Moses Cone Health System in Greensboro, NC, has sent letters offering free credit monitoring to 14,380 patients after a laptop computer containing confidential information was stolen from a vendor in Canton, GA. The health system said the information on the computer was not encrypted but was password-protected and contained a software program that requires training and expertise to use. Moses Cone said the health system does not know of any instance in which the information has been disclosed or misused or if the laptop was taken for that purpose.
Starting this year, New Jersey tax filers are being asked if they have uninsured children, and those who do are being directly sent a so-called "express" state child insurance application. The applications are for the state's FamilyCare program, which covers New Jersey children who fall in the gap between Medicaid and private insurance. The program provides free or low-cost medical exams, shots, hospitalization, lab tests, X-rays, prescription drugs, and dental and mental health services. It serves nearly 132,000 children and 128,000 adults.
New Jersey seniors are readmitted to hospitals more often than those in most other states, often because of what experts say are preventable breakdowns in care. Now Virtua Health plans to launch an ambitious effort to tackle this problem by better educating its departing patients and reconnecting them to family doctors. The system hopes to ease the often treacherous transition period when medication errors often occur and follow-up care can be missed.
Culver City, CA-based Brotman Medical Center, with the help of the Jewish Home for the Aging, emerged from bankruptcy protection in a way that may result in a new senior living facility. The 420-bed hospital said it returned to profitability after securing $29 million in financing, including $23 million in loans from the Jewish home. In exchange, the Jewish home received an option to buy land next to and owned by the hospital for the possible construction of a senior living facility.
After 60 days of dealmaking, compromise, and defeat, the fate of West Virginia's remaining healthcare legislation is now in the hands of Gov. Joe Manchin. Without committing himself to definite actions, Manchin held out cautious praise for a proposal to create a new office to oversee healthcare in the state. One proposal would establish pilot projects for "medical home" healthcare models in which a physician or clinic coordinates all aspects of a patient's care.
Minnesota-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics said it will refund at least $1.1 million to patients who were charged high interest rates on medical debt. Under terms of a settlement with Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson, Allina will reimburse patients who paid more than 8% annual interest on medical debt between Jan. 22, 2007, and Jan. 31, 2009. Thousands of patients might be up for reimbursement.
A Dean Health System manager removed a nurse from a minor surgical procedure last week in order to lay her off, a spokesman for the Madison, WI, company confirmed. The abrupt removal, which spokesman Paul Pitas said posed no danger to the patient, came after the Dean Health announced that it planned to "immediately" lay off 90 employees. Pitas, director of corporate communications, labeled the action "clearly . . . an error in judgment on the part of the manager conducting the layoff."
Hospitals and pharmaceutical companies have been pushing through hefty price increases aimed at bolstering earnings, even as government and private insurers are struggling to rein in healthcare costs. The price increases underscore the deep challenges facing the Obama administration and Congress as they seek to control healthcare costs and ensure coverage for the 45 million or more Americans without insurance.
Hospital company HCA Inc. announced it expects first-quarter revenue higher than a year earlier. Analysts and investors had been concerned about weakening results from the company as hospitals have been hurt by the global recession as patients cut back elective surgery and hospital admissions. HCA said it expects revenue of $7.4 billion to $7.45 billion, up from $7.13 billion a year earlier. Same-facility admissions are seen falling 0.9%, with the rate for the uninsured being flat.
As pills and capsules improve life for some cancer patients, they are sapping the finances of many cancer doctors. For drugs they administer in their offices, oncologists can make money: They buy those drugs wholesale and then get reimbursed by patients and insurers when they use the drugs. They also are paid for administering the infusion.
But with oral drugs, the doctors just write a prescription the patient fills through a pharmacy. The doctors make no money from the drug, and they have no infusion to bill for. Some doctors say the pills are actually raising their operating expenses.
