investments news from FierceHealthcare

HCA Midwest Health System's 10 hospitals face an insanely competitive marketplace, hundreds of millions of dollars in underperforming investments and union tensions--just to name a few issues. In Read more...

Over the past year, we've had a chance to learn from a handful of larger provider organizations which have Read more...

In some cases under threat of legislation, hospitals are increasingly investing in patient-lifting and sliding equipment. Such equipment is helping nurses avoid on-the-job injuries and lowering Read more...

Increasingly, physicians have been sinking money in hospitals--an investment which seems to be working out very well for most. However, a new provision proposed by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) for the 2008 Read more...

Historically, hospitals have been a more than a little concerned about the rise of ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), which stand to skim off some of their more profitable procedures while not being Read more...

> CMS has told New York that it can't bill for chemotherapy under Medicaid provisions allowing coverage emergency services for noncitizens. Read more...

The nursing home industry has always operated on a narrow margin. However, as private investors buy out nursing home chains, they're hoping to change the picture, in part by cutting nursing rosters Read more...

With passion for health reform at a high across the U.S., fervor for cutting healthcare costs has never been higher. However, cutting costs is proving to be even harder than it looks. Of late, providers are increasingly being asked to make investments--such as electronic medical records--which could squeeze costs out of the healthcare system. The problem is, often the upfront costs are high and the benefits far in the future. Article

A group of six men have been indicted on federal charges that they rigged bids for a $79 million IT project. The group, which includes contractors, a military officer, the officer's son and a prominent healthcare consultant, is accused of steering IT contracts for roughly 20 Army hospitals to companies with which they were affiliated or companies they controlled. In some cases, the contracts were designed such that only a specific company could get them, and in others, the bidding process …

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While malpractice claims against hospitals and doctors have stabilized over the past year, the average claim size has gone up, according to the results of an annual study by the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) and and risk management firm Aon. The study, which reviewed about 48,000 claims totaling $4.4 billion, found that for the second year in a row, the volume of claims filed held steady. However, it also found that average claim sizes continue to increase at a …

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