Latest California Healthline Stories
California Health Care Personnel Roundup for July 2015
Maria Bonneville, Ramona Doyle and Maria Millan have been appointed to leadership roles at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Paul Viviano is leaving his positions as CEO of the UC-San Diego Health System and associate vice chancellor of UCSD Health Sciences to become president and CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Safety-Net Hospitals Look To Adopt Toyota’s Lean Model
Public hospitals, such as Los Angeles County Harbor-UCLA Hospital, are adapting carmaker Toyota’s production system, known as the lean philosophy, to the way they store equipment, schedule surgeries and discharge patients. While some medical professionals are skeptical that the model will work in health care, others say hospitals already have found that using Toyota’s strategy can improve care quality and safety for patients. Kaiser Health News/KQED’s “State of Health.”
Sanders Stumps for Single-Payer Health Care System
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said “the time has come” for a “single-payer, national health care program” and that he would introduce a bill to establish such a system “in the very near future.” Sanders said a single-payer health care system would be cost-effective and would allow Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers, which currently is prohibited. Washington Post.
Increased Competition on HealthCare.gov Helped Constrain Premiums
A new HHS report shows the federal health insurance exchange had a wider range of health plan options in 2015 than it did in 2014, which helped keep premium cost growth low. Meanwhile, some observers question the potential effects recently proposed health insurance mergers could have on market competition going forward. Washington Post et al.
CVS Health, IBM Partner To Boost Chronic Disease Care Management
CVS Health and IBM have teamed up to create a system that leverages IBM’s Watson technology to help improve care management for patients with chronic diseases. The companies are planning to create a system that can predict health declines, prevent costly and unnecessary interventions and provide more personalized care. USA Today, Washington Post‘s “To Your Health.”
Covered California, Medi-Cal Renewal Rates High, Report Finds
A new state report finds that 92% of the 1.1 million Covered California enrollees who were eligible to renew their coverage in the last quarter of 2014 opted to do so. Meanwhile, 82% of the three million California Medicaid beneficiaries whose plans were up for renewal continued with the coverage. HealthyCal, California HealthCare Foundation brief.
Calif. Facilities Receive Mixed Ratings on Hospital-Acquired Conditions
This week, Consumer Reports unveiled new ratings on how nearly 3,000 hospitals fared at preventing hospital-acquired conditions. Oak Valley Hospital District received the highest safety score — 70 out of 100 — among California hospitals, while Adventist Medical Center in Hanford received a 23, the lowest score. Los Angeles Times et al.
Sacramento-Based Nursing Home Operator Fined $100K, Cited Over Patient Death
The California Department of Public Health has levied a $100,000 fine against Sacramento-based Crestwood Behavioral Health, which operates inpatient mental health and skilled nursing facilities throughout the state. In addition, the company was given the most severe citation under California law for infractions that led to the death of a resident at Crestwood Manor, a Fremont skilled nursing home, about one year ago. San Jose Mercury News
This week, the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology announced an affiliation agreement with the UC-San Diego Health System, which formalizes a decades-old informal relationship between the two organizations. The multi-year agreement will enable joint facility appointments, strengthen collaborations between the organizations and promote closer integration of basic immunology research and clinical medicine to accelerate the development of treatments for immune system diseases. San Diego Business Journal.
UC-San Francisco’s Proposed $188M Research Center Gets Preliminary Approvals
UC-San Francisco has received preliminary approvals from the University of California’s Board of Regents and City Hall to create a new $188 million research center on the San Francisco General Hospital campus. The project is one of three “big-bucks” projects at the university, which could total $600 million in construction work between 2016 and 2019. San Francisco Business Times.