HealthLeaders Media Stories – 2009
Note: Many if not most of these links no longer work. However, I’ve found that a Google search for the headline turns up the piece. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Dec. 30 • Hoops for Hope is a Slam Dunk for Rural Women’s Health
Dec. 28 • 10 Phrases That Became Part of the Healthcare Lexicon in 2009
! Dec. 23 • The Five Best Things and Five Worst Things About Healthcare in 2009
! Dec. 22 • ED Wait Times Touted Online, But Docs Point to a Dangerous Trend
! Dec. 21 • Hundreds of Cancer Programs Seek New Breast Center Accreditation
! Dec. 21 • Autism Report Should Send Message to Pediatricians, Says Expert
! Dec. 8 • 20 People Who Make Healthcare Better
! Dec. 18 • Top 10 Issues Facing Healthcare in 2010
Dec. 18 • Don’t Use Texas as Model for Tort Reform, Advocacy Group Warns
! Dec. 17 • Doctor-owned Hospitals Worried Reform Will Cripple Them
! Dec. 17 • Number of Uninsured Americans Rose in First Six Months of 2009
! Dec. 16 • How a Small Oklahoma Town Reduced Costs Through Patient Literacy
Dec. 16 • Native Americans Four Times More Vulnerable to H1N1 Death, Says CDC
! Dec. 15 • MRSA Cases in California Skyrocket
Dec. 9 • Providers Should Get Used To Hand Hygiene Demands
! Dec. 7 • CDC Video Urges Patients to Insist They Witness Provider Hand-washing
Dec. 4 • Deleting Medicare Consult Code Could Hurt Patients, Say Doctors
! Dec. 4 • Inspector General Saved Billions in Healthcare This Year
! Dec. 3 • Do Not Look to Military Health System as Universal Model, Says Report
! Dec. 3 • 10 Most Hazardous Technologies in Healthcare
! Dec. 2 • Learning From Our Mistakes 10 Years After To Err Is Human
! Dec. 2 • Are Hospitals Illegally Charging the Uninsured Too Much?
! Dec. 2 • Catholic Investors Want Health Companies to Disclose Executive Pay
! Dec. 1 • AHA: Burden of Undercompensated Care Continues To Climb
! Nov. 30 • Cedars-Sinai Caused Immediate Jeopardy in CT Scanner Case, Say State Officials
! Nov. 30 • 10 Years After To Err is Human: Are Hospitals Safer?
! Nov. 30 • CDC Sees Spike in Severe Pneumococcal Disease
! Nov. 25 • 10 Reasons Health Providers Give Thanks
! Nov. 25 • CDC Warns Community-acquired MRSA Threat is Growing
Nov. 25 • GAO Finds Problems with CMS’ Contract Controls
! Nov. 24 • Study: Burned Out, Depressed Surgeons More Likely to Make Major Medical Mistakes
Nov. 24 • Four Health Leaders Weigh in on Whether EMRs Save Money
Nov. 23 • Meaningful Use May Squander HIT Funds, Says MGMA
! Nov. 23 • CDC Warns About High Prevalence Areas of Diabetes, Obesity
! Nov. 20 • Electronic Medical Records Don’t Save Money, Says Study
Nov. 20 • Report: Medicaid Program Struggles to Get Long-term Care Patients Back Home
! Nov. 19 • More Late-preterm Births are Increasing Public Health Burden, Says CDC
! Nov. 19 • California Grades PPOs, None Receives Four Stars
Nov. 18 • Little-Known Medicare Pay Code Change Will Hurt Specialists
! Nov. 18 • Select Hospitals Offering Alternative to Heart Transplants
! Nov. 17 • Hospital CEOs Question Whether There are Enough Clinicians if Reform Passes
! Nov. 17 • Radiology Groups: Recommended Mammogram Guidelines Will Increase Breast Cancer Deaths
! Nov. 16 • Maternity Ad Campaign Gets Patients to Shop for Quality
! Nov. 13 • Secret Shopper Program Checks Hospitals’ Hand Hygiene
! Nov. 12 • Eight Ways That Could Contain Healthcare Costs
Nov. 11 • Tell Your Trustees Real Stories of Patient Harm
Nov. 11 • Feds: Radiologist Had Non-physicians Review Thousands of Patients’ Imaging Tests
Nov. 10 • Medical Confessional Highlights Doctors’ Diagnostic Errors
Nov. 10 • Pay-for-Performance Participation Can Be Pricey for Docs
! Nov. 9 • Cedars-Sinai Offers to Pay Medical Costs For Patients Overexposed to CT Radiation
! Nov. 9 • Survey: Half of Nonprofit Hospital Boards Don’t Value Clinical Quality as Top Concern
Nov. 6 • CDC: MRSA USA600 Not Worse Than Other MRSA Strains
Nov. 5 • Surgeons Give Six Reasons Why Senate Reform Plan Will Worsen Care
Nov. 5 • Dying In a Hospital Costs More than Surviving an Inpatient Stay
Nov. 4 • Surgical Masks Work As Well as N95 Respirators Against Influenza, Study Says
Nov. 4 • What Should Rural Healthcare Look Like After Reform?
Nov. 3 • New MRSA Strain Much More Lethal Than Other Types
Nov. 3 • Five Projects that Could Contain Costs in Health Reform
Nov. 2. • 21% Pay Cut May Force Physicians To Stop Seeing Medicare Patients
Oct. 28 • Rural North Carolina Gets Savvy With Teleneurology For Stroke
Oct. 28 • Feds Dole Out Dollars to Fight Hospital-Acquired MRSA
Oct 27 • Hospitals with Many Poor Patients are Slower to Adopt EHRs
Oct. 26 • FDA Review of Adverse Events Caused By Medical Devices Is Inadequate
Oct. 22 • Financial Outlook for California Hospitals Improves, Despite Plummeting Investment Income
Oct. 21 • Mistake-Proofing In Medicine, And In Refrigerators
Oct. 21 • Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Cedars-Sinai Over CT Radiation Overdose
Oct. 20 • Enormous Surgical Variation Found In California
Oct. 20 • The Anti-Dartmouth: Study Says Spending More Results In Lower Mortality
Oct. 19 • Inspector General Says California Should Pay Back $45 Million for Unqualified Foster Homes
Oct. 16 • Alegent CEO Wayne Sensor Resigns
Oct. 16 • Cedars-Sinai CEO Suggests CT Changes to Prevent More Radiation Overdoses
Oct. 15 • Infection Control Specialists: H1N1 Debate is Distracting From Effective Safeguards
! Oct. 15 • Doctors Sue California for Raiding Their Licensing Fees
! Oct. 14 • Lost In Translation: The Need for Interpreter Certification
Oct. 14 • More People Are Living With, Not Dying From, Hip Fractures
! Oct. 14 • Sleepy Surgeons Cause More Errors Than Well-Rested Docs
! Oct. 13 • Doctor Faces Criminal Charges for Selling Herbal Cures To Cancer Patients
Oct. 13 • Imaging Providers Plan Rally on Capitol Hill to Protect Reimbursements
! Oct. 12 • Cedars-Sinai Under Investigation for CT Radiation Overexposure to 206 Patients
! Oct. 9 • FDA Warns Patients Received Radiation Overdose in CT Scans
! Oct. 9 • 2% of Health Practitioners Are Not Licensed; 19% Have Issues with Credentials
Oct. 8 • Elderly Fall Injuries Cost $20 Billion in 2006—and Price Is Rising
Oct. 8 • Scripps Health Brings Heart Patients Personalized Medicine With Genetic Test
Oct. 7 • Moderate H1N1 Pandemic Could Flood Los Angeles Hospitals
! Oct. 7 • Eight Ways Baucus Bill Would Root Out Healthcare Fraud
! Oct. 6 • As Proposed, Tax on Cadillac Plans May Be A Non-Starter
Oct. 6 • More than 50% of Americans Don’t See H1N1 As A Serious Public Health Threat
! Oct. 1 • Hospitals Growing Nervous About National Respirator Shortage
Sept. 30 • With Its New Hospital, Rural Utah Gets A Fancy EMR (And A Sacred Hogan)
Sept. 30 • Six Hospitals Pay $8.3 Million in Medicare Spine Surgery Whistleblower Case
Sept. 29 • Mental Illness Is One of the Most Costly Conditions
Sept. 28 • Nursing Home Industry Frightening Seniors Against Health Reform, Says Medicare Group
Sept. 25 • Hospitals Fined for Forgotten Surgical Devices, Wrong Surgeries, Burnt Patient
! Sept. 24 • Heart Disease is no Longer Leading Reason for Patient Admission
! Sept. 23 • Dire Shortage Seen in Allied Health Professionals
Sept. 23 • A Rural Health Reform Shopping List
! Sept. 23 • ED Docs Renew Campaign for Respect, Resources in Health Reform
! Sept. 22 • Sicker, Older Inmates May Wind up on California Hospitals’ Doorsteps
! Sept. 21 • California Burn Centers Spreading Care
! Sept. 21 • Facing a $100 Million Loss, Downey Regional Files for Bankruptcy
Sept. 18 • Many Children in CHIP Receive Little or No Care
Sept. 17 • Web Tool Allows Providers to Identify Drug Shoppers
Sept. 16 • Surveyed Physicians Favor Mix of Public Option/Private Insurance Coverage
Sept. 16 • Inspector General Criticizes Three States For Improper Medicaid Claims
Sept. 15 • Facilities Get Creative to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
Sept. 15 • New Health Insurer Rewards Patients Who Stay Healthy
Sept. 14 • Core Measures: Get Used to It
Sept. 10 • California Pushes to Enact Strongest Anti-Rescission Law in the Nation
Sept. 9 • California Lawmakers Want AG to Investigate Sutter Health
Sept. 9 • We Need to Learn What Works for Health
Sept. 9 • Medicare Spent $1.8 Billion for Improperly Filed Nursing Home Care
Sept. 8 • Medicare Spent Four Times More for Power Wheelchairs Than Suppliers
! Sept. 4 • 12 More Hospitals Fined For Putting Patients In Immediate Jeopardy
Sept. 4 • Two Ways to Protect Healthcare Workers from H1N1
! Sept. 3 • Health Plan Premiums Vary Widely by State
! Sept. 3 • Healthcare Workers Still Face Intimidating and Disruptive Behavior
! Sept. 2 • CA Hospitals Fight for Right to Hire Docs on Constitutional Grounds
Sept. 1 • Swine Flu Prep Helps Hospitals Brace for Fire-Caused Respiratory Illnesses
! Sept. 1 • Dana-Farber/St. Anne’s Collaboration is Part of Growing Trend in Cancer Care
Sept. 1 • Health Coverage Does Not Protect Against Incurring Medical Debt
Aug. 28 • Medicare Addresses Payment Concerns Related to H1N1
! Aug. 28 • Medicaid System to Detect Fraud, Waste, and Abuse is Full of Holes
! Aug. 27 • Many Hospitals Not Allowed Access to Names of Disciplined Nurses, Pharmacists
Aug. 27 • Seniors’ Healthcare Costs Soar, Even With Inflation Adjustment
! Aug. 27 • Hospitals in Nine States Jeopardize Patient Safety With Lack of H1N1 Readiness
Aug. 26 • Two Rural Hospitals Say Money Doesn’t Matter in Pay for Performance Success
Aug. 25 • AMA President Dives into Blogosphere
Aug. 25 • Feds Clarify Hospital Triage Rules in Event of H1N1 Frenzy
Aug. 24 • Going Low Tech Might Reduce Costly Hospital Admissions in Chronic Heart Failure
Aug. 21 • Taxing Health Benefits Would Hurt Poor Working Families More Than The Rich
Aug. 21 • Public Plan is Being Swiftboated
Aug. 20 • Many Hospitalized Patients Leave Facilities Against Medical Advice
Aug. 19 • OIG Audits Find More Providers Overcharging Medicare
Aug. 19 • What Is Really Scaring Americans About Advance Directives?
Aug. 18 • Inspector General Fines Three Hospitals, One Doctor, and a DME Firm
Aug. 18 • In Times Like These, Take One Dose of Laughter
Aug. 14 • House Reform Bill Would Give Dollar Rewards To States That Pass Tort Reforms
! Aug. 14 • Obama Missteps on Foot Amputation Pay to Surgeons
Aug. 14 • Policymakers Can Learn From California’s Failed Insurance Exchange
Aug. 12 • Three Alternatives to Achieve Tort Reform
! Aug. 12 • Many In Rural Communities Aren’t Insured and Live Far From Health Providers
Aug. 11 • 12 Ways Health Reform May Improve Care and Save Costs
! Aug. 10 • State-imposed Furloughs Cause Regulatory Backlogs that are Hurting Hospitals
Aug. 10 • Safety Net Hospitals Improved Quality with Pay-for-Performance Incentives
Aug. 7 • Senate Finance Committee’s Cooperative Can’t Replace Public Option
!Aug. 6 • Medicare Rule Puts Patients at Risk
Aug. 6 • Could A Massachusetts-Style Individual Mandate Work Across the Nation?
Aug. 5 • How A CEO Bounced French Hospital Back From Bankruptcy’s Brink
Aug. 5 • Consumers Spent $33.9 Billion on Alternative Treatments in One Year
Aug. 5 • More than 50% of Poor Residents in Some Counties are Uninsured
Aug. 4 • EDs Can’t Sustain Care In Current Economic Environment
Aug. 3 • Health Card Companies Defrauding Hospitals and Patients Shut Down
Aug. 1 • Tracking Peace of Mind
!July 31 • Six Physicians Groups Launch Viral Campaign for Universal Coverage
July 31 • Government Agencies Are Not Ready for Predicted H1N1 Outbreak
July 30 • Hospitals Develop Strategies to Retain Experienced Nurses
!July 30 • Millions of Dollars Are Lost Because of Miscoded Durable Medical Equipment Supply Claims
July 29 • Sicker Patients Seeking Emergency Room Care
!July 29 • Obesity in a Rural Setting
!July 28 • Overweight and Obese Health Providers Aren’t Taken Seriously .
!July 27 • Who Will Be the Winners and Losers In Health Reform
!July 24 • Feds Find Many Docs Are Using Ultrasounds Too Often, Possibly Fraudulently
!July 23 • How Much Charity Care Must Hospitals Give To Stay Tax-Exempt?
!July 22 • Osteoporosis-Related Fractures Costing Healthcare System Billions Annually
July 22 • Louisiana Officials Tell Their Stories to Obama Cabinet
July 22 • AMA Ranks Payers’ Claims Processes, Which are Often a ‘Murky Mess’
July 20 • Who Supports What? A Healthcare Stakeholder Scorecard
July 17 • New Reports Take Drastically Different Views of Public Plan
July 16 • If Health Reform is Approved, Many Federal and State Laws Will Need to Change
!July 16 • Emergency Docs Say Sebelius is Wrong About ED
!July 15 • Town in “Forrest Gump” Thinks Regina Benjamin, MD, Will Bring Home Change
July 14 • Medicaid Beneficiary Fluctuations are Leading to More Costs
July 13 • Healthcare Costs for Overweight and Obese Patients Grow
!July 10 • Cost of Hospital Care for Obese Children Has Doubled
!July 9 • Sermo Wars with AMA Over CPT Codes
July 8 • ER Docs Will See H1N1 First?Don’t Ignore Their Warnings
July 8 • “Rip-off” Insurance Scam Shut Down
July 7 • Hospitals: H1N1 Could Get Rough This Fall
July 6 • Med Board Goes After Unlicensed Docs
!July 2 • Healthy San Francisco Has Increased Insured, Reduced Utilization
July 1 • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mass. Rewards Docs for Efficient Quality of Care
July 1 • Many Doctors Delay Hospital Discharges Because of Lack of Home Health Services
!June 30 • Who’s the Best? Web site Ranks Most States in Quality Measures
June 25 • Young Adults Twice as Likely to Be Uninsured Than Middle-Aged Americans
June 25 • Baucus Says Health Reform Bill Now Under $1 Trillion
!June 24 • McAllen, Texas Docs Defend Region’s Healthcare Spending
!June 24 • Doctor Says New Yorker Used Slanted Stats Against McAllen, TX
June 24 • Public Insurance Advocates Don’t Want Compromise on Public Option
!June 23 • Docs Don’t Tell 7% of Patients About Abnormal Tests
June 18 • Divided AMA Compromises on Health Reform Resolution
!June 18 • Avoidable Childbirth Injuries Remain an Issue at Hospitals
!June 17 • How Does A Gust of Wind Incapacitate Indian Hospital?
June 17 • Employer Insurance Mandate Will Increase Jobs and Save Money
!June 16 • Some Docs Upset at AMA’s Public Plan Stance
!June 12 • Fertility In-Vitro Treatments Becoming More Common and Costly to Healthcare
June 11 • Assistants and Nurses Improve Specialists Bottom Lines and Reduce Patient Wait Time
June 11 • Bills Would Help Resolve Medicare Payment Disparities in CA But Not Other States
!June 10 • Rural Ethics in Healthcare. Are they Different? Should They Be?
!June 10 • Survey Shows PCP Shortage and Lopsided Distribution
!June 9 • Quality of Care Often Depends on Race and Income
!June 9 • Hoping to Prevent Scams, State May Require Licensing of Health Plans
!June 5 • AHA and AMA Ask Health Plans: Can’t We All Just Get Along?
!June 4 • Ex-Governors Spar Over The Role of a Public Plan at AHIP Convention
!June 4 • Childhood Game of Tag In Boston ED Changes to Assassin
!June 3 • Immediate Jeopardy: Words No Hospital Official Wants to Hear
June 4 • Increasing Medicaid Cost Sharing For Children’s Care Would Impose Burdens, HHS Economist Says
June 3 • Public Plan Supporters Plan Protest at AHIP
June 2 • Workers’ Share of Health Cost Soars in Employer Plans
!May 29 • Feds Target Radiology Imaging Payment Cuts
May 29 • At Least 52 Million Americans Will Be Uninsured in 2010
!May 27 • Half of US Hospitals Violate Law By Not Reporting Disciplined Doctors
May 27 • Family Education Reduces Costly ED Trips for Children With Asthma
!May 22 • Proposal Would Require Health Plans, Doctors to Cut Appointment Wait Times
!May 21 • State Offers Web Tool to Compare Surgery Prices by Hospital
!May 20 • 13 Hospitals Fined for Mishaps, Never Events
May 20 • Can Telepharmacy Reduce Rural Critical Access Drug Mistakes? Yes.
May 20 • Errors All Too Common in Women Cancer Care
May 20 • Healthcare Officials Push for Better Payment of Vaccinations
!May 18 • Is Healthcare Better Without Doctors?
May 18 • Much of Stimulus Money for Native American Care Will Replace Two Facilities
!May 18 • Homeless Discharge Shelter Saves Hospitals $3 million in Year
! May 15 • Kaiser Fined $250,000 for Disclosing OctoMom Medical Record
! May 14 • Lab Tech Shortage Causes ED Bottlenecks
! May 13 • Physician Patient E-mail Can Save Both Time and Cost
! May 12 • Doctors Bristle at Proposed Physician Wellness Program
May 12 • Trustees: Medicare Part A Fund Will Go Broke by 2017
! May 11 • State Requirement Mandates Doctors Post Signs Telling Patients Who Licenses Them
! May 8 • Obama Looks to Improve Rural Health
! May 7 • MD Anderson Partners With Banner Health For New Phoenix Area Cancer Hospital
May 7 • Obama’s Budget Targets Healthcare Improvements
! May 6 • Health in the Heartland; Where Will The Doctors Come From?
May 6 • AHRQ Reports Find Issues With Patient Safety, Racial Disparities
May 4 • Report: Rural Patients Pay More, Receive Less Care Than Urban Patients
! May 4 • Childhood Game Inspires Hospital Emergency Department
May 4 • Health Spending Is Taking Up Bigger Chunk of National Purse
! May 1 • Lower Complications, Costs May Lead to More Bariatric Surgeries
! May 1 • Watch Out for Swine Flu Stress
! April 29 • Column: What We Don’t Yet Know About Swine Flu That’s Scary
! April 28 • Report Advises Ethics Overhaul to Curb Conflicts of Interest
! April 27 • Concerns Raised Over Health System Offering DNA Tests
April 27 • Swine Flu: Hospitals Sould Get Proactive
! April 24 • Larger Type Proposed for CA Med Board Posting Notice
April 24 • General Hospitals Adapt to Specialty Competition
!April 23 • Provider Tax Stalls in California
April 22 • Column: Where, More or Less, Is The Frontier?
!April 20 • Fewer Bad Doctors Get Disciplined
!April 16 • When Patients Finally Get Care They Postponed Might It Come Too Late?
April 15 • Healthcare Comes to the Farm
! April 15 • Lawsuit Demands Geographic Parity in Medicare Physician Pay
! April 13 • CA Doctors Miffed at Medical Boards Waiting Room Sign Proposal
! April 13 • California Hospitals Fight for Right to Hire Doctors