proposal
CA hospitals must report serious staph cases
California's public health department has issued an order requiring hospitals to report some staph infections resulting in death or an ICU stay to local health authorities. It's not focused on the... Read more...
Calif. rules on MD visits through HMOs still stalled
Six years ago, California passed a new law requiring that HMO patients get timely appointments with their doctors. State regulators thought they had licked the problem--but they were a bit too... Read more...
FL governor wants to end CON law
If Florida's governor gets his way, the state will repeal its certificate-of-need rules for acute-care hospitals. Governor Charlie Crist (R) included a proposal to eliminate CON rules in his fiscal... Read more...
CO considers raising medical malpractice caps
A new Colorado measure would raise the state's existing medical malpractice caps, stirring opposition from groups who say that such a measure would increase medical costs and in some cases drive... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Would IOM clinical guidelines be killed by politics?
While many observers are praising the Institute of Medicine's proposal that the U.S. develop a central, national initiative for determining best medical practices, they're also raising some... Read more...
Retail clinic opposition emerges in Tenn.
Though retail clinic firms don't seem much slowed by their efforts, medical associations around the country continue to make efforts to regulate their operations. The latest front in this battle... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Remaking the health system, the BCBS way
This week, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association has come out with its own proposal for remaking the healthcare system. Their new report says reforming the system depends on five principles,... Read more...
Mass. AG investigates non-profits' help to communities
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has pulled together a task force to investigate whether not-for-profit hospitals and HMOs are meeting their obligations under the state's Community... Read more...
Feds to crank up non-profit charity demands
Watch out, charity hospitals--Sen. Chuck Grassley is coming after you. In recent times, the Iowa Senator has been on the warpath over what he considers to be inadequate levels of charity care... Read more...
WA governor proposes tougher patient safety rules
Washington state governor Chris Gregoire (D) has introduced a proposal which would call for hospital safety data disclosures. The plan also features tougher provider credentialing standards, more... Read more...
