Archive for the ‘medical hospital’ Category
July 21st, 2011 | 
Author: Northeast Health System and the Lahey Clinic Foundation announced on Tuesday that Beverly Hospital and the six other medical facilities operated by NHS will be merging with Lahey to create a new hospital network stretching across the northeastern part of Massachusetts.
Lahey, which is headquartered in Burlington, is not absorbing NHS, instead a new healthcare organization is being formed. Lahey is a highly regard teaching hospital of Tufts University.
The new entity will be called Lahey Health System and led by Howard Grant, JD, MD, as President and CEO — Grant is the current CEO of the Lahey Clinic Foundation.
Lahey Health System will be governed by a new board of trustees composed equally of representatives from NHS and Lahey. Some additional board members, unattached to either entity will be chosen from the community.
The new parent entity will oversee both organizations.
“Lahey Clinic and Northeast Health will make a great healthcare team,” said Grant in a press release. “This is a historic moment — two superb organizations aligning to create an even stronger integrated healthcare delivery system.”
He said that by joining forces, both organizations can enhance the type and quality of care delivered to their patients. Combined, NHS and Lahey employs more than 10,000.
In addition to its hospitals in Burlington, Peabody and Lexington, with doctors’ offices in 12 communities, including Danvers, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton-Wenham, Ipswich and Lynnfield. NHS operates Beverly Hospital, Beverly Hospital at Danvers, Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, BayRidge Hospital in Lynn and some medical offices.
NHS President and CEO Kenneth Hanover offered similar sentiments, saying the accessibility of cutting-edge clinical services will be improved while promoting “efficiencies, quality and synergy of services.”
“This was our goal from the start of this process and we are very excited that we have landed at this decision and opportunity today,” Hanover said.
NHS headed down this road this past January, looking to establish a new integrated system of care for a larger client population at a lower cost as one strategy of preparing to deal with healthcare reform.
“All of our discussions leading up to this decision revolved around creating a system that puts patients first,” said Irving Rogers, chair of Lahey’s board of trustees. “We believe that this is a strong step forward in how healthcare institutions can align to improve quality and efficiency while reducing costs and remaining very competitive in the marketplace.”
NHS was courted by three other organizations for its affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess, Vanguard Health Systems and Steward Health Care. The press release noted both NHS and Lahey are still financially sound.
“NHS and Lahey have always maintained a complementary focus of providing community-based care and have a strong history of successful clinical collaboration. This is an affiliation of two well-respected and financially stable healthcare organizations,” the press release said.
The NHS Affiliation Advisory Committee evaluated each proposal for quality, service, medical staff and physician relationships, values, culture, finance and infrastructure, and ultimately chose Lahey as the best partner going forward.
“Of significant importance to this process and decision was identifying an organization whose philosophy of care aligns with our own, and whose vision for the future complements our goals,” said David St. Laurent, chairman of the NHS Board of Trustees.
Plans for the affiliation must pass a standard regulatory process, which may take several months. Community forums are being planned to explain the changes to patients.
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U.S. News Releases Annual Best Hospitals Rankings
Today, U.S. News released its 22nd annual Best Hospitals rankings, singling out 720 hospitals out of about 5,000 nationwide. Just 17 earned spots on the Honor Roll—which signifies the highest level of medical excellence—with Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore topping the list. The rankings also identify the Best Hospitals in 94 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas, a major expansion that covers nearly twice as many cities as in the past. This year’s rankings include additional new features, such as the Most Connected Hospitals, or those with the most advanced electronic medical records system. And for the first time, U.S. News has named top doctors at many hospitals, part of a larger upcoming project: Next Tuesday, it will release U.S. News Top Doctors, a directory of nearly 30,000 excellent physicians searchable by location and hospital affiliation, as well as across a wide range of specialties and subspecialties.
Best Hospitals 2011-12: the Methodology
Our intent when we published the first Best Hospitals annual rankings in 1990 was to help people who find themselves in need of unusually skilled inpatient care, and that mission hasn’t changed in Year 22. The Best Hospitals rankings judge medical centers on their competence in exactly such high-stakes situations. For example, a hospital ranked in cardiology and heart surgery—one of 16 specialties in which centers were evaluated—likely has the expertise and experience to replace a faulty heart valve in a man in his 90s. Most hospitals would decline to perform major surgery on elderly patients, as they should if they aren’t up to speed on the special techniques and precautions required and don’t see many such patients. A ranked hospital in gastroenterology can probably offer the most appropriate care to a patient whose inflammatory bowel disease flares up. At hospitals ranked in neurology and neurosurgery, surgeons face more spinal tumors in a couple of weeks than most community hospitals see in a year.
By contrast, other hospital ratings and rankings for the most part examine how well hospitals treat relatively unthreatening conditions or perform fairly routine procedures, such as hernia repair and uncomplicated heart bypass surgery. The majority of hospital patients need such ordinary care, so for them that approach to evaluating hospitals works fine. But it falls short for patients who are especially at risk because of age, physical condition, infirmities, or the challenging nature of the surgery or other care they need.
A good way to determine how well a hospital deals with a medical challenge is to evaluate its performance across a range of challenges within the specialty. U.S. News ranks hospitals in 16 different specialties, from cancer to urology. This year, only 140 of the 4,825 hospitals that we evaluated performed well enough to rank in even one specialty. And of the 140, just 17 qualified for a spot on the Honor Roll by ranking at or near the top in six or more specialties. [Read more: Best Hospitals 2011-12: the Methodology.]
How We Identified More Than 100 Most Connected Hospitals
We live in a digital age. We use electronic systems to connect with others, to entertain ourselves, and to compare the quality of myriad goods and services, including—as users of U.S. News know—hospital care.
Yet inside the walls of many hospitals, doctors and nurses still rely on reams of paper charts and antiquated systems to track patient health, order tests and treatments, and perform other essential duties. While many of these professionals provide quality medical care, they do so without the use of a suite of technologies broadly known as electronic medical records, or EMRs, that could make patients safer and their care more efficient.
By contrast, a relatively small number of hospitals have readily embraced EMRs and use them to connect healthcare providers to one another and to the information each needs to do his or her job.
An even smaller subset of those hospitals also succeed in delivering the superior care that U.S. News recognizes in its Best Hospitals. U.S. News developed Most Connected Hospitals to highlight that group of institutions, which are both digitally forward and clinically excellent. [Read more: Our Methodology: How We Identified More Than 100 Most Connected Hospitals.]
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Legislature’s decision to raid the Hospital Safety Net Account is unconstitutional and will devastate hospitals and the patients they serve.
SEATTLE, July 18, 2011/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) announced today it has filed a lawsuit against the State of Washington to overturn legislation that diverts money to the state general fund from an account set up to pay for hospital services to the poor and vulnerable. The account is 100 percent funded by a state tax on hospitals. As a result, the state will lose $110 million in federal funding available to pay for Medicaid hospital services.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, asks the court to order the funds in the account be restored and used for their intended purpose of preserving vital hospital services for low-income Medicaid patients and children on Apple Health across the state.
“We are going to court reluctantly. In 2010 our state’s hospitals voluntarily agreed to tax themselves to maintain our health care system. The tax was substantial – more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the last biennium. Now the state diverted that money and is using it for purposes that were never intended,” said Scott Bond, president and chief executive officer of WSHA. “The legislature is violating an agreement we reached only one year ago. The consequences to the health care system are very serious, and we are confident this misguided and unconstitutional action will be reversed by the courts.”
On June 15, Governor Gregoire signed House Bill 2069 into law. The effect of the legislation is to divert money out of the Hospital Safety Net Account and into the General Fund. This diversion results in a reduction of state and federal funding for hospitals of $260 million.
“In 2010, Washington hospitals came to the legislature with an innovative idea that prevented deep cuts to the hospital safety net,” continued Bond. ”The legislature’s decision to divert these funds, on top of the cuts to the Basic Health Plan, community health clinics, and mental health services will have a direct impact on the people of Washington State.”
The lawsuit focuses on two issues. It argues that by using funds for purposes other than supporting hospital payments, as was originally intended; the state has violated Article VII, Section 5 of the Washington State Constitution. This section states “No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law; and every law imposing a tax shall state distinctly the object of the same to which only it shall be applied.” Meaning a tax can only be used for the purpose it was collected to fund.
WSHA contends the legislature’s decision to raid the account violates provisions of the assessment law, enacted in 2010, which requires the state to continue its previous level of funding needed to maintain hospital inpatient and outpatient reimbursement rates.
About the Hospital Safety Net Assessment
In 2009, Washington State faced a $9 billion budget gap – part of closing that gap was to make deep cuts to health care, including $311 million in direct cuts to hospitals.
WSHA approached the legislature with an innovative idea to restore Medicaid payments to hospitals and provide some money for the state’s general fund. The Hospital Safety Net Assessment, House Bill 2956, was enacted in 2010.
The money collected through the assessment serves as the state’s share of funding used to bring in federal matching funds. Assessment funds and the federal matching funds are returned to hospitals through higher Medicaid rates. A small portion, roughly $50 million per biennium, went to the state general fund. For the 2009-2011 biennium, the assessment is scheduled to provide more than $100 million to hospitals, helping to partially restore the 2009 budget cuts and preserve services for Medicaid and Apple Health enrollees.
The hospitals’ deal with the legislature did not last long. Just a year into the program, as it was beginning to produce results for hospitals and the state, the legislature turned its back on the agreement by enacting House Bill 2069. The legislation amends the state law that established the assessment and:
- Cut hospital Medicaid payments significantly
- Raided $110 million for state general funds
- Lost $110 million in Medicaid match funds for hospital payments
- Kept $40 million in surplus funds
- Total impact is a cut of $260 million
Under House Bill 2069, prospective payment hospitals pay out more than they receive. Under the new law, prospective payment system hospitals will not even get back the amount of money paid into the system, on average, hospitals receive 80 cents for every $1 they pay in. Critical access, psychiatric, and large public hospitals are not impacted by these cuts.
About WSHA
WSHA is a membership organization representing 97 community hospitals across the state. The association advocates on behalf of its member hospitals WSHA works to improve the health of the people of the state by becoming involved in all matters affecting the delivery, quality, accessibility, affordability and continuity of health care.
SOURCE Washington State Hospital Association
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SAN DIEGO, July 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Benjamin K. Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, group president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, has been chosen as the American Hospital Association’s chair-elect designate. He will become the top elected official of the national organization representing America’s hospitals and health systems in 2013.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110717/AQ36338)
“We are delighted to see Dr. Chu recognized by his colleagues for this national leadership position,” said Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan President and Chief Operating Officer Bernard J. Tyson. “Ben has a strong record of bringing diverse teams together to deliver exceptional health care, and he oversees the care of 3.6 million of our nearly nine million Kaiser Permanente members. The American Hospital Association will benefit from his leadership,” Tyson added
“It is my privilege to serve in this role as hospitals from across the country discuss how we can best care for our patients in this changing health care landscape,” said Dr. Chu. ”Health care is at a crossroads and hospitals will play an important role in improving the health of all Americans.”
Dr. Chu currently oversees 14 hospitals and 168 medical offices. He was appointed regional president of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in 2005. In 2011, he was appointed group president with additional accountability for Kaiser Permanente’s Hawaii region. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Chu served as president of New York City‘s Health and Hospitals Corporation, the largest public hospital system in the country. He was senior vice president for medical and professional affairs for the public hospitals and acting commissioner of health for the New York City Department of Health.
Specializing in internal medicine, Dr. Chu was senior associate dean at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and associate dean and vice president for clinical affairs at the New York University School of Medicine and Medical Center. From 1989 to 1990, he was a legislative assistant for health for New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, holding a Robert Wood Johnson policy fellowship.
Dr. Chu also serves on the board of the Commonwealth Fund in New York and is chair of the American Legacy Foundation. He has previously served on the American Hospital Association Board and was a member of its executive committee in 2008. Currently he is an AHA representative to The Joint Commission.
Dr. Chu earned his medical degree from New York University and holds a master’s of public health from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.8 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.
http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/aboutkp/bios/california/chu.html
http://www.kaiserpermanente.org
SOURCE Kaiser Permanente
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http://www.kaiserpermanente.org
Despite concerns about the preparedness of area hospitals during “Carmageddon,” officials at the UCLA Health System said everything was “business as usual” Saturday morning.
The UCLA Health System — which includes Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, as well as more than 80 offices and outpatient clinics — had an elaborate contingency plan in place to deal with the freeway closure — and so far it’s worked, officials said.
Photos: ‘Carmageddon’ closes the 405 Freeway
More than 150 nurses and staff members spent Friday night in UCLA dorms, UCLA’s Tiverton House and in some sections of the hospitals to avoid long commutes, officials said. About 1,900 employees made it to work on time Saturday morning.
Hospitals also stocked up on extra medical supplies and postponed nonemergency surgeries for the weekend, officials said. Extra staff — including plumbers and air-conditioning technicians — are also on hand to prevent any potential problems.
“We are ready and fully prepared to handle any emergency,” Shannon O’Kelley, chief operating officer for the UCLA Health System, said in a statement.
Still, O’Kelley urged the public to call 911 in case of a medical emergency instead of driving to a hospital in case of construction-related traffic snarls.
“This will ensure the patient will get to an emergency department by ambulance if the medical situation warrants,” O’Kelley said.
RELATED:
Full coverage: All you need to know about the 405 shutdown
Carmageddon: Don’t ‘get complacent’ after smooth morning, officials say
Carmageddon: ‘Impressive start’ to freeway project, officials say
– Kate Mather
Photo: Hospital custodians Orlando Rojas, left, and Blanca Rodriguez set up cots for UCLA medical personnel ahead of Carmageddon at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. Credit: Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press