health care system
St. Barnabas racketeering suit dismissed
Despite its having engaged in a massive Medicare scam costing the federal government at least $630 million, St. Barnabas Health Care System did not prevent other hospitals from getting fair reimbursement.
That's the conclusion of a federal judge, who ruled that despite the fraud, St. Barnabas had not engaged in racketeering. Two small hospitals in Maine and Colorado filed the suit, alleging St. Barnabas' over billing was so extreme it distorted CMS's Medicare reimbursement …
... Read more...Financial turmoil at Caritas Christi
The physician group serving Boston's Caritas Christi Health Care system has replaced the acting chief of its physicians group in the midst of an accounting scandal. The 2,000-member physicians group, which auditors say overstated revenue by nearly $10 million, has been a money-loser for the system for several years. The system, which is run by the Archdiocese of Boston, has been in talks to transfer ownership of its six hospitals to Catholic hospital chain Ascension Health. As part of the …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Baylor partners with retail clinic operator; Minneapolis employers to offer quality data; and much more...
> Like several other healthcare systems, Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System has partnered with a retail clinic operator, MedBasics, to offer physician oversight for the clinics. Report
> Several large employers, including Accenture, General Mills and 3M, came together this week to promise that they'll collect (and share) healthcare quality information. …
... Read more...Press Release: Gov. Schwarzenegger Tackles California's Broken Health Care System
Press Release: Gov. Schwarzenegger Tackles California's Broken Health Care System
... Read more...NJ hospital plans private-to-public conversion
Hoboken, NJ-based St. Mary's Hospital isn't in great shape. It lost almost $100 million over the last five years and seldom fills more than half of its 328 beds. Worse, as the oldest hospital in the state, it needs millions of dollars worth of upgrades and renovations. But when the hospital's owner, Bon Secours Health Care System, said it would close St. Mary's, state legislators worked out a plan to keep it afloat by funneling in state funds and turning over operations to the city. The …
... Read more...MA religious hospital chain to cede control
After studying their position in the marketplace, executives with Boston-based Caritas Christi Health Care system are looking at merging, selling or giving up control of their operations to a national Catholic chain with more resources. Caritas, a six-hospital network whose facilities include St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, a tertiary academic teaching hospital affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine, is one of several regional Catholic chains considering a similar …
... Read more...HHS asks employers to push transparency
HHS head Mike Leavitt is asking employers to commit to a set of four goals which aim to make cost and quality data more accessible to consumers. The goals include adopting health IT standards in order to make health information systems interoperable, increasing quality transparency, increasing pricing transparency, and offering rewards to encourage efficient, high-quality care. HHS has begun to develop specific quality and cost specs for employers to use in implementing the goals. The …
... Read more...Baylor plans to build teaching hospital
Houston, TX-based Baylor College of Medicine has decided to build its own private teaching hospital, a significant change in direction after partnering with other independent hospitals for more than 50 years. Baylor has partnered with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital since April 2004. Previously, it had partnered with The Methodist Hospital for 50 years. Now, Baylor officials have earmarked $10 million in initial spending for a new, integrated Baylor Clinic and Hospital that will serve as …
... Read more...How to catch Rx problems early
At a meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), a group of brain and behavior researchers recommended a drug surveillance system to cut down on adverse effects related to prescription drugs. The researchers think that a computerized monitoring system would be able to quickly detect negative side effects, protecting patients from harmful drugs. At the moment, there is no such system in place. "The current U.S. health care system only accidentally detects rare but …
... Read more...Hospitals find niche in bioresearch
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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