Latest California Healthline Stories
IOM Report Calls on Government To Create Unified Health Quality Standards, Reward Providers
Government health programs should establish unified health quality standards and should reward high-quality health care by paying the best doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and HMOs higher fees and bonuses, according to a new Institute of Medicine report, the New York Times reports.
Four Los Angeles County School-Based Clinics To Reopen After $200,000 Donation
The L.A. Care Health Plan, which oversees state and federal government-funded HMOs that serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries in Los Angeles County, plans to donate $200,000 to “temporarily reopen” four school-based health clinics in the county, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Federal Advisory Committee To Consider Embryos ‘Human Subjects’ in Research
The Bush administration has directed a federal advisory committee that addresses the safety of human medical research subjects to consider embryos “‘human subjects’ whose welfare should be considered along with that of fetuses, children and adults,” the Washington Post reports.
Public Health Officials Target Environmentally Induced Diseases at Boston Conference
Public health officials from 15 cities and counties across the nation gathered in Boston on Monday to discuss ways to “better understand” and “better combat” environmental changes that have contributed to diseases such as asthma and West Nile virus, the Boston Globe reports.
USA Today Examines Bookkeeping ‘Shenanigans’ at Health Care Companies
While the recent focus on “accounting chicanery” has centered on the “most egregious cases,” such as Enron and WorldCom, health care companies are “rife with bookkeeping land mines, too,” USA Today reports.
To help cover a budget deficit in Los Angeles County’s health department, the Board of Supervisors yesterday voted 4-1 to close Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey and cut the number of beds at County-USC Medical Center from 745 to 695, the Los Angeles Times reports.
HMOs To Reward Physicians for Performance, Quality of Care
Beginning in 2004, six of the state’s largest HMOs will award up to $150 million per year in bonuses to “top-performing” doctors groups under the Pay for Performance initiative, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Office of the Patient Advocate Releases HMO Consumer Guide
The Office of the Patient Advocate yesterday released California’s first HMO consumer guide, designed to help residents navigate the “often bewildering world” of HMOs, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Appeals Court Rules That Feds Cannot Revoke Licenses of Doctors Recommending Marijuana to Patients
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco yesterday unanimously voted that the federal government may not investigate or revoke the licenses of physicians who recommend marijuana use to sick patients, including patients with AIDS or cancer, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sacramento County To Launch Program To Help Small Business Employees Purchase Health Insurance
Sacramento County on Friday will launch a two-year program that uses tobacco settlement funds to subsidize health insurance premiums for small business employees, the Sacramento Bee reports.