Latest California Healthline Stories
Will Firms Cut Jobs — or Benefits — Under ACA? Weighing the Evidence
Questions continue to swirl about the Affordable Care Act’s effect on employment and health coverage, with critics suggesting that the law will lead to more part-time hiring and supporters arguing that the concerns are overblown.
How Wal-Mart May Have Just Changed the Game on Health Care
Wal-Mart last week announced a new bundled payment plan with six leading hospitals, which was immediately overshadowed by the presidential race. But the groundbreaking plan — the latest major health care development in the private sector in recent weeks — holds tremendous potential to change U.S. health care.
Study: Nurse Ratio Law Has Mixed Results on Quality of Care
California’s nurse staffing law has had mixed results on quality of care, according to a new study. The California Nurses Association, the driving force behind the 2004 law, said the study’s findings were not sufficient to support the authors’ conclusions.
UC-San Diego Program Focuses on Designing Medical Devices
A new master’s degree program at UC-San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering is designed to help working engineers meet the evolving demands of one of San Diego’s fastest-growing industries — medical device design and manufacturing.
Primary Care Direct Model: ‘Neither Insurance nor Health Plan’
Accessible, high-quality primary care is a mantra of the Affordable Care Act, which promotes the development of patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations. A new direct primary care model attempting to deliver all of those things is being vetted in California, albeit slowly.
Homegrown Program Addresses Inland Empire Doc Shortage
A training program through UC-Riverside’s School of Medicine hopes to steer local high school and college students onto paths that will lead them to become doctors in the Inland Empire, the region experiencing the worst shortage of primary care physicians in California.
Health for Sale as Retail Clinics Expand in California
The retail clinic sector is experiencing healthy growth in Los Angeles and could grow throughout the state as health care reform comes into play, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation.
Outsourcing May Grow as Health System Evolves
The health care industry, no stranger to outsourcing, may be looking for outside help more often and with a wider lens as the health care delivery system evolves.
Reform Talk Moving From Rhetoric to Bottom Line in Business Community
A new report based on a statewide “listening tour” indicates small business owners in the state are eager to move beyond political and legal wrangling and start figuring out what health reform will mean for the bottom line.
Report: Grim Future for U.S. Docs; Outlook Brighter in California
Many physicians in California have a brighter outlook for the future of practicing medicine than the grim predictions in a national report released last week by The Physicians Foundation.