http://au.sys-con.com

By Anne Zieger http://www.fiercehealthcare.com The Joint Commission has begun posting a wide range of quality data on the Web, including patient-satisfaction survey results and 30-day mortality rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The website allows consumers to look up information on how their peers felt about the care they received at hospitals, drawn from […]

By Jay Greene http://www.crainsdetroit.com With the jobless rate in Michigan hitting levels not seen in two decades and people losing their health insurance or reducing coverage to save on premium dollars, hospitals are overhauling their billing and collection systems to stem the rising tide of bad debt and charity care that is chipping away at […]

http://solutionstohealthcare.blogspot.com

By ERIC HARTLEY http://www.hometownannapolis.com Dr. Laurie Poss has a message for the health insurance industry: “We don’t want to play anymore.” For years, Dr. Poss has been feeling more like a factory worker than a family doctor. With insurance reimbursement averaging $23 a patient, her practice has become an assembly line.

By PHIL GALEWITZ http://www.palmbeachpost.com BOYNTON BEACH — Palm Beach County’s hospitals are balking at paying a collective $1.1 million a year to ensure that residents seeking help at an emergency room have 24-hour access to a neurosurgeon. Hospital officials say they should not have to bear most of the burden of providing the emergency coverage. […]

by Janice Francis-Smith The Journal Record

BY DAWSON BELL http://www.freep.com LANSING — The new Michigan Supreme Court will meet for the first time today to elect a chief justice, welcome the first justice to join the court in a decade and, perhaps, give some indication of what path the court will take. Court observers expect Justice Marilyn Kelly will become the […]

By Alex Costello http://www.zwire.com Faced with the unenviable task of closing the largest deficit in New York state history – $13.7 billion for 2009-10 – Gov. David Paterson has created a budget that makes cuts in nearly every category, while increasing some taxes. One of the many items facing dramatic reductions is the state’s Medicaid […]