medical centers

Over the past two days, thousands of nurses at hospitals affiliated with Sutter Health staged a two-day walkout. While the majority of nurses plan to return to their jobs today, nurses at three of... Read more...

Many industry journalists--including myself--have published reports stressing the soon-to-explode growth of the retail clinic market. And given the confluence of factors, including consumer-driven... Read more...

The M&A market was busy this week, as HealthSpring, a Medicare Advantage HMO, agreed to purchase Leon Medical Centers Health Plans in Florida; a consortium of private equity firms led by Goldman... Read more...

Earlier this week, we told you about the growing California hospital empire controlled by cardiologist Dr. Prem Reddy. Victorville, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services, which has made its mark with its insurance-free business model, has picked up eight California hospitals in recent times, drawing much attention and some opposition. Now, questions about the chain have stopped …

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Policy experts meeting at a Mayo Clinic-sponsored forum are recommending some significant changes to health plan reimbursement practices which they say could improve care and reduce costs. The experts, who met this week at Dartmouth, are suggesting that plans institute shared decision making programs for major elective surgery, in which medical centers are awarded bonuses for involving patients effectively. Another of their proposals is to develop a model for a single "chronic condition …

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Medical centers specializing in cancer care say that health plans are denying coverage for routine care to patients who have enrolled in clinical trials. And now, they're backing a new bill which would make this practice illegal. According to Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), who sponsored the measure, only 36,000 of 1.4 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year agree to participate clinical trials--because, providers say, insurers will cut off payment for routine clinical services if …

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After years of obscurity, palliative medicine is on the upswing, gaining new respect from hospitals and physicians. Growing numbers of medical centers offer palliative services, which focus on relieving symptoms and boosting quality of life for seriously ill patients. According to the Center to Advance Palliative Care, the number of medical centers offering palliative medicine has …

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> New Orleans health system leaders continue to wrangle over whether the poor should be cared for by charity hospitals or receive insurance vouchers. Article

> Two Florida hospitals which came out badly in JCAHO measures of heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia treatment are defending their performance, suggesting that the scores can be deceptive. …

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In Southern California, a new trend is emerging: combining doctor's offices with shopping malls. Developers hope that they can make a profit--and give patients a more pleasurable visit--by combining doctor's offices, retail stores and restaurants in a single complex. "...Patients would come for medical appointments and perhaps meet a friend for lunch or browse for skin-care products. To encourage browsing and eating, the doctors' offices will have small waiting rooms and patients will be …

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It seems that the Department of Veterans' Affairs fumbled the ball when it came to managing its $300 million mental health services budget. A report by the Government Accountability Office has found that the VA didn't spend the $300 million, and didn't keep good track of the money it did spend. The agency already spends big bucks on mental health, or about $2 billion in fiscal 2006, but the idea was to boost spending a bit to cover gaps in its services.

In 2004, the VA set out to …

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