hospital association

The Wisconsin Hospital Association has launched a website promoting the quantifiable community benefits provided by its member hospitals. All of the state's hospitals participated in the effort. The site reports that in 2005, Wisconsin's 132 hospitals provided $900 million in free services, including $158 million worth of charity care (the state of Wisconsin defines "charity care" as care the hospital provides knowing in advance that it will not …

Squeezing in under a state-mandated October 1 deadline for posting hospital pricing data online, the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) has become the latest hospital trade group to provide pricing data on member hospitals. The MHA just launched a new site providing detailed pricing data from specific Minnesota hospitals, offering data for the 50 most common in-patient procedures and 25 most common same-day procedures.

In forcing the issue of price reporting, the state of …

Diabetes and other conditions such as obesity have become some of this nation's most pressing medical concerns. But in Philadelphia--and across the nation--there's a serious lack of endocrinologists available to treat these diseases. A study by the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania found that there are 22 percent too few endocrinologists to treat the state's diabetes patients; that number is …

> Sierra Health Services, Nevada's largest insurer, is nearing the end of its contract with three HCA hospitals in Las Vegas. Both sides hope they can renegotiate a contract before time runs out. Article

> In Florida, HCA has started a program to ease ER overcrowding. HCA hospitals will refer non-emergency patients to nearby clinics. Critics say the program will only serve to …

> Aetna shares bop as the company reports a 41 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits. Article

> In a column for Reason, Ronald Bailey argues that a case in which a hospital turned off the life support system of an uninsured patient against her will should have gained far more national attention than it did. …

The latest in a series of reports by a Pennsylvania agency charged with monitoring hospital safety finds that hospital-acquired infections in the state cost taxpayers and insurers more than $1 billion last year alone. According to the report, in 2004 Medicare faced $1 billion in extra costs related to infections, and insurers were billed an additional $603.8 million. Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that require hospitals to report infections. The local hospital association is …

> As Hurricane Rita was upgraded to Cat -5 status, HCA said it will close its Houston area facilities. Story

> Another Merck executive has given testimony damaging to his company's image. Edward Scolnick said his "anxiety quotient" about the drug was very high as early as the year 2000. Story

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Emergency teams, doctors and aid workers from across the country descended on New Orleans and surrounding areas yesterday as the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina became clear. Hospitals in the area, of course, have been on the front line since Sunday. As plans to fully evacuate New Orleans were announced, the Louisiana Hospital Association said more than 10,000 people, including staff and dependents, are waiting to be evacuated from downtown hospitals. Hospital Association …