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Hospitals experiment with new marketing, but critics say money should be spent on health care

Hospital marketing can be an effective way to attract doctors and new patients, but some critics say hospitals should spend the money on health care instead.

19 May 2010

Physicians opting out of some insurance create two-tiered medical system

The Fiscal Times: "A small but growing number of physicians are ... abandoning traditional insurance-based practice to offer VIP treatment, including more time with patients, in return for upfront fees. In one common setup, often called concierge or retainer-based medicine, a primary care doctor charges an annual fee ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 just to get in the door.

19 May 2010

Former NIH chief Varmus to head National Cancer Institute

The New York Times: "Dr. Harold E. Varmus, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist and former director of the National Institutes of Health, will become director of the National Cancer Institute, the White House announced Monday. President Obama selected Dr. Varmus, who is now president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, after a lengthy search. Dr. Varmus is expected to shake up the much-criticized federal cancer program" (Pear, 5/17).

19 May 2010

Massachusetts insurers blame caps on rate increases for large losses

Four of Massachusetts largest health insurers posted first-quarter losses with three blaming Gov. Deval Patrick's rate increase caps for the bulk of the financial hit that totaled more than $150 million.

19 May 2010

Insuring your health: New health law throws lifeline to 'uninsurables'

In this new KHN consumer column, produced in collaboration with The Washington Post, Michelle Andrews writes about high-risk pools: "If you're sick - or have ever been sick - and can't get insurance, the new health-care law promises fast relief: access to guaranteed coverage through a special federally funded insurance program starting in July.

19 May 2010

Market for telehealth and home health monitoring to grow up to $7.7 billion by 2012: Survey

AMERICAN TELEMEDICINE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING - Health care delivery in the United States will undergo dramatic changes over the next 10 years through the adoption of telehealth, according to a national survey of health care and information technology professionals sponsored by Intel Corporation.

19 May 2010

Minn. budget deal postpones key Medicaid decision

Minnesota's Democratic-controlled legislature ended a budget standoff Monday with Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty that focused on an impasse over Medicaid policy, The Wall Street Journal reports.

19 May 2010

Hospital tries 'speed dating' to attract doctors, patients

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jenny Gold, working in collaboration with NPR, reports on a new way for patients to find physicians: "It's Tuesday afternoon, and time for speed dating to begin - at a local hospital near Dallas.

19 May 2010

PCMA releases statement on AARP's report on price increase in brand name prescriptions

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association released the following statement on a new report from AARP that found that the price of brand name prescriptions most widely used by Medicare beneficiaries increased by 9.7 percent in the 12 months ending with March 2010 and was much higher than the rate of increase observed during any of the prior eight years

19 May 2010

Health law already affecting consumers, insurers, brokers

The New York Times profiles one man's current insurance dilemma, one which is not likely to happen in the future under the new health law: "Ever since Thomas DeLorenzo was accepted to three law schools outside his home state of California, he has spent entire days on the phone with health insurers in other states, compiling information that he enters on a giant spreadsheet." DeLorenzo, "who has AIDS, will lose his health coverage in California if he moves out of state.

19 May 2010

States combat health costs, workforce and safety issues

"The Massachusetts Senate is weighing a bill aimed at curbing soaring health care costs for individuals and small businesses. Senate President Therese Murray says the bill will ease market instability, smooth out annual fluctuations in premiums and require insurers [to] offer affordable small business plans" (5/18).

19 May 2010

AARP: Cost of brand name drugs rose 9.7% last year

"The AARP says that manufacturer prices for brand-name prescription drugs commonly used by people on Medicare rose 9.7% for the year ending in March — the biggest annual jump since the group started tracking prices in 2002," The Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports.

19 May 2010

To sell plan, White House officials focus on four key aspects of health reform

White House officials eager to sell the most popular aspects of the health reform law are focusing on four areas to gain votes and popularity for key lawmakers ahead of November's midterm elections.

19 May 2010

Federal health IT investments get cautious reception

The federal government is investing tens of billions of dollars in health information technology, but the medical groups that stand to benefit from the money are less enthusiastic than their government benefactors, arguing that the push is "too much, too soon," Politico reports.

19 May 2010

Four deaths while waiting in the emergency spur new hospital construction

After the four recent deaths of patients in the emergency department there is a mass attempt to speed up the construction of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in south-east Queensland.

18 May 2010

Higher risk of deaths at public hospitals compared to private: Report

In a new and most extensive national survey conducted in Australia, it has been found that patients in public hospitals are more likely to die there than their counterparts in private hospitals.

18 May 2010

Taking the final step from the bench to the hospital or clinic bedside

A new Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Center for Aging Research (IUCAR) study provides effective strategies to help hospital systems, physicians and other care providers to overcome end zone hurdles and actually take evidence-based research to the patient’s hospital or clinic bedside.

18 May 2010

Taking the final step from the bench to the hospital or clinic bedside

18 May 2010

Baptist Health System implements eGuardian eICU Program from Philips VISICU

Baptist Health System completes final steps to become the first in South Central Texas to implement an eICU® program designed to improve critical care delivery and save lives. "eGuardian" utilizes the eICU® Program from Philips VISICU, that combines early warning software and remote monitoring to connect off-site critical care physicians and nurses to ICU patients around the clock.

18 May 2010

Varian Medical Systems launches fully-integrated ProBeam proton therapy system at 2010 PT-COG

Varian Medical Systems is introducing the fully-integrated ProBeam™ proton therapy system at the 2010 Particle Therapy Co-operative Group (PT-COG) meeting here this week. The ProBeam system incorporates imaging, gating, robotic patient positioning, treatment planning and oncology information software to enhance treatment quality for patients and workflow efficiency for clinicians.

18 May 2010