New hospital clinic in Michigan seeks to reduce traffic to ER; Minneapolis doctors and hospital merge operations

The Grand Rapids clinic is reaching out to people who have been to the hospital's emergency department at least 10 times in the past year.

Detroit Free Press: Spectrum Health Clinic To Treat Those Who Overuse Emergency Rooms
In what is believed to be a ground-breaking program to resolve a national problem, a Grand Rapids hospital system announced Tuesday the creation of a new clinic to screen and treat patients who overuse area emergency departments. Spectrum Health has identified 912 patients who used its emergency department at least 10 times in the last year and has begun calling them to set up appointments at its new Spectrum Health Medical Group Center for Integrative Medicine. Many of the patients have mental, substance abuse and chronic health problems; 93 percent are insured, mostly through Medicare and Medicaid (Anstett, 11/30).

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Hennepin County Board Approved HCMC Merger
After 30 years as separate organizations, Hennepin County Medical Center and its doctors soon will be working under the same operational umbrella, a move expected to save millions of dollars. The Hennepin County Board on Tuesday approved a complicated merger of HCMC and Hennepin Faculty Associates, the independent physicians' group, that will cut costs and pave the way for a new focus on preventive care (Duchschere, 11/29).

In other local hospital news, a California facility has a good financial report and another hospital in Maryland is beginning a community assessment:

Sacramento Bee: UCD Med Center Logs 70% Jump In Income
University of California, Davis, Medical Center posted a 70 percent jump in income in 2011, even as patient visits and hospital stays fell slightly, according to financial statements released this week. ... UC Davis officials attribute the sharp income increase in part to $16.8 million in managed-care payments from insurers and another $26.3 million from a Medi-Cal incentive pool for public hospitals (Smith, 11/30).

The Baltimore Sun: Union Memorial Hospital Starts Federally Mandated Community Health Assessments
Union Memorial Hospital is surveying area residents ... as part of a new federal mandate for community health assessments. The hospital, which is owned by MedStar Health, has done its own assessments voluntarily in the past. But, beginning this year, hospitals that accept Medicare or Medicaid must conduct a standard health assessment every three years, according to Union Memorial and MedStar officials (Perl, 11/30).