Latest California Healthline Stories
Study: Many Consumers Remain Skeptical About Evidence-Based Care
Consumers often have misconceptions about terms such as “quality guidelines” and “medical evidence,” according to a new study. Many consumers also believe that more and newer treatments represent superior medical care. Wall Street Journal‘s “Health Blog” et al.
California Hospital News Roundup for Week of June 4, 2010
Intercare Health Systems — former owner of City of Angels Medical Center — has agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations over a fraud scheme involving homeless Los Angeles residents. Meanwhile, Community Medical Centers has announced plans to lay off about 150 workers.
CSU Campus Nabs Grant To Ramp Up Nursing Education
California State University-San Bernardino has received a $192,000 state grant to scale up nursing education programs at the school’s Palm Desert campus. The funds come from California’s Song-Brown program, which aims to expand the number and increase the diversity of nurses in the state. Officials said the school will use the funds to hire four full-time instructors and counselors for the nursing classes scheduled to begin this fall. Palm Springs Desert Sun.
California Organizations Nab $18.46M in Health IT Stimulus Funding
Yesterday, HHS awarded $18.46 million to eight California health care groups to spur the adoption of electronic health records and other health IT projects at health centers that serve low-income and uninsured residents. San Francisco Business Times, Healthcare IT News.
Field Poll: 52% of Calif. Voters Support Federal Health Care Reform Law
A new Field Poll finds that a slight majority of California voters support the federal health reform law, with many respondents calling for further changes to the health care system. Other national polls have found that most U.S. residents oppose the reform law. Sacramento Bee.
Northern California Kaiser Workers Consider New Union
Northern California mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente facilities have petitioned to hold a union election that would allow them to change their representation from the Service Employees International Union-United Health Care Workers to the National Union of Healthcare Workers. Southern California Kaiser Permanente employees already switched to NUHW. Kaiser and SEIU-UHW have said workers cannot vote to switch union representation until June 2011; however, NUHW says the workers have a 30-day window beginning June 3 in which to change unions. Sacramento Business Journal.
Blue Shield Foundation Picks Peter Long as President, CEO
Peter Long, currently senior vice president for executive operations at the Kaiser Family Foundation, will succeed Crystal Hayling as president and CEO of the Blue Shield of California Foundation. Long, who previously was a senior program officer and director of research and planning at the California Endowment, said as leader of the foundation he would help California maximize benefits from the federal health reform law and help bolster the state’s safety net. San Francisco Business Times.
Experts Question Study Used To Justify Health Reform Law Provisions
Some health experts say the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care oversimplifies the factors driving regional variation in health care costs. The Obama administration and lawmakers have used the atlas to justify cost-cutting measures in the federal health reform law. New York Times.
Sacramento Warned About Mental Health Program Cuts
The chief counsel for the California Department of Mental Health has warned Sacramento County officials that they could lose state funding and violate state law by moving forward with a plan to reduce behavioral health spending by $17 million. Earlier this year, the county proposed ending ties to four not-for-profit community clinics caring for people with severe mental illnesses and instead expanding the Adult Psychiatric After Care Clinic and opening four new outpatient wellness centers staffed with county workers. Ann Edwards-Buckley, director of the county’s Health and Human Services, said the county is considering other alternatives. Sacramento Bee.
Calif. Could Deepen Health Cuts Amid Retraction of Federal Aid
House Democrats recently scrapped a plan that would have extended $24 billion in Medicaid assistance to cash-strapped states. California lawmakers were counting on receiving nearly $2 billion of the funds to help close a budget gap. Without the federal aid, observers say California might institute deeper cuts to health care and other services. Los Angeles Times et al.