university medical center

GA health system settles false claims suit for $5.1M

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

Savannah, GA-based Memorial Health has agreed to pay $5.1 million to settle a suit claiming that it made excessive payments to ophthalmologists. The suit, which was filed by a physician whistleblower, contended that the system's Memorial University Medical Center paid ophthalmologists at "levels which were not commercially reasonable," then billed for federal reimbursement for their services. The system, for its part, denies any wrongdoing and disputes the allegations contained in the suit, but needed to bring the matter to a close, executives said in a written statement.

To learn more about the suit:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

ALSO NOTED: Hospitals have data security blind spot; NYU Medical Ctr. gets $100 million gift; and much more...

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Increasingly, it's looking like U.S. hospitals have a blind spot when it comes to data security. FierceHealthIT

> New York University Medical Center will be getting a second $100 million gift from Home Depot founder Kenneth Langone. Article

> New data suggests that hospitals could be collecting a lot more from their self-pay accounts. FierceHealthFinance

> New Orleans charity hospitals are asking for an added $51 million in the state of Louisiana's 2009 budget to pay for the costs of treating prisoners. Article

And Finally... Getting your car towed is bad enough, but this must have been a nightmare. Article

Chicago heart transplant centers running under capacity

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:55 -0400

At present, Chicago is tied with Philadelphia as cities having the most adult heart transplant centers of any in the United States. In theory, this makes sense, given that Chicago has some of the world's best heart transplant surgeons, observers say. But critics say that this is a bad thing--that with so many competing centers in place, few are getting enough volume to keep their teams' skills current. Worse, these centers, which hospitals prize for the reputation boost they give a facility, are extremely expensive and probably not needed by the community, the critics argue.

As it turns out, despite this intense level of competition, fewer patients are getting heart transplants in the Chicago metro than other major urban areas. For example, Loyola University Medical Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center each perform about one heart transplant every two weeks, far less than leading centers in cities like New York and Los Angeles. And Rush University Medical Center performed only three heart transplants last year, less than the 10 Medicare requires for a center to keep its certification. The oddest thing about all of this is that the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board apparently has given its seal of approval to these programs. Makes you wonder what's going on there.

To learn more about Chicago's battling heart transplant programs:
- read this Chicago Tribune article

Related Articles:
Three more heart transplant programs in jeopardy. Report
Four more heart transplant centers could lose CMS funds. Report
Sutter heart transplant program decertified by Medi-Cal. Report
Regional heart transplant program struggles. Report

ALSO NOTED: NQF releases healthcare-acquired infection reporting guidelines; ACOG re-examines abortion referral opinion; and mu

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> The National Quality Forum has released a new framework for reporting data on healthcare-associated infections, and has released seven new performance measures. Article

> Faced with controversy over its abortion referral guidelines, which some anti-abortion doctors fear could jeopardize their board certification, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists may re-examine its stand. Article

> Vanderbilt University will soon be offering a new doctor of nursing practice degree. Article

> Duke University Medical Center has received a $50 million gift, the biggest in its history, part of which it will use to build a new inpatient facility for its Children's Health Center. Article

And Finally... Chasing away angry dogs may be par for the course...but turkey attacks are a bit much. Articles

TN mall to be turned into healthcare clinic

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center has decided to give nearby 100 Oaks Mall a facelift. Throughout this year and into next year, 440,000 square feet of store space at the mall will be turned into a healthcare facility, set up for 16 clinics. According to The Tennessean, the project should cost around $48.9 million, and will include among other things, a Breast Center, a Center for Surgical Weight Loss, a Center for Women's Imaging, a center for Dermatology, and an Interventional Pain Clinic.

To learn more:
- read the article in The Tennessean
- check out this article in the Nashville City Paper

Related Article:
Medical center or shopping mall? Report

Group of hospitals joins BC of CA P4P program

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

A group of 23 hospitals have joined Blue Cross of California's new inpatient pay-for-performance program, which is structured to give the facilities adjustments to their inpatient fixed-payment rates if they achieve certain scores on quality, clinical processes and outcomes. To participate in the Quality-in-Sights Hospital Incentive Program, hospitals must submit quality data to the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Task Force. Hospitals getting on board include USC University Hospital in Los Angeles, Irvine (CA) Regional Hospital and Medical Center, San Ramon (CA) Regional Medical Center and University Medical Center in Fresno. To date, there's been more P4P programs involving large medical groups than hospitals in most of the country, so I'm looking forward to see how hospitals fare here.

To learn more about the program:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Pay for performance becoming business as usual. Report
Case study: MI groups make P4P dollars through IT use. Report
CMS program would base hospital pay on performance. Report
Medicare P4P results show care improvements. Report
Positive results for Medicare P4P pilot. Report
Exclusive: How to make P4P work. Interview

Hospital, state senator targets of federal investigation

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:59:56 -0500

This week, federal investigators are searching the home and legislative offices of New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D) as part of a ongoing corruption investigation. In pursuing the investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office has subpoenaed records from legislators and their staff members about the senator's relationship with Hackensack University Medical Center, where he worked as a plumbing and construction consultant. The senator, who worked at the hospital between 2004 and 2006, got $5,500 per month.

Federal authorities are scrutinizing Coniglio's business dealings as part of whether some legislators have been benefiting from state grant money which has been put into the budget without any external, public review since 2002. Government corruption is a major issue in the state, where more than 100 officials (including some hospital officials) have been convicted on related charges over the past five years. (Yeah, I know, cue the theme from The Sopranos--but this is serious, guys.)

To learn more about the case:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece

Related Articles:
UMDNJ faces corruption fallout. Report
UMDNJ rocked by fraud charges. Report
UMDNJ adopts rules on no-bid contracts. Report
RI hospital exec found guilty of conspiracy, fraud. Report

ALSO NOTED: Cleveland Clinic pitches its financial value; Loyola begins MRSA screening program; and much more...

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:59:50 -0400

> The Cleveland Clinic has begun pitching its economic contributions to its community. Article
> Loyola University Medical Center has begun screening all incoming patients for exposure to MRSA. Article

> The Marshfield Clinic has rolled out tablet PCs for all of its physicians, and soon plans to go "paperless" for all medical charting in its clinics. FierceHealthIT

> New Orleans authorities are questioning why two area clinics receiving millions in federal money spent twice as much per patient last year as other federally-funded clinics in the state.

Article

And Finally… We've all heard of "man bites dog," but "dog shoots man" is a new one. Article

Hospitals collecting patient bills up front

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:01:34 -0400

Want to avoid bad debt? One way to do that is to simply collect what you're owed as quickly and aggressively as possible--and that's what many hospitals are doing. Increasingly, hospitals are opting to collect co-pays and deductibles at the point of care or soon thereafter, hoping to stem rising tides of unpaid bills. They're determining how much to ask for, in many cases, by analyzing not only the patient's coverage but their personal financial situation as well. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, for example, has pumped up collections at patient discharge from $30,000 a month in 2004 to $300,000 a month, in part by asking for a $300 payment as patients leave its emergency department. Other hospitals are offering discounts to patients who pay on site, and smaller discounts to those who settle their portion of the bill within 30 days. Still others are using more of a "stick" approach, turning unpaid bills over to collections agencies much sooner than they had in the past. With the growth of high-deductible plans, which place very large bills on patients' shoulders, such strategies may move from smart cash flow management to survival tactics very quickly in coming years.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this article from The Tennessean

SPOTLIGHT: Improving Chinese healthcare

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:01:32 -0400

All is not well with the Chinese healthcare system, which has begun to see increasing rates of disease and death after years of improvement. Now, Duke University Medical Center has struck a deal with Chinese officials to help the country make progress in key areas like cancer care. Article