decade

The industry trade group representing hospitalists said the specialty is gaining an increasingly strong foothold in the US healthcare industry. The Society of Hospital Medicine projects the number employed will double by the end of the decade. According to the trade group, about 12,000 physicians work in the field. About 40 percent of US hospitals now employ members of the specialty. There is still some debate within management circles over how meaningful the care hospitalists provide is. …

The Senate approved a bill that would authorize the first cuts to Medicare and Medicaid in nearly a decade. The proposed changes, which passed by a 52-47 vote, would be far less sweeping than those included in a similar bill scheduled to go before the House next week. The House bill would cut Medicaid spending by $9.5 billion, endorsing a strategy which raises co-pays for program recipients and allows states to enact tighter curbs on programs similar to recent proposals in South Carolina …

A new study finds community hospitals in Massachusetts are losing ground in their fight with teaching hospitals. The research, conducted by the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, finds teaching hospitals in the state are accounting for 50 percent of new patient admissions, up markedly from 35 percent 12 years ago. The market shift is limiting community hospitals' ability to compete, according to the group. The finding won't surprise many people familiar with the local …

In its first major deal of the quarter, Cerner announced that it has signed a 10-year contract with the US Army to provide medical records software to 100 army hospitals and 400 clinics around the world. The Kansas City-based company said the deal is the largest laboratory technology deal it has yet signed. The Army said the deal could be worth $51 million over the next decade. Cerner stock hit a 52-week high of $79.73 on Thursday, although it's slightly lower now.

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Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has vetoed a bill which would have given women in his state easier access to the controversial "Morning After" pill. The bill would have given the Plan B contraceptive near over-the-counter status, allowing pharmacists to dispense it without a prescription. However, the bill passed with veto-proof majorities, so it will likely become law anyway. The stand represents a shift for Romney, who a decade ago said he was in favor of allowing access to emergency …

The Miami Herald examines the phenomenon of doctors working for corporations, looking at the case of a Miami cardiologist who recently decided to give up her independence and start working for Pediatrix, a large corporation which employs physicians. The company says it pays about what physicians in private practice earn and "respects their independence." The American Medical Association announced earlier this month that it wants a ban on corporate employers, saying the …

The Centers for Disease Control said this weekend that rates of diabetes-related hospitalization and cases of kidney failure have fallen sharply over the past decade, signaling that progress is being made in the treatment of the disease. From 1994 to 2002 the rate of diabetes related hospitalizations fell from 55 to 36 per 1,000 diabetics. The kidney failure rate fell from 327 to 229 per 100,000.

Those improvements came at the same time that the overall number of diabetes cases …

> Cancer studies ended after patient deaths. Story

> Erectile dysfunction medications to cost government $2 billion over the next decade. Story

> A case to be made for the Stereotaxis imaging system. Story

And Finally... Robots make the rounds at London hospital. Story

With consumer-directed care a health care industry reality, several things are becoming clear. On the plus side, customers like having the sense that they have decision making-power on important treatment decisions, in contrast to the 'powerlessness' they felt during the early HMO decade. One of the problems however, is that consumers may not always know enough to direct their care. And when they do direct it, they may direct it in the wrong direction. A physician discusses his mixed …