A state agency has voted for a second time to approve a 56-bed hospital that Nashville-based HCA Inc. plans to build in Spring Hill, TN. The approval essentially overturns an administrative law judge's order that had sided with Williamson Medical Center in Franklin and Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia, both of which had argued that the new hospital isn't needed.
The second phase of Naperville, IL-based Edward Hospital's $200 million makeover has won approval from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. This portion of the project calls for two new floors at a cost of $81 million. The new third floor will have 20 intensive-care unit beds. The fourth floor will have a 38-bed neonatal intensive-care unit with 14 private rooms for premature newborns, as well as two 16-bed nurseries and a family waiting area.
Demands for wearable and stylish hospital garb are part of a growing trend, not just for patients but doctors, too. TV shows in which doctors and patients look tousled but chic are driving the trend. A handful of companies are now lining up to fill the demand.
The health-insurance industry is racing to defuse the furor over retroactive policy cancellations that have created big medical bills and sparked lawsuits. America's Health Insurance Plans is pushing a proposal with state regulators that would give consumers the right to appeal such policy cancellations to an external panel. Some insurance companies are preparing to roll out their own independent review programs.
Aetna has announced that it had suspended a plan to stop paying for routine use of a powerful anesthetic in a procedure to screen for colon cancer. The drug, propofol, provides quick and reliable sedation for patients who are undergoing a colonoscopy. Critics had said that restricting use of propofol would discourage patients from undergoing a colonoscopy. The American Gastroenterological Association, a medical society representing the doctors who perform colonoscopies, had recommended that Aetna defer its plan and praised the company for the decision.
Although many private Medicare plans advertise extra benefits and low costs, the Government Accountability Office is issuing a report saying that many people in private plans face higher costs for home healthcare, nursing homes and some hospital stays. About one-fifth of the 44 million Medicare beneficiaries are in private plans, known as Medicare Advantage plans.
New Jersey residents are bracing for the upheaval that Gov. Jon S. Corzine's plan to reduce the state work force by 3,000 people and eliminate three government departments is expected to cause. Cuts in charity care, for example, will probably lead to the shuttering of hospital emergency rooms serving some of the state's poorest communities.
Bethesda, MD-based Suburban Hospital has unveiled a $230 million plan to expand its 65-year-old facility, but as it prepares to submit the project for review, the hospital remains at odds with neighbors. The new Suburban plan would improve access to the emergency room, add private patient rooms, create physicians' offices, expand parking and modernize and enlarge the hospital's 15 operating rooms. While the new plan includes changes the hospital says are a response to community concerns, some neighborhood activists say that the hospital has done little to accommodate their main objections.
The Washington, DC, Healthcare Alliance might have allowed hundreds of ineligible people to receive benefits because of inadequate or nonexistent controls, according to an audit. The Health Alliance is the city's safety net for poor, uninsured residents. In response to the audit, city officials have released a plan to close loopholes and ensure that only qualified residents receive coverage.
A little more than a month ago, I used this space to talk about President George W. Bush's State of the Union address. That column prompted a lot of feedback from readers who wanted to share their thoughts about not only electronic health records, but ways to improve America's healthcare system. Turns out, there are many different opinions on this subject.
What about Medicare Part D? "I thought it was noteworthy that you overlooked what many, or some, perceive as the landmark change under President Bush: the introduction and some would say success, of Medicare Part D," wrote Kevin Miller, executive director of Parkside Diagnostic Imaging Centers in Park Ridge, IL. "I'm not sure that everyone would agree with your sentence that little was achieved; in my opinion, however, it would be the reverse; too much was achieved and given away with the advent of Medicare Part D. But certainly it is too big to ignore or overlook or to consider as little."
Software is the problem "It would be ideal to have a standardized universal databank of healthcare information," wrote Paul Feight, RN, CNOR, education co-coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Shadyside Hospital. "But given the incompatibility of competing software languages and the huge amounts of capital investment each company puts into the development of their products, we may never see an agreement on the best product, just the one from the company that can most highly grease the palm of the politicians."
Congress, states must give support "Since setting the EHR goal in 2004, there has been significant work and reasonable progress toward this massive change to our healthcare system," said Nick Bonvino, national practice leader at CTG in Dallas. "You must acknowledge, this is an extremely complex problem that will cost a tremendous amount of money that many disparate stakeholders must agree upon and few are willing to fund. (President) Bush did not a mandate this change, nor could he. Congress has not fully supported the initiative, and we also need the support of state governments."
He continued, "I believe we will get there...it is the right thing to do. But, not before years of preventable medical errors and trillions in waste."
Healthcare needs an 'alternative' direction "The problem is much bigger than electronic medical records. Healthcare, in general, needs a new direction," wrote Sandra K. Knapp, RHIT, CCS, coding documentation educator at the Spartanburg (SC) Regional Healthcare System. "Alternative medicine/integrative medicine needs to be explored for chronic, autoimmune, and any condition that requires taking medications on a regular basis. Most likely, the cost of this approach would be far less and very possibly a much better outcome over the long haul."
Though President Bush never directly mentioned electronic health records in his January address, it's clear that the topic is one that is actively on the mind of quality leaders like these. I appreciate that these readers took the time to write me--and allowed me to publish their comments here. Did they get it right? I'm always interested in hearing what's on your mind.
