State roundup: Md.'s medical home; N.Y. malpractice action; Texas nursing homes

Nov 15 2011

A variety of stories from around the country about health care.

The Washington Post: New Maryland Health Program Promotes Care For The Whole Patient
Instead of a doctor seeing patients mostly when they're sick -; and the physician is getting paid for that visit or service -; this program gives financial rewards to practices that use a team of doctors, nurses and other staff to treat the whole person on a continuing basis, not just for one illness. ... The state initiative is among dozens of public and private experiments across the country that are trying to fundamentally change the way doctors practice medicine (Sun, 11/13).

The Associated Press/BusinessWeek: More NY Courts To Focus On Medical Malpractice
New York courts specializing in the state's 4,000 medical-malpractice cases filed each year have begun expanding following the success of a Bronx judge in settling cases early. The approach, shown to cut court backlogs and save money, has been extended to Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, with some Erie County judges getting trained (Virtanen, 11/12).

The Hill: Abortion-Rights Group Take Heart From Win Over Mississippi 'Personhood' Law
Abortion-rights supporters emboldened by a victory in Mississippi believe the controversial issue will drive voters to the polls and work in their favor in the 2012 election. ... Despite the Bible Belt loss, backers of a personhood law, which would define human life as beginning "at the moment of fertilization, cloning or the equivalent thereof," plan to offer ballot measures in several battleground states next year (Baker, 11/14).

Des Moines Register: Occupy Des Moines Warns Insurer: Drop Premiums Or Else
Occupy Des Moines protesters showed up at Iowa's largest health-insurance company today to demand relief from rate increases. About a dozen protesters delivered a letter addressed to John Forsyth, chairman of Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The letter demands that the insurer drop its premiums (Leys, 11/11).

WBUR: In Mass., Top Maternity Hospitals Ban Early Elective Deliveries
Many of us know a mom who chose to have her baby before its due date. ... But if that perfect day falls before the 39th week of pregnancy, and there's no medical reason for an early delivery, many hospitals in Massachusetts are saying no, you have to wait (Bebinger, 11/14). 

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Steps Back From Stiffest Punishment Of Lax Nursing Homes
Texas has rolled back its muscular nursing home enforcement in the past decade, and advocates and insiders fear that elderly and frail residents are at risk of abuse and neglect as some operators routinely cut corners. The state has all but stopped imposing the most severe penalties (Garrett, 11/12).

The Sacramento Bee: Elk Grove Teachers Union Opposes Proposed Cap On Health Benefits
Elk Grove Unified teachers are digging in their heels on taking a hit to their health benefits. District leaders are asking the teachers union to allow it to cap the district's contribution to medical premiums at the 2010 level and to give up an annual bonus paid from California Lottery funds (Lambert, 11/14).

The Miami Herald: Finances Strain The Marriage Between Jackson And The University Of Miami
For 59 years, (two of South Florida's largest institutions -; Jackson Health System and the University of Miami medical school) have been loyal partners working together to provide vital health care services to the poor and uninsured in Miami-Dade County. Recently, though, the relationship has become strained as Jackson's leaders, struggling to reduce enormous losses, have tried to cut their payments to UM. And UM has launched new, potentially competing ventures of its own (Dorschner, 11/12).

Arizona Republic: Scorpion Antivenom Has Stinging Cost
When the federal government approved a scorpion antivenom in August, it was hailed as an important tool to protect vulnerable victims from scorpion stings. But ... [m]etro Phoenix hospitals are billing as much as $12,467 per vial of the antivenom approved to help children, the elderly and others quickly recover from severe reactions from scorpion stings (Alltucker, 11/13).

MinnPost/Med City News: Six Bits Of Wisdom From The Mayo Brothers
If the Mayo brothers were around today, they'd be great tweeters. ... Since January, the [Mayo Clinic] hospital has been tweeting a quote a day from one of the Mayo men in memory of the elder Dr. William Mayo, who died 100 years ago, and in commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of a defining graduation speech given by his son, Dr. Will Mayo (Pogoreic, 11/11).