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In Cincinnati, Ohio, a state that is considering the legislative ban on for-profit specialty hospitals, a new specialty hospital is being planned. This one is a joint venture between a hospital, Deaconess and the largest Cardiology group, Ohio Heart Health Center. This hospital would be directly opposed to the hospital association backed proposed law that would not allow physicians to refer patients to any hospital in which they have a financial interest. This large group of physicians would be shut out of the hospital, leaving Deaconess to get other physicians to compete with their partners. Does this seem strange to anyone? The other hospital administrators in the area who are building their own new cardiac wings are against the new hospital. I wonder why? I couldn't be competition and monetary, could it? No, they wouldn't be that petty nor talk out of both sides of their mouths. The main bad-mouther is Christ Hospital where most of the large cardiology group now practices and who account for over 80% of the cardiac procedures done at the hospital. I'm sure that has nothing to do with their opposition. The COO of Ohio Heart stated it best," If you can't compete, legislate."
And legislate they do. The legislature in Ohio is now considering a bill to freeze specialty hospital building for two years. This proposal would allow physicians to continue to send referrals to hospitals already build or in the planning stage. Community Hospitals would be barred from economic credentialing the physicians for sending the patients. Currently, there is only one physician owned specialty hospital in the state. The others are owned by the same community hospitals that bad mouth the physician owned model. Top
In Tennessee, Governor Bredesen has asked the health care provider community to pony up $2.6 million to fund a study of the failed TennCare system. This is a state program and should be funded by state funds only. To date the two largest companies that are involved with TennCare have agreed to give $one million each for the study. I will bet they will say the program is underfunded and the insurers should be paid more so they can attract more physicians. What that would mean in reality is that the insurers would be able to keep more money and not pay any more to the true providers and not the parasites. Top
The patient that sued the Los Vegas physician, Dr. Ty Weller, for making him wait three hours and then not apologizing is still waiting for the apology. He sued the physician in small claims court and won $250 which the God-like physician is appealing. The court date is September 15. The physician will need to appear thereby closing his office for the trial. Nothing could be more fitting, even if he wins, he loses. There truly is no excuse for not apologizing nor telling a patient about the delay. He deserves every bit of bad publicity he is getting. Top
The Match program is being sued by past medical students as being the tool of the hospitals that eliminates free choice for residencies. The lack of free choice enables hospitals to work the residents 80-100 hours a week without just compensation. This suit will be a blockbuster costing many millions of dollars to defend and prosecute. The defendants are like the above Ohio Hospital Assn. who will try to legislate instead of competing. They have gone after those two pillars of healthcare, Senators Clinton and Kennedy. They are throwing money at them to provide legislation to derail the suit. The Senators have not yet gotten enough since they have not yet placed forward any proposed legislation. Top
Florida's new malpractice law is not making all physicians happy campers. In Daytona Beach the physicians staffing the Trauma Center have returned to work but not those of the Orlando Medical Center. The neurosurgeons at this institution are not going back on contract due to dissatisfaction with the working arrangement with the hospital. They continue to work but only on a month to month basis. They want to increase their on-call pay from the current $1500 per day to $4000 per day. This is to be paid by the citizens of the surrounding counties who utilize the trauma center. Top
CalPERS, the third largest purchaser of health benefits in the country, has started to feel the consequences of their increased payments to fiscal intermediaries. There are now 27 agencies in California that are threatening to leave CalPERS because of the high premiums which continue to climb. Some of the smaller agencies are beginning to believe that they may be better self-insuring or buying their own insurance at cheaper rates. Top
As Texas continues to debate and eventually vote on Prop. 12 which would allow medical malpractice reform, a Memorial Hermann Hospital employee was arrested for stealing medical records and selling them to the Texas malpractice attorneys. The attorneys would then get hold of the patient and attempt to talk them into suing. This hopefully will lead to felony charges and loss of license against the attorneys who have purchased illegal records. Top
In the wake of the John Hopkins transplant fiasco last year, a woman at Falls Church Virginia's Inova Fairfax Hospital has died because of mismatched blood. The woman moved her bed and the wrong patient's blood was taken for the type and cross match. This wrong blood was then given to the patient who died. The negligence is obvious when the vampire is supposed to check the name on the band against the name on the slip and failed to do so. She died the following day after receiving two units of the wrong blood during a surgical procedure. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.