Latest California Healthline Stories
WellPoint Health Networks To Offer Some Physicians Free Technology To Help Reduce Medical Errors
Thousand Oaks-based health plan WellPoint Health Networks said that it will spend an estimated $30 million to give about 20% of physicians participating in its network either a handheld device to designate patient prescriptions or a computer system to automate claims requests, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Santa Rosa Junior College Expands On-the-Job Nurse Training Program
Santa Rosa Junior College on Tuesday expanded its on-the-job nurse training program to include Healdsburg District Hospital in Healdsburg and Palm Drive Hospital in Sebastopol as part of a program funded by a $10,000 grant from insurer Aetna to help give nursing students on-the-job training at local community hospitals, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Assembly Committee Passes Bill To Ban Inmate Smoking
The Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (AB 384) that would ban smoking for California prison inmates as part of an effort to reduce the cost of inmate health care, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
Pfizer Limits Supplies to Canadian Pharmacies To Help Prevent Prescription Drug Reimportation
In an effort to “choke off” shipments to Canadian Internet pharmacies that sell lower-cost, U.S.-manufactured prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, New York-based Pfizer on Monday sent a letter to Canadian drug retailers outlining a new policy that they must follow to receive drug shipments from the company, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Legislation to cap damages in medical malpractice lawsuits would “do little to hold down health care spending” or eliminate the practice of “defensive medicine,” according to a Congressional Budget Office report released last week, CongressDaily reports.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Approves Recommendations for King/Drew Reform
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved recommendations by Dr. Thomas Garthwaite, director of the county Department of Health Services, to consolidate or restructure clinical services at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center and give the medical center more flexibility to pay nurses at competitive rates, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Eight Democratic Lawmakers Criticize Revisions to HHS Report on U.S. Health Care Disparities
Eight Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday said that HHS “watered down” a report released on Dec. 23 that found racial and ethnic disparities in health care in the United States, Cox News/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Medi-Cal Reimbursement Rate Cut Included in Budget Proposal May Be Illegal, Legislative Analyst Says
In her nonpartisan analysis of the state budget proposal put forth by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill on Tuesday said that the proposal is a “solid starting point” but noted that a provision to reduce Medi-Cal provider reimbursements might be illegal, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Democratic Presidential Candidates Focus on Health Care Issue in 2004 Election Campaigns
Proposals from the nine Democratic presidential candidates to expand health insurance and access to care to more U.S. residents are “setting the stage for one of the starker contrasts with President Bush” in the 2004 election campaign, the New York Times reports.
Volume of Procedures Performed by Hospitals May Not Indicate Quality of Care, Studies Find
Hospitals that perform large numbers of certain procedures may not offer the best care, despite previous research demonstrating a link between procedure volume and mortality and complication rates, according to two studies in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association, the Wall Street Journal reports.