John Luginbill, speaker on the 12/16 Webcast Proving Real ROI: The Bottom-Line Impact of Your Healthcare Marketing, dicusses why it is so difficult for marketers to prove ROI. +
Libertyville, IL-based Condell Medical Center will pay a $36 million settlement to government health programs after the hospital said it accepted improper payments from federal health insurance programs for more than five years. The improper payments, which Condell executives brought to the attention of the U.S. Attorney's Office, was uncovered in the process of the medical center's due diligence with Advocate Health Care, which finalized a deal to buy the 283-bed hospital in Lake County for $180 million. The settlement resolves deals that included improper loans made to physicians, leases with doctor practices that were below fair market value and hospital payments to doctors who performed "patient services without required written agreements," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Mark Ridley-Thomas vowed to reopen Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital as he was sworn in as Los Angeles County's newest supervisor. Ridley-Thomas plans to announce details of how the county can reach a January 2010 goal to restore hospital services. Federal regulators forced the hospital to shut down after it failed to meet minimum standards for patient care, and the county downsized the facility, maintaining only clinic services.
Federal health officials estimate that the struggling economy will speed up by one to three years the exhaustion of the Medicare trust fund covering hospital and nursing home care. Trustees for the Social Security and Medicare programs warned in March that the trust fund for Medicare Part A would become insolvent in 2019. But the chief actuary for Medicare said the economy will likely generate less revenue through payroll taxes than the trustees had projected.
Louisiana lawmakers have received their first extensive look at Gov. Bobby Jindal's healthcare proposal, as members of the state House questioned the timing and cost of a sweeping plan to revamp how the state delivers and pays for healthcare to the poor. Health and Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine joined representatives from private hospitals, insurers, doctors, and Louisiana State University in a day-long briefing on the "Louisiana Health First" initiative. "This is the first step as we move toward the regular session," House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, said.
The outgoing Bush administration is planning to announce a broad new "right of conscience" rule permitting medical facilities, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable. For more than 30 years, federal law has dictated that doctors and nurses may refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further by making clear that healthcare workers also may refuse to provide information or advice to patients who might want an abortion. It also seeks to cover more employees.
A former employee of UCLA Medical Center has pleaded guilty to selling information from the medical records of celebrities and high-profile patients to the National Enquirer. Lawanda Jackson faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. Jackson worked as an administrative specialist at the UCLA hospitals for 32 years and in recent years began using her supervisor's password to access medical records inappropriately, authorities said.
An employee at New York Presbyterian Hospital was suspended for failing to report the gunshot wound of NFL star Plaxico Burress, said a hospital spokeswoman. "We can confirm that the individual at New York Presbyterian Hospital, who was responsible for failing to report the incident, has been suspended," hospital spokeswoman Kathy Robinson said. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also lashed out at New York Presbyterian for failing to inform police about the incident. He called on the state attorney general to "go after" the hospital for a "chargeable offense."
Thailand's Constitutional Court dissolved the ruling party this week amid findings of electoral fraud by the country's prime minister. This puts an end to a week-long blockade at Bangkok's airports by anti-government protesters.
Hospitals hired health professionals, especially nurses, on the spot during the first day of a two-day job fair for the 3,000 employees laid off by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The demand for health professionals and a severe shortage of nurses made looking for a job a matter of choosing the best offer for many of the laid-off employees. The job fair also was a boon for Houston-area hospitals that were among the 130 employers with tables at the job fair scooping up laid-off employees.
