Latest California Healthline Stories
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday unanimously upheld a lower court ruling prohibiting Los Angeles County from eliminating 100 hospital beds and other services for people with disabilities at County-USC Medical Center, and the court upheld its own ruling to maintain an injunction preventing the closure of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports.
President Bush Reiterates Electronic Medical Records Plan in Baltimore
At the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center Tuesday, President Bush reiterated an initiative he promoted Monday in Minnesota, calling for the creation of a nationwide electronic medical records system in the next 10 years, as well as an HHS national health information technology office, USA Today reports.
President Bush Approves New Bioterrorism Preparedness Directive
President Bush on April 21 approved a directive that “aims to improve coordination among” offices and agencies in preventing a bioterrorist attack, the New York Times reports.
New York Times Looks at Patient-Physician Communication Via E-Mail
The New York Times on Tuesday examined physicians’ increasing use of e-mail to receive and answer patients’ questions and the billing practices some doctors and insurers are using for such consultations.
Riverside Community Hospital has launched a $600,000 marketing campaign designed to recruit nurses from neighboring communities by highlighting Riverside’s comparatively low housing costs, the Orange County Register reports.
Federal Task Force Holds Fourth Meeting on Reimportation of Prescription Drugs
The Canadian pharmacy system cannot support the “huge demand for cheaper drugs” from U.S. residents, Canadian pharmacy groups testified on Tuesday at the fourth meeting of the federal Task Force on Drug Importation, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.
Consumer advocacy group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights on Monday filed a lawsuit against Woodland Hills-based Health Net alleging that the insurer applied a “more restrictive definition of medical necessity” that restricted the type and quantity of services available to members seeking mental health treatment, the Los Angeles Times reports.
SEIU Establishes Priorities for Hospital Contract Negotiations This Year
The San Francisco Chronicle on Tuesday looked at the Service Employees International Union’s priorities for negotiating contracts for hospital workers this year.
Proposed Rule Would Ban Use of Medical Records in Loan Decisions
Five federal agencies have jointly drafted a proposed rule under which banks and other financial institutions could not take into account the medical records of applicants when they decide whether to approve loans, the New York Times reports.
Tenet Expects To Report Loss for First Quarter
Officials for Tenet Healthcare, the nation’s second-largest private hospital chain, on Tuesday reported that the company expects to post a loss of $117 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $20 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier, the Los Angeles Times reports.