When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took office, she inherited a healthcare problem common to many states: whether to let small clinics compete freely against hospitals for such services as outpatient surgery and MRIs. Palin responded with an aggressive, uncompromising push to promote competition. Although she has been unsuccessful in the fight to date, the battle Palin has waged over competition in healthcare has been one of her signature efforts since she became Alaska's governor in 2007.
TALLAHASSEE—The Florida Supreme Court has struck down as unconstitutional a narrowly drawn state statute that allows the board of a private, for-profit hospital operating in St. Lucie County to supercede medical staff bylaws. In Lawnwood Medical Center v. Randall Seeger, MD (as president of the Lawnwood medical staff), the state's highest court agreed with a trial court and an appeals court that the so-called St. Lucie County Hospital Governance Law violated the Florida Constitution because it "granted privilege to a private corporation."
In a 31-page ruling, and with no dissent, the court says the Hospital Governance Law gives the 331-bed Lawnwood "almost absolute power in running the affairs of the hospital, essentially without meaningful regard for the recommendations or actions of the medical staff."
The law applies only to the two private hospitals in St. Lucie County, which is located on Florida's East Coast, about 100 miles north of Miami. Both hospitals are owned by HCA. Nashville-based HCA referred calls to Lawnwood; Lawnwood officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Lawnwood successfully pushed the Hospital Governance Law through the Florida Legislature in 2003 after years of fighting with staff physicians on points ranging from privileging physicians to quality-of-care issues. The issue came to a head in 1999 when Lawnwood removed physicians from its Medical Executive Committee after they declined to recommend disciplinary actions against two staff pathologists that the hospital claimed threatened patient safety.
The Florida Medical Association, which had vigorously lobbied against the law in the legislature, praised the high court's Aug. 28 ruling.
"Physicians who comprise medical staffs are in the best position to make decisions on medical issues that affect patients' well-being, not hospital trustees," says FMA President Steven R. West, MD, a Fort Myers cardiologist.
West called the ruling "an important legal victory" because it will "prevent hospitals from encroaching on medical staff autonomy and becoming embroiled in a legal tug of war over the division of responsibilities within the hospital."
FMA, and the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association, filed friend of the court briefs in both the appellate and supreme courts on behalf of the Lawnwood physicians and helped pay their legal fees.
John Commins is the human resources and community and rural hospitals editor withHealthLeadersMedia. He can be reached at jcommins@healthleadersmedia.com.
Nearly 8,000 teachers and state employees in two years have shed more than 50 tons under WeightWatchers, lawmakers were told before they approved a two-year, $1.2 million extension of the weight-loss coaching. The goal is to cut health insurance costs for obesity-related problems. According to William Ashmore, CEO of the State Employees Insurance Board, significantly overweight individuals account for $1,748 more in annual healthcare costs than those whose weight is more nearly ideal.
When Westinghouse Electric recently conducted a health assessment of its employees, most of the highest risks related to food. So Westinghouse revamped its food offerings, from vending machines to the cafeteria line, making sure employees had a selection of healthy foods to choose. Marriott officials found that as pharmacy co-payments rose along with other healthcare costs, employees stopped taking needed medications. So they instituted a program which halved the cost of brand-name medications and made generic drugs free. These were among the ideas shared at the annual Pittsburgh Business Group on Health symposium, where businesses discussed ways to reduce their healthcare costs.
WellCare Health Plans Inc., has decided to stick with the Florida Medicaid program after all. WellCare has decided to continue with its two Medicaid plans, HealthEase of Florida Inc., and Staywell Health Plan after initially announcing it was going to bow out of the managed care Medicaid experiment in Broward and Duval counties.
Rex Healthcare has announced that it won approval from state regulators to build a 9,000-square-foot outpatient care center in Holly Springs, NC. The proposed facility initially was rejected by regulators, but Rex appealed that ruling and provided more information about the geographical area the center would serve. The facility will offer urgent care and basic lab, occupational health and radiology services, including digital bone mammography and bone density screenings. Construction is projected to be completed by the end of 2010.
At least seven newborns died in the Cuban maternity hospital Hijas de Galicia due to a bacterial infection they contracted in the operating room. The infection was caused by the bacteria acinetobacter in the operating room of the facility, according to sources. A medical source who did not want to be identified said the children "were born completely healthy." But a few hours after birth they developed respiratory problems, with sneezing and coughing, as well as a change in skin tone, lack of energy, fever, breathing difficulty, inflamed lungs, and meningoencephalitis.
A group of Hungarian dentists is touring the United Kingdom in a blowup dental clinic to showcase their hygiene, professionalism and affordability to the British. The tour hopes to help attract a bigger share of Britain's "dental tourists"—patients looking to Eastern Europe for cut-price crowns, bargain bridges, and inexpensive tooth implants.
A New Jersey task force is warning that pregnant women most at risk of losing their babies aren't getting enough care, and is calling for better education and improved access to health insurance. A report from the Prenatal Care Task Force cited a 2007 National Women's Law Center study that ranked New Jersey 40th among the states in the percentage of women who received prenatal care in the first three months of pregnancy. A review of state data found that the greater a woman's access to health insurance, the more likely she is to receive prenatal care in the first three months, according to the task force.
Partners HealthCare System Inc., the Boston area's dominant operator of hospitals and other medical care facilities, has begun a search to replace chief executive James Mongan, MD, who will retire at the end of 2009. The search so far is focusing on four internal candidates, including two heads of hospitals and two heads of physician groups, but Partners' board of trustees will also evaluate external candidates.
