U.S. Facing Shortage of Doctors as Health Care Law Takes Effect
The United States is facing a 16,000 shortage of primary care physicians, a current Senate report finds.
Government regulators hope to slow hospital deals
From Rockford, Ill., to Albany, Ga., hospitals are merging. A 10-year high of 86 deals, valued at $7.94 billion in total, were announced last year, according to research firm Irving Levin Associates Inc. The hospitals say they are trying to cut costs and deliver care more efficiently, a goal of the 2010 federal health-care overhaul.
PinnacleHealth expanding its downtown Harrisburg campus
The healthcare provider is adding two floors, which will include a long-term acute care facility, to the Alex Grass Medical Sciences Building.
Hospitals Adopt Drug Industry Sales Strategy
Rather than handing out samples of prescription drugs, sales reps are adopting a different way of doing business.
Hospitals Try To Control Readmissions, Even When It Hurts Profits
Starting next fall, HHS will begin penalizing hospitals if their readmission rates are higher than expected for three conditions: heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. As such, hospitals are making strides to avoid these repercussions.
Many doctors’ offices getting visits from a new kind of sales rep
A growing number of hospitals nationwide are hiring former drug and device sales reps to visit doctors’ offices to persuade them to use their services over competing facilities.
The Future of US Health Care
Amid enormous pressure to cut costs, improve care and prepare for changes tied to the federal health-care overhaul, major players in the industry are staking out new ground, often blurring the lines between businesses that have traditionally been separate.
Southwestern PA hospitals renovating their ERs
Sewickley Valley Hospital, West Penn Hospital, Forbes Regional Hospital, and Washington Hospital are among those getting makeovers.
Man Stuck in Bed, at Hospital’s Expense
The article details the experiences of an undocumented immigrant in the Medicare/Medicaid system, as well as the issues facing hospitals as health and uncompensated care costs rise.
Several Philly hospitals add palliative care to their emergency departments
In adding doctors who specialize in that area of medicine — which focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases — to emergency departments, the hospitals hope to make care more manageable for patients, and ease the cost burden on the entire health system.