Latest California Healthline Stories
Arson Suspected in Fire at Oakland Needle-Exchange Program
A New Year’s Eve three-alarm fire that destroyed needle-exchange program facilities in the Fruitvale district of Oakland appears to have been caused by arson, according to an Oakland fire official.
CareScience to Use Intel IAS in Care Data Exchange Program
The online care management solutions company CareScience Inc. is integrating Intel Internet Authentication Services into its Care Data Exchange program, which enables health care organizations to exchange clinical information online. The program will use Intel IAS to make online transactions more secure.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. Settles Billing Case for $13M
Laboratory operator Quest Diagnostics Inc. agreed yesterday to pay $13.1 million to settle allegations that its subsidiary, the Nichols Institute, which operated in California, Alaska, Oregon, Texas and Washington, “defrauded” federal health programs through inflated billings, the AP/Orange County Register report
Study Finds Diet, Sodium Both Help Lower Blood Pressure
A low-salt diet containing fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products can lower blood pressure “just as medicine does,” according to a new study appearing in today’s New England Journal of Medicine.
HHS Issues Medicare ‘Self-Referral’ Final Rule
Under new Medicare rules issued yesterday by HHS, doctors may not refer Medicare patients to laboratories, suppliers, home health agencies and other companies with which they maintain a financial relationship, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Disenchanted Doctors Changing Office Visits
With many patients “fed up” with long waits for doctors’ appointments, “jammed” waiting rooms and “rushed” visits, some physicians — “annoyed themselves” — have launched a movement to “placat[e]” patients by improving the “age-old and often disheartening” experience of visiting the doctor’s office, the New York Times reports.
Medicare’s Rising Costs Will Affect Most ‘Vulnerable’
Out-of-pocket health care costs for Medicare beneficiaries will rise substantially faster than the incomes of elderly Americans over the next quarter-century, according to a new Urban Institute report released yesterday.
Bush Nominates a Pharmaceutical Executive to Head OMB
President-elect Bush has nominated Eli Lilly & Co. corporate vice president Mitchell Daniels — a “powerful healthcare industry executive” — to head the Office of Management and Budget, the Wall Street Journal reports.
New Hospitals Investing in Wireless Technology
The demand for wireless computer devices in the health care industry is likely to increase “dramatically,” according to a report from the banking firm W.R. Hambrecht & Co.
Blue Cross and Sutter Health Contract Negotiations ‘Collapse’
Contract negotiations between Sutter Health and California Care, the Blue Cross HMO, have “collapsed,” forcing several thousand Northern Californians wishing to receive care at Sutter hospitals to switch medical groups, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.