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Federal officials say Louisiana owes $362 million for overpayments to public hospitals

The federal government says Louisiana public hospitals were overpaid by hundreds of millions of dollars.

18 Sep 2009

Health plan advanced by Senator Baucus is a step in the right direction: CEO of AHCA

The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care (Alliance) characterized the health care finance reform plan released by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus as a step in the right direction, and said the process moving forward to a final bill should avoid steep cuts to Medicare financed nursing home care for the benefit of U.S. seniors, the overall stability of the nation's vital long term care sector, and the ongoing success of quality improvement initiatives.

18 Sep 2009

Two new smoke-free dining areas in the U.S. House of Representatives

On Thursday, the House's last two indoor smoking rooms are being cleaned and converted to smoke-free dining areas. It is no secret that secondhand smoke is dangerous - it causes 50,000 deaths per year in the U.S. Our halls of government should be playing a leadership role in ensuring clean indoor air for their staff and the visiting public and setting a positive example for other work places and public spaces nationwide.

18 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

Implementation Choices for the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - This report examines two key areas of the implementation process of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 - outreach and enrollment, and quality of care - and issues a set of recommendations. "Recommendations include: giving funding priority to states that will adopt or maintain key simplifications… ensuring quality measures focus on priority health needs for children, and building quality measurement and improvement capabilities into electronic health information systems, among others," according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the report (Simpson, Fairbrother, Touschner and Guyer, 9/10).

18 Sep 2009

Study reveals that caregivers are unable to diagnose the pain levels affecting nursing home residents

Relatives and healthcare staff find it hard to diagnose pain levels in nursing home residents accurately, especially if they are cognitively impaired with illnesses such as dementia or unable to speak, according to a study in September issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

18 Sep 2009

Baucus Bill not finding favor among Democrats or Republicans

Sen. Max Baucus' health care reform bill is the target of criticism from all sides.

18 Sep 2009

Baylor Health Care System receives national recognition for the second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year, Baylor Health Care System has been named among the 100 best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine.

17 Sep 2009

Baucus Bill in at $774 billion, would reduce deficit by nearly $50 billion over decade

Sen. Max Baucus' bill, which he said would cost $774 billion over the next 10 years, would reduce budget deficits by about $50 billion over the same time period, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

17 Sep 2009

HCLA urges Senate to include real reform measures in health care bills passed

Following yesterday's release of the "Chairman's Mark" by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, the Health Coalition on Liability and Access expressed disappointment that the bill does not take action on medical liability reform, and urges the Senate to include real reform measures in any health care bill it passes.

17 Sep 2009

Medicare to create pilot program for medical home model

Medicare will create a pilot program for a "medical home" model. The Wall Street Journal reports: "The Obama administration said Medicare will help fund state pilot projects that use primary-care doctors and teams of coordinators to manage patient care and reduce costs. Under the 'medical home' model, pioneered in Vermont and several other states, physicians are paid more for coordinating care for their patients.

17 Sep 2009

At hearing, Kucinich bashes insurance companies

An afternoon hearing today seeks to better understand how private health insurance works. Capitol News Connection reports: "This afternoon Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) leads Day Two of a House oversight inquiry. The Ohio Democrat wants to know how private health insurance companies decide whom to cover and which claims to pay. And how those decisions translate to profit ratios" (Johnson, 9/17).

17 Sep 2009

Canada's health care associations urge health ministers to tackle pressing issues at the ministers' annual meeting

Canada's leading health care associations are calling on federal and provincial/territorial health ministers to tackle a number of pressing issues at the ministers' annual meeting, taking place in Winnipeg September 17.

17 Sep 2009

First Edition: September 17, 2009

Today's headlines focus on two clear story lines: First, the long-awaited and much-anticipated Baucus health overhaul measure was unveiled yesterday; second, it's reception was only lukewarm.

17 Sep 2009

Cancer patients struggles with huge drug costs

Canada's patchwork system of drug coverage is leading to financial hardship for many cancer patients, says a Canadian Cancer Society report released today.

17 Sep 2009

Hypatia Research on the benefits of electronic health records systems

Hypatia Research, LLC today released a report entitled "What Healthcare CIOs Need to Know About ARRA & EHR: Healthcare Technology Solutions & Service Providers" outlining current developments, major adoption challenges, business case justification and an assessment of more than 30 EHR vendors that meet government standards for certification and funding programs.

17 Sep 2009

New CCHI for quality medical care

A solution to help healthcare practitioners and limited English proficient (LEP) speaking patients focus directly on quality healthcare rather than an inability to communicate with each other is now at hand. A new organization is now working to assure competency in language interactions in healthcare settings -- the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI).

17 Sep 2009

ONA voices grave concern with quality of resident care as Community Nursing Home lays off staff

The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is gravely concerned with the future quality of resident care at Community Nursing Home Port Perry as staff is being dramatically cut.

17 Sep 2009

PIPC supports new comparative effectiveness research proposal

The Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC), a non-partisan, patient- focused, grassroots organization focused on securing patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER) voiced its strong support of the comparative effectiveness research provisions in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’s health reform proposal released today.

17 Sep 2009

We are happy with SEIU-UHW: San Francisco home care workers

Home care workers demanded today that an organization created by former union officials acknowledge that it failed in its attempt to force a new union election. The San Francisco workers say they overwhelmingly want to stay with their current union, Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW).

17 Sep 2009

Wisconsin Medical College to implement the Quantros SRM solution to manage adverse events and claims

The Medical College of Wisconsin (Medical College), a private medical school with more than 1,100 physicians, in Milwaukee, WI, has selected the Quantros Safety and Risk Management (SRM) solution to track, manage and report adverse and near-miss events, as well as to manage the entire claims process. The Quantros Event Manager (EM) and Claims Manager (CM) modules, part of the SRM solution, were chosen from among seven different vendors.

17 Sep 2009

Healthcare News

Federal officials say Louisiana owes $362 million for overpayments to public hospitals

Health plan advanced by Senator Baucus is a step in the right direction: CEO of AHCA

Two new smoke-free dining areas in the U.S. House of Representatives

Health policy research roundup

Study reveals that caregivers are unable to diagnose the pain levels affecting nursing home residents

Baucus Bill not finding favor among Democrats or Republicans

Baylor Health Care System receives national recognition for the second consecutive year

Baucus Bill in at $774 billion, would reduce deficit by nearly $50 billion over decade

HCLA urges Senate to include real reform measures in health care bills passed

Medicare to create pilot program for medical home model

At hearing, Kucinich bashes insurance companies

Canada's health care associations urge health ministers to tackle pressing issues at the ministers' annual meeting

First Edition: September 17, 2009

Cancer patients struggles with huge drug costs

Hypatia Research on the benefits of electronic health records systems

New CCHI for quality medical care

ONA voices grave concern with quality of resident care as Community Nursing Home lays off staff

PIPC supports new comparative effectiveness research proposal

We are happy with SEIU-UHW: San Francisco home care workers

Wisconsin Medical College to implement the Quantros SRM solution to manage adverse events and claims

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