Saturday, July 4, 2009

Health Informatics News

Health Informatics News

Medical bloat 'going to get hit'

Posted:

6/27/2009 © Miami Herald
Financing healthcare reform will likely require Medicare spending cuts in South Florida and other areas of the country where there is bloat -- excessive hospitalization, tests, and frequent referrals to specialists. Bundling services into a package deal for payment is one plan for cost-cutting.

WellCare CEO to leave

Posted:

6/29/2009 © Reuters
Heath Schiesser, CEO of WellCare Health Plans Inc., notified the board on Friday that he will resign as soon as his replacement is found. He took over in January 2008 after the Tampa company was raided by the FBI and other law-enforcement officials in a Medicaid fraud investigation.

Millions of patients gouged?

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
6/26/2009 © Health News Florida
Patients enrolled in popular health plans sponsored by large insurers have been paying more than they really owed for out-of-network treatment for years, according to a Senate committee report. If  it's correct, consumer advocates say, the state should go after it.

Orlando Health using new brain implant

Posted:

6/25/2009 © Orlando Sentinel
Michel Medina Gonzalez, 40, is among the first Parkinson's disease patients to get the newest generation of deep-brain-stimulation implants. Neurosurgeons at Orlando Health did the procedure earlier this month.

USF-Moffitt center receives $6 million grant

Posted:

6/24/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center will use a $6 million, five-year federal grant to study why black patients do so much worse than whites with similar kinds of disease. Meanwhile, Polk health educators are taking the HIV/AIDS message to minority groups at beauty salons, churches, wherever they are likely to listen, The Ledger reports.

Dr. DUI: This time, I'll make it

Posted:

..in jail
...before
By Maya Bell
6/24/2009 © Health News Florida
Now that he has a green light from the state, dermatologist Hal Ridgway hopes to be back in practice in a month or two, with his bipolar disorder, drinking problem and history of relapses under control. As an old friend put it: “Doctors get sick, too, and as long as he treats his disease, it will be OK.’’ 

Fixing the 'revolving door'

Posted:

By David Gulliver
6/23/2009 © Health News Florida
A decade ago, Sarasota Memorial created a program that cut readmission rates for congestive heart failure patients to a tiny fraction of what they had been, and saved money in the process. Other hospitals could do it, too. But data show most of them haven't. (Last in a series.)

Hospital system sues foundation

Posted:

6/20/2009 © Naples Daily News
NCH Healthcare System, which traditionally holds seats on the board of a benefactor, the Telford Foundation, is suing to get its president and CEO on the board.

Doctor with 6 DUIs returns

Posted:

By Maya Bell and Carol Gentry
6/19/2009 © Health News Florida 
Hal Ridgway, 58, a Palm Beach County dermatologist who racked up six drunken-driving arrests and served two prison terms has persuaded state health authorities that he can stay sober and safely treat patients again. His attorney calls him the "poster boy for rehabilitation."

Latest scam is oxygen concentrators

Posted:

6/19/2009 © Miami Herald
State investigators announced Thursday a sweep of 12 medical supply companies suspected of billing Medicaid for oxygen concentrators that weren't needed. They also visited 120 patients, they said, and are looking at whether some received kickbacks from the suppliers.

Where are Floridians in D.C. action?

Posted:

Brown-Waite
6/18/2009 Kaiser Health News
A Senate committee began the long slog on health reform Wednesday, but no Floridians are on that panel.  Where are they? On TV. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite touted the GOP plan, which was announced without details,  on Youtube. Meanwhile, CNN interviewed Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has had seven surgeries for cancer, about her insurance coverage.

Docs on drinking: OK, but just a glass

Posted:

6/18/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
Is moderate alcohol intake healthy? Nagi Kumar, director of nutrition research at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, tells patients to enjoy a glass of wine a day, the redder the better.  

Bartering for health care on the rise

Posted:

6/17/2009 © Kaiser Health News
Bartering for health services has provided a temporary safety net for the uninsured and underinsured. David Mroz, an independent broker based in Broward County and listed on a directory at Itex Corp., said he has many Florida doctors, dentists and chiropractors on the list. Those who barter for services worth at least $600 a year have to pay tax.

Doctors debate health overhaul

Posted:

6/16/2009 © Fort Myers News-Press
Lee County physicians applaud President Obama's push for an overhaul of health care, but want protection from malpractice suits to help them rein in excessive tests and treatments.  On the other coast, as Florida Today reports, doctors debate the idea of a public plan.

3 women doctors suing VA hospital

Posted:

6/15/2009 St. Petersburg Times
Four Bay Pines VA Medical Center employees, including three doctors, accuse executives of retaliating against them for filing gender-discrimination claims. The federal-court trial is scheduled to open today.

Hospital tracks down 'frequent fliers'

Posted:

By Bill Hirschman
6/12/2009 © Health News Florida
A hospital system in Broward got tired of seeing the same expensive patients cycling through its emergency room instead of getting preventive care in a lower-cost clinic. So the staff set out to find those patients -- even if meant going door to door.

Crist signs controversial PPO bill

Posted:

06/11/2009 © Tallahassee Democrat
Gov. Charlie Crist sided with doctors and signed a hotly debated health insurance bill (SB 1122) that had been opposed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield and some consumer advocates. He said it will improve access to care as well as payment for doctors. He also signed into law a kidney transplant bill.

Model: Green Bay, the anti-Miami

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Washington Post 
Today, President Obama visits Green Bay, Wis., one of the highest-value health communities in the nation. There, Medicare patients' health is at least as good as in Miami but costs dramatically less.

UM tests online link for diabetics

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Miami Herald
If low-income diabetics frequently communicate with nurses online, will they stay healthier? Microsoft and the University of Miami are testing the theory on 25 patients from Overtown.

State capital's trauma center official

Posted:

6/11/2009 © Tallahassee Democrat
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare will be designated as a Level II trauma center on July 1. Before the facility gained provisional trauma status last year, Tallahassee was the only urban area in Florida not served by a trauma center.

Shands forms unusual partnership

Posted:

6/8/2009 © Gainesville Sun
Shands HealthCare and Solantic are partnering to open a Gainesville medical clinic. That puts the University of Florida's teaching hospital system in business with Rick Scott, who has become the most visible opponent of national health reform (see Health News Florida's article on Scott).

''Natural'' cures on rise, can kill

Posted:

6/8/2009 © AP/Bradenton Herald
Unproven alternative treatments are making a comeback, offering patients with deadly diseases hope with outlandish claims of cures. Instead, they rob the patient of money and precious time.

Hospitals cut back to stay afloat

Posted:

6/6/2009 © Miami Herald
Hospitals, once considered recession-proof, are now suffering economically, say speakers at the annual South Florida Healthcare Summit. But some for-profit hospitals are doing surprisingly well.

Decoding cancer gene to help patients today

Posted:

6/7/2009 © St. Petersburg Times
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa is using its bank of cancer samples to decode the unique genetic makeup of cancer genes. Researchers hope to use their findings to target the right treatments for patients.

Board cracks down on pain doctors

Posted:

6/5/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Florida Board of Medicine leveled stricter-than-usual penalties today against doctors found to have doled out narcotic painkillers excessively or improperly. A bill that would give the board more authority over rogue pain clinics awaits action from the governor.

Man shot in head comes out of coma

Posted:

6/4/2009 © Northwest Florida Daily News
Rion Tilton, 22, who has been unconscious for more than a week after being shot in the head, surprised his doctors by coming out of his coma.

Joint replacement? Consider this

Posted:

By Carol Gentry and David Gulliver
6/4/2009 Health News Florida 
Patients at some Florida hospitals were much more likely to have an unexpected return following knee- or hip-replacement surgery last year than those who had the procedure at other hospitals, new state data show. These potentially preventable readmissions cost Floridians a bundle. Special report: Florida hospitals' "revolving door syndrome, " Part 2.

Doctor agrees not to see patients

Posted:

5/29/2009 © Bradenton Herald
Internist C.G. Rao, arrested on charges of sexually molesting five patients and accused of other incidents that now are beyond the statute of limitations, has agreed not to see patients while his legal cases are pending. Bail was set at $20,000.

Reporting law ignored, group says

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
5/28/2009 © Health News Florida
Nearly half of the state's hospitals have never reported a single incident of physician discipline to a databank set up to protect patients from questionable doctors, a consumer group reported Wednesday. Earlier this year, the same group cited Florida's Board of Medicine as particularly weak.

Doctors' foes unveil poll

Posted:

 By Christine Jordan Sexton
5/28/2009 Health News Florida
Opponents of a bill backed by Florida’s doctors released a poll today that contends Floridians are on their side of the fight. But the Florida Medical Association dismissed the results, saying the poll questions were "skewed to get the answers they wanted."

Pro-doctors' bill draws legal question

Posted:

Shaw

 By Christine Jordan Sexton
5/27/2009 © Health News Florida 
The heat keeps rising over a bill pushed by doctors that would force insurers to change the way they pay. An attorney says it may be unconstitutional, and state Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw urges the governor to veto. But the docs plan TV ads.

Ban-OxyContin petition launched

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
5/22/2009 © Health News Florida 
An  online petition to ban the painkiller OxyContin, posted two weeks ago in Tampa, has attracted more than 2,000 signatures and is headed for a national audience at an FDA meeting next week. Doctors who treat pain patients view the petition as "very dangerous."

Veto fight heats up on doctors' pay

Posted:

By Christine Jordan Sexton 
and Carol Gentry
5/14/2009 © Health News Florida
Gov. Charlie Crist's mailbag is full of letters and e-mails about an insurance bill that hasn't even arrived at his office yet. Consumer groups seek a veto, while doctors' groups implore Crist to sign it. The finger-pointing has become downright personal for at least one consumer advocate.

When these docs talk, others listen

Posted:

5/14/2009 © USA Today
Qforma, a New Mexico firm that combs databases to identify opinion leaders in the medical field, includes 364 Florida doctors on the list. Find out who's on it.

Dr. pleads guilty in huge theft

Posted:

 5/8/2009 © Miami Herald
Carmen Lourdes del Cueto, a Miami physician who pleaded guilty in March to a $10 million Medicare scam, gave the same plea Thursday to a separate $19.5 million theft she carried out with four other doctors and the owner of an HIV infusion clinic.

Mental health bill moving

Posted:

4/14/2009 From combined sources
A bill called “the most important mental health bill” in 30 years passed a House panel on Monday and will come before a key Senate committee on Wednesday. The bill would divert many of the state’s 70,000 mental patients from prisons to treatment. Its only opposition is the cash-strapped budget. 

FL Medicaid plans' scores low

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
4/3/2009 © Health News Florida 
Florida pays managed-care plans $2.5 billion a year to make sure Medicaid patients in the state get proper preventive care and treatment. New data from 2008 show Florida plans' performance fell far below the national average, and near the bottom in care for infants, pregnant women and the mentally ill.

Surgeon takes flight to cut costs

Posted:

By Carol Gentry
4/2/2009 © Health News Florida
Some patients travel to get a price break, but how many take their surgeons with them? Last month, Miami-area surgeon Arnon Krongrad flew to Trinidad with one of his prostate cancer patients so that the uninsured man could afford the procedure he wanted.

New Medicaid pilot in the works?

Posted:

3/30/2009 © Florida Health News
Medicaid Reform could branch off in a new direction under a proposal that could emerge from a House committee this week. It would set up "medical homes" for patients using community health centers, based on the famed Mayo Clinic model of having a whole team consulting on a patient's needs in one site.

Doctors still push PSA screening

Posted:

3/27/2009 © Palm Beach Post
Studies have found little benefit to the PSA blood test used to screen for prostate cancer, yet doctors still push it. Patients, too.
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