Latest California Healthline Stories
The Alameda County Medical Center board of trustees on Thursday approved a plan to hand over day-to-day medical center operations to a consulting team from Cambio Health Solutions while the team searches for permanent replacements for the center’s top four administrators, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Alameda Hospital Outsources Management to Consulting Firm
Alameda Hospital and El Cerrito-based consulting firm Delta One Partners have entered into a two-year contract that transfers day-to-day management responsibilities of the hospital to Delta One, representatives for both sides confirmed this week, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Principi To Announce Three Veterans Affairs Hospital Closures, Three Openings
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi is expected to announce on Friday that the department will build three new hospitals and 156 outpatient clinics, as well as close three hospitals over the next eight years in response to population shifts and maintenance costs, USA Today reports.
Electronic Medical Records Could Save United States $140 Billion, HHS Secretary Thompson Says
A national electronic medical records system could save the United States at least $140 billion per year, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Thursday at a health information technology summit sponsored by the department, CongressDaily reports.
FDA Rejects Over-the-Counter Status for Emergency Contraceptive
FDA on Thursday rejected Barr Laboratories’ application to sell the emergency contraceptive Plan B over the counter, citing concerns that the company had not proved that teenagers could take the drug safely without doctor supervision, the Washington Post reports.
The Wall Street Journal on Thursday examined the increased number of employers, health plans and government programs that have begun to offer physicians financial incentives to adhere to “evidence-based” guidelines for care, a “controversial wrinkle in the pay-for-quality movement.”
President Bush’s proposal to expand health coverage would cover fewer than 2.5 million uninsured people and would cost $90 billion — “a far more modest approach” than a $653 billion plan to cover 27 million uninsured people proposed by presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), according to a 10-year cost projection analysis released Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.
Assembly Budget Committee Panel Asks Medi-Cal Officials To Close Asset Requirement Loopholes
An Assembly Budget Committee panel on Wednesday asked state officials to “crack down” on seniors with total assets that exceed Medi-Cal eligibility guidelines who are “increasingly exploiting loopholes” in tax laws to qualify for state-funded health care, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HHS Task Force Holds Fifth Meeting on Prescription Drug Reimportation
The HHS Task Force on Drug Importation on Wednesday held a fifth meeting in which state officials and the head of CVS/Pharmacy testified in support of the legalization of reimportation of lower-cost prescription drugs from other nations, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has revoked certification for the neonatology residency program at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, the Los Angeles Times reports.