About half of New Jersey seniors who are eligible to enroll in Medicare Part D have joined the program, according to federal figures. The state's participation rate for the prescription drug benefit program lags behind the national figure of approximately 56%. Out of 1.26 million state Medicare beneficiaries eligible to participate, about 648,000 have signed up.
Minnesota leaders persuaded the federal government to renew a waiver that will allow the state's MinnesotaCare program to cover parents of children in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The waiver will allow about 18,000 low-income parents to maintain their MinnesotaCare coverage. Minnesota leaders argued that children in low-income families are more likely to get appropriate medical care when their parents also have insurance. Under the new decision, Medicaid will pay for coverage of parents rather than SCHIP.
Healthcare advocates plan to unveil an ambitious $15.5 billion proposal for universal healthcare in Maryland that would increase payroll taxes to pay for coverage for low-income residents and create a quasi-governmental insurance pool. The Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative, with health policy experts from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland, crafted the proposal. The groups plan to build a coalition of labor unions, faith groups, and community organizations.
Physicians, counselors, social workers, and parents criticized the Mo HealthNet managed care plan during a hearing at the Missouri State House. The state legislature is holding hearings to consider the benefits and drawbacks of converting up to 21 southwest Missouri counties from traditional Mo HealthNet fee-for-service benefits to managed care plans.
Officials at San Diego-based Scripps Mercy have announced a $203 million makeover for the hospital yesterday that will double the size of its emergency department, expand the intensive care unit, and centralize cancer services. The renovations and expansion will occur in phases over the next five years. The work represents the largest modernization ever undertaken at the 118-year-old hospital.
Following a year of pushing for a new 100-bed hospital in Olive Branch, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Inc. is retracting its certificate of need (CON) application from the Mississippi State Department of Health. The hospital system plans to instead bring the plan to the state Legislature next year. Methodist officials have also been pushing for change in the state's CON laws to allow for a new facility.
The Woodlands Hospital, part of St. Luke's health system, has grown to a 144-bed capacity after recently opening a new 59-bed patient tower. The new building, which includes room for expansion, is completely wireless and has telemetry capability for every bed.
Worried about debt and seeking work-life balance, residents are largely seeking employment-based opportunities, and they seem to be making career decisions earlier than ever.
Moreover, in a trend that may have implications for retention, these young doctors demonstrate a bit of naïveté regarding the business side of medicine.
However, they are not naïve about their worth and, for the most part, have a healthy concept of what compensation to expect.
These are some of the findings from the Merritt Hawkins & Associates (MHA) 2008 Survey of Final Year Medical Residents. Of the 290 respondents, 36% are in primary care and the rest are surgical and diagnostic specialists; 20 specialties are represented.
Ninety-four percent of final-year medical residents surveyed said they had been contacted by recruiters at least 11 times during the course of their training. Eighty percent said they had been contacted by recruiters 26 times or more, and 40% said they had been contacted at least 51 times.
The lesson for third-party recruiters is it's less about landing the sale and more about serving as a resource. Increasingly, recruiters need to be career counselors. Low-balling residents doesn't work, but providing residents with a road map to help them navigate those early years could pay dividends.
This article was adapted from one that originally ran in the November issue ofPhysician Compensation & Recruitment, a HealthLeaders Media publication.
When it comes to marketing, you can learn a lot by watching how others do it. One of the more competitive industries right now is healthcare. Hospitals are posturing themselves as the best place to take care of patients with heart issues, for example. In Indianapolis, several major hospitals are marketing their heart care services, and each is doing it differently.
With the nation's economy struggling, consumer-facing companies that are going to continue to do well are those that actively address customer "pain points." Both Amazon.com and FedEx have recently shown that they are attuned to customer needs with new moves designed to alleviate two big customer pain points.
