A group of healthcare executives and medical professionals from across the country have joined with a group of East St. Louis activists to form an organization they say is willing to purchase Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital. The group said it has made an offer to the East St. Louis hospital and has financing to complete the deal. A spokeswoman for the Kenneth Hall's owner, however, said the hospital has received "no viable offer."
Woodland Hills, CA-based Health Net Inc. sold individual policies with the promise of medical coverage while engaging in a secret and illegal scheme to drop patients if they needed expensive treatment, according to a lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles city attorney. Health Net Inc. defrauded thousands of policyholders using "a wide range of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent acts and practices," the suit maintained.
A quarter of Hispanics surveyed in 2007 for the Rockefeller Foundation said they were very worried about losing their health insurance coverage, according to an analysis of the findings by the Economic Policy Institute. In addition, 26 percent of those Hispanics surveyed reported not going to a doctor because of the cost, and 25 percent said they had taken money out of savings to cover health expenses.
The Fulton County (GA) Board of Commissioners have approved a lease agreement that would shift operational control of Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta from the hospital's board to a new nonprofit corporation. Under the lease agreement, daily operations of the hospital system would be controlled by a nonprofit board of business and community leaders, but the Grady board would continue to have broad oversight and would own the real estate. The restructuring plan still requires the approval of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners.
Georgia is seeking to be one of 12 "demo sites" for a $150 million pilot federal program to provide money to some physicians to set up electronic health records systems. Supporters of the program, including Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue, say electronic medical records would ensure better care for patients, but others question cost and raise security concerns.
Brentwood, TN-based Little Clinic has agreed to support the "desired attributes" set forth by the American Academy of Family Physicians to ensure safe care for patients of retail health clinics. The Little Clinic operates retail clinics inside Kroger and Publix Grocery stores.
The online video-sharing site YouTube has become a battleground in the competition among Nashville-area hospitals for heart care patients. Saint Thomas Health Services and Vanderbilt University Medical Center are trying to generate word-of-mouth marketing by posting videos on the site with testimonials from patients. Doctors and staff also talk up their own experience on the video clips as well.
The nation's cities and states have made a strong effort to prepare for emergency health crises, but big challenges remain, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report looked at staffing, laboratory capability, and other resources of state, local, and territorial health departments for handling bioterrorism or other disasters.
The National Health Service was created 60 years ago as a cornerstone of the British welfare state, and is devoted to the principle of free medical care for everyone. But it has been wrestling with how to handle patients with complex illnesses who want to pay for parts of their treatment while receiving the rest free from the health service.
Two new studies have found that stroke patients who enter the hospital at night and on weekends are more likely to die in the hospital than those who have strokes at "regular" hours. Researchers found that the mortality rate for weekday admissions (7.9 percent) for all strokes was much lower than weekend admissions (10.1 percent). For ischemic stroke, mortality rates were 7.3 percent on weekdays versus 8.2 percent for nights and weekends.
