to the Medicaid program backed by the Bush administration could cause New York City's public and private hospitals to lose more than $1 billion in state and federal funds for the training of doctors, according to an analysis. The change would end a revenue stream that the medical residencies rely on, and could have wide ramifications because New York hospitals train a large share of the nation's doctors. The city's Independent Budget Office analysis found that the proposed cut would cost the city's public hospitals about $390 million in federal and state funds, or about 7.5% of their overall budget. It would cost the city's private hospitals about $790 million, 4.4% of their total revenue.
Giving doctors cash rewards to reduce hospital spending helps control costs and does not affect quality or patients' access to care, according to a study by researchers at Arizona State University. The study compared six cardiac catheterization labs that implemented a gainsharing program to 123 non-gainsharing labs.
Researchers found that gainsharing reduced hospital costs by 7.4%, or $315 per patient. Nationwide use of gainsharing could slash hospital costs for coronary stent patients by about $195 million a year, according to the researchers.
The quality of care at "safety-net" hospitals that treat poor and underserved patients is lagging well behind hospitals that do not serve these patients, according to a study. The safety net hospitals rely on state and federal funding from Medicaid and other sources, and do not have the money to improve the quality of care at the same rate that better-funded hospitals do. In the study, researchers examined data collected between 2004 and 2006 from 3,665 safety-net and non-safety-net hospitals. They found that hospitals that cater to a low percentage of Medicaid patients had significantly more improvement in quality compared with safety-net hospitals.
Eli Lilly and Co. have endorsed legislation that would require prescription drug makers to disclose payments to doctors. The legislation addresses concerns that payments, such as picking up paying travel expenses for a conference at an exotic locale, can influence a doctor's prescribing habits. The legislation would not ban the payments, but require that companies report them beginning March 31, 2011. It would also pre-empt laws in the few states that already require drug makers to disclose their payments to doctors.
More than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, according to a study by Medco Health Solutions Inc. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol, and doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow. The data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors, experts say.
