The federal government plans to spend $19 billion to spur the use of computerized patient records, but two articles in the New England Journal of Medicine point to the formidable obstacles to achieving the policy goal. The studies point to problems of not only installing electronic health records, but also using them to improve care and curb cost.
Massachusetts will use $764 million from the federal stimulus package to shore up healthcare services and prevent further job and program cuts at hospitals that serve large numbers of poor patients, Gov. Deval Patrick said. The money, which is coming to the state through the Medicaid program, will also enable the state to preserve current benefits and eligibility levels for MassHealth recipients, and for residents who get subsidized health insurance under the 2006 law mandating insurance coverage.
A new report from the Maryland Hospital Association says that income is down and expenses have risen for many of the state's 58 hospitals. The report says 34 hospitals in the state lost a combined $466 million during the last quarter of 2008. Virginia hospitals are also reporting shortfalls. Washington, DC, hospitals have yet to report results for the final quarter of 2008, but Robert A. Malson, chief executive officer of the District of Columbia Hospital Association, said they, too, are affected by the downturn. Hospital officials in the three jurisdictions said they are looking closely at expenses and developing plans for cutting costs.
The American Medical Association, Connecticut State Medical Society, and others are suing WellPoint Inc., claiming that the company conspired with other insurers to underpay doctors for out-of-network care. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is proposed as a class action against Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the parent of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. The suit follows similar cases filed last month by the AMA and other medical societies against Aetna and CIGNA. The physician groups say insurers used manipulated data, provided through a database operated by UnitedHealth Group's Ingenix unit, to deliberately underpay doctors who don't belong to the health plans' networks and to maximize profits.
A Palm Beach County jury has awarded $4 million on behalf of a child suffering from severe mental retardation that the family blamed on a delayed delivery in a West Palm Beach, FL, hospital more than 11 years ago. The lawsuit contended that problems securing an operating room at Good Samaritan Medical Center led to several hours of delay. The seven-week trial resulted in the jury finding the hospital's then-owner, Good Samaritan Hospital Inc., negligent in the care of Jordan Preshong Brown. The doctors and other providers had previously settled.
Doctors have long prescribed exercise as part of rehabilitative programs for patients who've had heart attacks, undergone coronary bypass surgery, or experienced other cardiac problems. Insurance usually covers that rehabilitation for a few weeks. But a growing number of doctors are prescribing detailed exercise plans as a preventive measure before the health of high-risk patients deteriorates. And they'd like to see insurance cover those patients as well.
A $95,000 cut of a $410 billion spending package approved by President Obama will benefit the Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network. It receives the support through the Nebraska Hospital Association Research and Educational Foundation. The network uses communication technologies to improve patient access to care and to provide patient, professional, and community education.
Roughly 86 more employees are planned to be cut from the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Hospital COO Christine Pappas told the center's board of directors that cuts are not linked to the bad economy or to any possible future cuts to government subsidies. The cuts, she said, are part of a consultant firm's plan to guide the financially struggling hospital back to sustainability. The move comes just days after the hospital laid off 82 employees from departments across the hospital and permanently eliminated 62 vacant positions.
The Sequoia Healthcare District, the public entity that used to run Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, CA, has named a new chief executive after 17 months with an interim executive running the show. The district's board voted to appoint Lee Michelson to the permanent CEO post, effective April 27. Michelson succeeds interim Executive Director Dev Mahadevan, who held down the interim job for nearly a year and a half.
The St. Charles Parish Hospital Board will seek more information from two companies that want to build an assisted living center on hospital-owned property. The board approved a proposal to allow its accounting and legal advisers to help evaluate the two companies, while assigning the proposals to its finance committee for further review.
