Dallas-area hospitals are using millions of the dollars they take in to snap up hundreds of acres of undeveloped land. The two largest hospital systems in the area--Baylor Health Care System and Texas Health Resources--own more than 460 undeveloped acres in North Texas. For most of the land there are no immediate construction plans, but executives say buying now will save them money later. By buying now before the land is developed, the hospitals avoid a jump in price or the land being bought by a competitor, say hospital representatives.
The Supreme Court ruled to let stand a federal policy that allows employers to reduce their health insurance expenses for retired workers once they turn 65 and qualify for Medicare. Advocates for companies and labor unions openly said the compromise rule will encourage employers to maintain health coverage for their retirees. Otherwise, employers might drop all benefits for their former employees, they said.
Nashville, TN-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center is transforming 440,000 square feet of store space in a mall into a healthcare facility that will house 16 clinics. The hospital opened a pediatric rehabilitation clinic in the mall in February 2008, and plans to open other clinical programs, offices and a wellness center. The project is expected to cost about $48.9 million.
The Greater Nashville (TN) Association of Realtors will start offering its 4,500 members health insurance immediately through a partnership with the National Business Association, a Dallas-based trade group. The GNAR decided to start the program to reduce the number of uninsured real estate agents nationwide. About 30 percent of U.S. real estate agents are uninsured, said the GNAR president.
Michigan-based St. Joseph Mercy Health System is moving forward with plans to buy Chelsea (MI) Community Hospital. The two organizations have signed a letter of intent to explore the proposed affiliation. They have collaborated for decades and already share doctors with admitting privileges at both facilities.
Immigrants now make up more than a quarter of the workforce in several key healthcare jobs in Massachusetts, such as pharmacists, medical scientists, and surgeons, according to an executive summary for a study by professors from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Tufts University, and the University of California, Berkeley. But the study's authors say the state should find more ways to move immigrants into the healthcare field to meet a growing demand for care, fueled partly by Massachusetts' campaign to make sure almost every resident has health insurance.
While politicians debate how best to cover the growing ranks of the uninsured, the federal government quietly is adding to those numbers by outsourcing service jobs. Under a 1965 law called the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act, most contractors with service contracts of more than $2,500 are required to pay locally prevailing wages, plus fringe benefits or the cash equivalent. But some contract employees don't get either the health insurance or the extra cash.
The nonprofit iHealth Alliance is launching an online network that will e-mail alerts to doctors about safety concerns surrounding prescription drugs, notices from pharmaceutical companies about warnings and label changes. The alerts will be focused by specialty, and will be limited almost exclusively to alerts that drug makers send out in what are often known as "Dear Doctor" letters: significant drug-label changes, warnings and recalls.
The Alabama Certificate of Need Review Board has approved Huntsville Hospital's application to build a 60-bed facility in Madison. The new hospital, which would serve about 90,000 people in western Madison and eastern Limestone counties, will become the centerpiece of Huntsville Hospital's Madison Medical Park. Statistics have shown that among mid-sized Alabama cities, Madison residents currently have the longest drive to an emergency room.
More than 30 states tightly control healthcare services by deciding both what facilities and equipment are needed and who operates them. Such decisions are officially made in what's known as a "certificate of need," a public process subject to open meeting and records laws. But private competitors often strike back-room deals in confidential legal settlements, and even state regulators may not know the exact terms. Critics say this process favors big hospitals, which can manipulate the system and monopolize care.
