Latest California Healthline Stories
Telehealth Firm To Give ECG Devices to California Schools
In a joint effort with the California School Health Centers Association, the Los Angeles-based telemedicine company CompuMed will provide school-based health centers with no-cost portable electrocardiogram devices. Once health center workers perform an ECG with the company’s CardioGram or CardioGramKids device, a CompuMed computer analyzes data. Cardiologists also can conduct follow-up reviews. InformationWeek.
New Services Allow Patients To Compare Health Prices
The online service Castlight Health is one of several new programs designed to help patients search for local physicians based on the services they offer and the prices of various procedures. The start-up company — which is financed by venture capitalists and the Cleveland Clinic — markets its service to employers and charges a monthly fee based on the number of workers. Experts say such programs could help curb health care spending by improving consumer awareness of procedure costs. New York Times.
Pre-Reform Health Plans Might Lose Reform Law Exemption
The Obama administration has released draft regulations indicating that more than half of employer-sponsored health plans might lose their “grandfathered status” and be forced to change to comply with regulations in the health reform law. Wall Street Journal et al.
Republicans Introduce Alternative Package for ‘Extenders’ Legislation
The proposal, introduced by Sen. John Thune, would delay a scheduled cut to physicians’ Medicare payments through 2012 and eliminate an extension of federal Medicaid assistance to states. The Republicans’ package is expected to come to a vote next week. CongressDaily.
State Regulators Fine 5 Hospitals for Patient Privacy Breaches
Yesterday, the California Department of Public Health fined five hospitals a total of $675,000 for breaches of patient medical records. Officials said the department has received reports of more than 3,700 breaches since Jan. 1, 2009. Sacramento Bee et al.
State Unlikely To Finalize Budget by Tuesday Deadline
The California Legislature will miss a deadline Tuesday to enact a 2010-2011 state budget, Assembly Speaker John Pérez said Thursday. According to Controller John Chiang, if the budget is not finalized by August, the state likely will have to issue IOUs to pay its bills. The state faces a $20 billion budget deficit. Sacramento Bee‘s “Capitol Alert.”
Nursing Strike in Minnesota Goes Forward as Planned
Yesterday, fourteen Minnesota hospitals saw fewer patients but performed about 140 surgeries and delivered about 15 infants during a one-day strike involving roughly 12,000 nurses in the state. Meanwhile, scores of California nurses staged rallies outside of six University of California facilities after a judge barred them from a strike that would have coincided with the Minnesota nursing strike. St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sacramento Bee.
Sacramento County Officials Revise Mental Health Plan
Sacramento County officials have proposed ending four Regional Support Teams that provide the majority of outpatient mental health services and replacing the teams with four Sacramento Wellness Centers rather than a county-run facility. The centers will be staffed with county workers, who will offer clinical services, and contractors, who will provide psychiatric mental health and other services. Mental health advocates sued to block the original plan, which would have relied only on county workers. Sacramento Bee.
House Panel Examines Drug Resistance, Health Care-Related Infections
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health heard testimony from a UCLA professor about trends in hospital-acquired infections and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Some advocates have called for legislation to address the issue. CQ HealthBeat, Reuters.
GOP Attacks Measure To Address Medicare Rate Disparities in California
Senate Republicans are criticizing a provision in the so-called “extenders” bill that would raise Medicare payments for physicians in certain California counties. Some counties designated as “rural” under current Medicare payment formulas have become increasingly urban. The Hill.