Latest California Healthline Stories
Los Angeles Supervisors Consider Handing Control of Health Department to ‘Medical Professionals’
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors yesterday asked its chief administrative office to examine “alternative ways” to run the county’s troubled health department, including the possibility — “long resisted” by the board — of supervisors ceding control of the agency to medical professionals, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Pacific Business Group on Health Surveys Hospitals’ Medical Error Reduction Efforts
The Pacific Business Group on Health, a not-for-profit consortium of health care purchasers, is asking health plans to complete a survey on the “medical error reduction efforts” of hospitals they work with, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Bush to Offer Medicare Pharmacy Discount Plan
The White House is expected to unveil a plan on Thursday that would provide pharmacy discount cards to Medicare beneficiaries by the beginning of next year, the Washington Post reports.
Advocates Push for Advanced Warning of Drug Shortages
Production problems and difficulty in obtaining raw materials are creating a shortage of more than a dozen medications, including antibiotics and surgical anesthetics, USA Today reports.
Addressing Blue Cross of California’s decision to offer bonuses to doctors based on patient satisfaction rather than cutting costs, a Los Angeles Times editorial states, “When it’s news that a health care provider rediscovers that its first responsibility is patients’ welfare, that shows just how far off course the practice of medicine has been dragged.”
Bush Delays Health Plan Appeals Rule
The Bush administration on Monday postponed the implementation of a proposed rule that would give patients additional time to appeal decisions made by health plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the AP/Washington Post reports.
Thompson Warns of Drug Reimportation Safety Concerns
The Bush administration said Tuesday that the FDA “cannot guarantee the safety” of reimported prescription drugs, “dealing a second blow” to a law passed last year to help Americans purchase discounted medicines, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.
Kaiser Family Foundation Launches Comprehensive Health Policy Resource Site
The Kaiser Family Foundation today launched a new online resource, State Health Facts Online at http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org, that provides comprehensive and current health policy information on all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Misinformation, Lack of Access to Care Associated with Higher Rates of Diabetes Among Latino Elderly
Lack of access to care and poor information are linked to a higher rate of diabetes among elderly Latinos in Los Angeles County, according to a UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture study released yesterday.
Health Affairs Looks at California Physician Groups and Capitation Payments
The new issue of Health Affairs features four studies examining physician groups in California and the effect of capitation rates.