Latest California Healthline Stories
Saint Agnes, Kaiser Discuss Specialty Care Contract
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Fresno has signed a letter of intent to switch its contract for cardiac care and other specialty services from Community Medical Centers to Saint Agnes Medical Center, the Fresno Bee reports.
Financial Difficulties Forced 23 California Hospitals to Close in Late 1990s, Study Says
Between 1995 and 2000, 23 hospitals in California shut down, largely because of the “unforgiving health care climate,” including low reimbursements from Medicare and private health plans, a nursing shortage, increasing numbers of uninsured patients, and costs from state-mandated seismic retrofitting, according to a new University of California-Berkeley study, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Doctors in Suit Against Managed Care Companies Can Gather Evidence
A federal judge in Miami told attorneys for physicians alleging that eight managed care organizations engaged in racketeering by improperly delaying and denying reimbursements that they may proceed with the discovery phase of the trial, the Bloomberg/Arizona Daily Star reports.
House Approves Spending Blueprint, Medicare Funds
On a near party-line vote of 221-207, the House yesterday passed a budget blueprint “embracing the twin goals of President Bush’s economic agenda: limited spending growth and major tax relief,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
AMA Survey Finds Few Physicians Use Internet in Their Practices
While more physicians are using the Internet for research and personal communications, those who are using online services to manage their practices remain “in the minority,” according to a new AMA survey, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Lawsuits Target Barr-AstraZeneca Pact
The Prescription Access Litigation Project, a group of 17 consumer groups, yesterday filed lawsuits in federal court and seven state courts alleging that drug makers Barr Laboratories and AstraZeneca conspired to inflate the prices of the breast cancer drug tamoxifen, the New York Times reports.
Nurses Call for Legislation to Ease Nationwide Shortage
Rallying on the steps of the Capitol, scores of nurses from the Service Employees International Union yesterday called on Congress to address the nation’s nursing shortage by enacting legislation encouraging nurse recruitment and banning mandatory overtime.
House Subcommittee Debates Medicare Cost Sharing
Medicare’s current cost sharing system for fee-for-service enrollees makes “little sense” for beneficiaries or taxpayers, witnesses told the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health yesterday, CongressDaily/AM reports.
Elder Care Advocate Sues Nine ManorCare Nursing Homes Over Staffing Levels
Nursing home advocate Ila Swan has filed a lawsuit against nine California nursing homes operated by Toledo, Ohio-based ManorCare Inc., alleging that “low nursing staff levels resulted in patients developing severe infections and bedsores,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Berkeley Study Examines Feasibility of Online Patient-Doctor Visits
The University of California-Berkeley has launched a new study to determine whether online consultations between patients and physicians well “lead to fewer actual office visits, or just more headaches for doctors,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.