ford health system news from FierceHealthcare

Henry Ford Health System has become the latest provider to ramp up hospital amenities to hotel-like levels. The idea, at Henry Ford and elsewhere, is that if you make patients and families more Read more...

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is poised to implement a new policy banning physicians and other employees from accepting virtually any type of pharma or device-maker freebies. If it moves ahead, UPMC would join a growing list of academic medical centers and other facilities that have instituted tight controls on such gifts. Employees and physicians who break the rules could face written reprimands and even loss of hospital privileges.

To address concerns raised …

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In theory, no thoughtful person would object to the idea of keeping physician decision-making independent, particularly where costly drugs are concerned. No one, including the doctors themselves, benefits if physicians are making …

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It's a good time for the Henry Ford Health System, which is coming back strong after suffering major losses a few years ago. The nonprofit system has done well again this year, reporting a 2006 net income of $134.9 million on revenues of $3.25 billion. Revenues are up 6.6 percent from 2005, and net income a whopping 20 percent. Revenue sources included $1.5 billion from the system's Health Alliance Plan and $1 billion from its 920-bed Detroit hospital, physician practices and behavioral …

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In Detroit, thousands of nurses have filed a $340 million lawsuit against six area hospitals alleging that, by discussing what they paid nurses, the hospitals conspired to suppress registered nurses' wages. This, in turn, contributed to nursing shortages in the area. An attorney representing the nurses said that on average, they were underpaid by $5,000 per year. The suit has been filed against the Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center (DMC), McLaren Health Care, Oakwood …

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Let's put aside, for a moment, the no-pharma-freebies policy Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) has put into place, as interesting as it is as part of a larger movement in the industry. Yes, I do think that banning all promotional items and …

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Yet another large health system has imposed a crackdown on drug company payola this week, and it's a doozy. This time the player is Detroit's Henry Ford Health System, which as of January 1 will forbid physicians from accepting free lunches, gifts and other perks. Not only is Henry Ford banning more obvious forms of bribery--such as free trips or elaborate luncheons--it won't even let vendors distribute promotional products (think the ubiquitous drugmaker pens) or product …

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Press Release: Henry Ford Health System to Implement Strict Vendor Policies

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Community hospitals around the country have jumped on a new trend: Launching their own research projects, competing for grant money and publishing their results in peer-reviewed publications in order to supplement their budget. It offers a chance for hospitals to burnish their reputation while gaining a new source of revenue as their Medicare reimbursements fall. For example, Henry Ford Health System in Detroit has a $56 million budget to research such topics as the use of gene therapy …

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> Last week's Annals of Internal Medicine report comparing drug-eluting and bare-metal stents has renewed the stent debate, writes Maggie Mahar in my blog, THCB. Blog

> Congressional Democrats introduced legislation that would make major changes to Medicare Part D. One provision empowers the government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies. Another …

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