Latest California Healthline Stories
Physician Group Rejects HMO, IPA Models
The Traditional Practice Alliance, a six-year-old, Sacramento-based physicians’ organization, has rejected HMOs and IPAs in favor of a system that instead draws its business from fee-for-service and self-paying patients, American Medical News reports.
Would Ashcroft Halt Treatment Efforts for Drug Offenders?
With Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft nearing confirmation, “front lin[e]” supporters of drug courts, which underscore treatment over incarceration for drug offenders, worry that the former Missouri senator’s “hard line” stance on drug policy could “threaten” their “nascent” programs, Salon.com reports.
Average Physician Office Visit Time Not Shortened, Study Says
“[D]ebunking” the notion that managed care pressures doctors to spend “less time with patients than they did 10 years ago,” a Rutgers University study released today says that doctors now are spending between one and two minutes more with patients than they did in 1989, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
Wide Disparity in Organ Procurement Procedures
The nation’s 61 organ procurement organizations differ “wide[ly]” in deciding whether to remove an organ from a deceased person for transplant, a new National Institutes of Health study has found.
Kaiser ‘Staff Model’ HMO Ranks High in Patient Survey
Integrated models of health plans tend to generate fewer complaints from members, according to a survey prepared by the School of Public Health at the University of California-Berkeley.
Black Men Have Lower Mortality than Whites in Veterans Hospitals
African-American men at Veterans Affairs hospitals have “significantly lower” mortality rates than white men, according to a new study published in today’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
HCFA May Soon End Anesthesia Supervision Rule for Nurses
HCFA may soon lift a federal rule that requires nurse anesthetists to be under physician supervision when treating Medicare patients, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Washington Post, ‘NewsHour’ Interviews Shalala
In an exit interview with the Washington Post today, outgoing HHS Secretary Donna Shalala stressed the importance of bipartisan and bureaucratic teamwork in governing and managing the department.
SEIU Report Critical of CHW, Sutter ‘Corporate Actions’
The not-for-profit hospital systems Catholic Healthcare West and Sutter Health have acted like “for-profit companies” at the expense of community hospitals and charity care, according to a new report commissioned by Service Employees International Union Locals 250 and 399.
Drkoop.com Heads to California
Drkoop.com is moving its headquarters from Austin, Texas, to Santa Monica, where the company hopes to concentrate on “creating alliances” and “new revenue streams,” LocalBusiness.com/Austin American-Statesman reports.