> Dallas County will be sending bills to its neighboring counties--and foreign countries--for the cost of treating their indigent residents. Last year the county spent $18.3 million treating patients from other areas, and local lawmakers say the cost is too much of a burden for Dallas County taxpayers. The county will also be sending bills to foreign countries. Article
> The beleaguered University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's hospital will announced that it will lay off at least 100 people as part of the school's recently approved $1.5 billion budget. Report
> Yet another nurse union is picketing to protest proposed cuts to their benefits package. Nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center are at odds with hospital officials who plan to end new employee's pensions, freeze pensions for current nurses and increase full-time workers' insurance premiums to 25 percent. Hospital management says the nurses' benefits are too expensive and prevent the hospital from being economically competitive. Article
> In the wake of a messy contract dispute, Enloe Medical Center of Chico, CA is having success recruiting anesthesiologists. In May Enloe chose not to renew it's contract with Anesthesiology Associates of Chico (AAC), leaving the center short on anesthesiologists. Report
> After seven months of negotiations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia Emory Healthcare and have signed a five-year contract that will keep the physician group in BCBS's network. The contract covers five hospitals and medical care delivered by more than 1,000 Emory physicians and their clinics. Report
And Finally... It's not quite Rosie from the Jetsons, but telehealth link-ups are the at-home nurse of the future. So why are they still so unusual? Article