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 Home >> News: MedCenterToday.com
News: MedCenterToday.com
 
 
MedCenterToday.com has gathered the stories below to keep Academic Med Center professionals like you posted on what you need to know now.

 News By Date: 
 
Headlines 

7 Hospitals in NY Accused of Medicaid Fraud
Four hospitals in New York state paid kickbacks to get more patients into their drug treatment programs, which billed Medicaid for services that weren't standard or necessary and lacked state certification, lawsuits allege.
   Newark Star-Ledger, January 06, 2009
   * Registration May Be Required

Mass. Probes High Insurance Payments to Favored Hospitals
The governor of Massachusetts is convening a bunch of top state officials to look into why a powerful hospital group has been able to charge more than its competitors.
   Wall Street Journal (Public access), January 06, 2009

NEOUCOM President and Dean Chair-Elect, AAMC Council of Deans
Lois Margaret Nora, M.D., J.D., Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) president and dean for the College of Medicine, is chair-elect of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
   Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, January 06, 2009

Canadians Worry U.S. Health Reform Could Lead to Doctor Poaching
In an article today-Canada’s National Post suggests that the increased demand that would follow health reform could lead to an exodus of Canadian doctors to the U.S.
   Wall Street Journal (Public access), January 05, 2009

New Record Set for Research Grants at Northwestern
Northwestern Univ.’s sponsored research award volume climbed to $438.8-million this year, the highest in the Univ.’s history and a 5 percent increase over last year’s record-breaking $416.4-million.
   Chicago Sun-Times, January 05, 2009

Primary Care Shortage Exists
The combination may not yet be lethal, but a shortage of doctors in Massachusetts, coupled with more physicians practicing "defensive medicine" out of fear of being sued, is clouding the state's landmark health-care reform effort.
   Springfield Union-News & Sunday Republican, January 05, 2009

Emory Psychiatry Chair Penalized For Hidden Payments From Drug Company
After investigating allegations that Dr. Nemeroff had improperly accepted money from drug companies without disclosing it to Emory or to the NIH, the university announced that Dr. Nemeroff would relinquish his department-leadership post after 17 years.
   Chronicle of Higher Education, December 30, 2008

UTMB: You're Fired. Got Any Spare Change?
"I have two friends who were faculty members with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. In late November, both were fired. In a few days, they got letters from the school asking for money to help the institution accomplish its mission."
   Galveston County Daily News, December 30, 2008

Schechter Named Plastic Surgery Chief At Chicago Med School
Dr. Loren Schechter, division director of plastic surgery at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, has been appointed division chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
   Advocate Health Care, December 30, 2008

People and Profession 

NEOUCOM President and Dean Chair-Elect, AAMC Council of Deans
Lois Margaret Nora, M.D., J.D., Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) president and dean for the College of Medicine, is chair-elect of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
   Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, January 06, 2009

Health on hold in sickly economy
A tough economy has created a health hazard of its own. Strapped for cash, thousands of Americans are skipping medication doses, shunning doctor visits and forgoing diagnostic tests to save money.
   Washington Times, January 06, 2009

Leslie named head of UI Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Kimberly Leslie, has been named head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Univ. of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and Univ. of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
   Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 06, 2009

Canadians Worry U.S. Health Reform Could Lead to Doctor Poaching
In an article today-Canada’s National Post suggests that the increased demand that would follow health reform could lead to an exodus of Canadian doctors to the U.S.
   Wall Street Journal (Public access), January 05, 2009

Primary Care Shortage Exists
The combination may not yet be lethal, but a shortage of doctors in Massachusetts, coupled with more physicians practicing "defensive medicine" out of fear of being sued, is clouding the state's landmark health-care reform effort.
   Springfield Union-News & Sunday Republican, January 05, 2009

Zukin Named F.M. Kirby Professor of Neural Repair and Protection at AECOM
R. Suzanne Zukin, Ph.D., director of Neuropsychopharmacology Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva Univ. and professor in Dept of Neuroscience, has been named F.M. Kirby Professor of Neural Repair and Protection at College of Medicine.
   Albert Einstein College of Medicine, January 05, 2009

West Penn Allegheny Health System Announces Recruitment of Leading Burn Specialists
Officials of West Penn Allegheny Health System & Western Pennsylvania Hospital announced recruitment of nationally recognized burn surgeons Larry M. Jones, MD, FACS, and Roger R. Barrette, MD, formerly of the UPMC-Mercy Trauma and Burn Center.
   PR-USA.net, January 05, 2009

Frank LaFerla Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia gets new chief
Neurobiologist Frank LaFerla is taking the reins of the UC Irvine Institute for Brain Aging & Dementia, hoping to boost clinical offerings and move forward with a new building dedicated to Alzheimer's disease research.
   "Univ. of California, Irvine", January 05, 2009

URMC Welcomes New Chief of Hematology/Oncology
Innovative and respected hematologist Jonathan Friedberg, M.D., has been appointed chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology of the Department of Medicine and the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the Univ. of Rochester Medical Center.
   Univ. of Rochester - Medical Center, January 05, 2009

Schechter Named Plastic Surgery Chief At Chicago Med School
Dr. Loren Schechter, division director of plastic surgery at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, has been appointed division chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
   Advocate Health Care, December 30, 2008

Promotions at UI Announced
University of Iowa Health Care leaders announced several promotions involving the enterprise's financial services division.
   Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 30, 2008

Fewer Family Docs Available As Need Grows
The new study, commissioned by the Physicians' Foundation, says nearly half of 150,000 primary care doctors want to quit or cut back within the next three years.
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 30, 2008

WU Chemist Receives $1.2 Mil. NIH Funding.
Joshua Maurer, Ph.D. has received a four-year $1,216,000 NIH grant to unravel tricks of neuronal wiring.
   Bio-Medicine, December 30, 2008

Teaching Hospitals and Administration 

Texas Heart Institute pursues expansion into China
The Texas Heart Institute is in talks to join the growing list of academic institutions creating branch facilities abroad.
   Houston Chronicle, January 06, 2009

Doctors suggest new way to decide who gets heart surgery
Patients with heart blockages will be assessed for surgery on a new set of guidelines designed to bring more consistency to who gets the interventions.
   The Charlotte Observer, January 06, 2009
   * Registration May Be Required

Magazine ranks Wis. children's hospital 3rd in US
Children's Hospital of Wisconsin has been ranked No. 2 in emergency care and No. 3 overall by Parents magazine.
   Madison Capital Times, January 05, 2009

Editorial: Cuts reveal La.'s unstable budgeting for LSUHSC
Because of unique nature of the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, the institution faces a double whammy in the upcoming round of state-mandated budget cuts
   Shreveport Times, January 05, 2009

Hospitals feel financial pinch
Although they work to cure illnesses, local hospitals lacked immunity from one of the worst ailments of 2008: the economy.
   Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, January 05, 2009

UT System reaffirms commitment to UTMB
Kenneth Shine isn’t happy about continued speculation that the University of Texas System might not see much of a future for the UT Medical Branch at Galveston.
   Austin American-Statesman, January 05, 2009

Magazine Ranks Children's Hospital Boston #2 In Nation
Children's Hospital Boston has been ranked number two overall in the nation by Parents magazine.
   WBZ-TV CBS 4 Boston, January 05, 2009

UTMB: You're Fired. Got Any Spare Change?
"I have two friends who were faculty members with the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. In late November, both were fired. In a few days, they got letters from the school asking for money to help the institution accomplish its mission."
   Galveston County Daily News, December 30, 2008

UI Revenue Management Adoption Pays Large Dividends.
The Joint Office of Revenue Integrity reports that the enterprise-wide revenue management allowed UI to recover more than $20 million in hospital payments from insurers that UI Health Care would not have received otherwise in the past four years.
   Media-Newswire, December 30, 2008

NewYork-Presbyterian Tops List for Employee Satisfaction and Concern for Patient Care Among Academic Medical Centers
NewYork-Presbyterian has high scores in nine of 10 of the qualifying categories, and ranks among the top 10 percent among academic medical centers.
   News Blaze, December 30, 2008

Hospital Officials Mum On Pact
Pasquotank County officials announced last week that Albemarle Health had reached a tentative agreement to have the Greenville-based UHS manage Albemarle Hospital but no terms of the agreement were released.
   Daily Advance, December 30, 2008

Promotions at UI Announced
University of Iowa Health Care leaders announced several promotions involving the enterprise's financial services division.
   Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 30, 2008

UTMB Scraps $3 Mil Bonuses
UTMB, which cut 3,000 jobs last month, announced that the institution’s financial crisis would not allow payouts in its staff incentive plans. About 900 employees had been in line for bonuses for work done in fiscal 2008, which ended Aug. 31.
   Texas Cable News, December 30, 2008

Hospitals ill from Debt, Credit Troubles
Hospitals, which employ 5 million people, are reporting that donations and investment returns are down, patient visits are flat and profitable diagnostic procedures and elective surgeries are declining as people with inadequate insurance delay care.
   AP, December 30, 2008

Building and Expansion 

Eminent Domain cannot legally be used to open land for LSU/VA Hospital
A new wrinkle has entered the fight to build a new “Charity” Hospital on top of a 19th-century, predominantly African-American neighborhood in Mid-City.
   Louisiana Weekly, January 06, 2009

Hopkins institute grabs biopark space
The Brain Sciences Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has signed a lease for space in the new John G. Rangos Building in a research park in East Baltimore.
   Baltimore Business Journal, January 06, 2009

Vanderbilt breathes new life into 100 Oaks
What used to be a dead mall now has new life thanks to Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center.
   The Examiner.com-Nashville, January 05, 2009

McNair Campus gets First Tenants -- Ophthalmology Philanthropy Provided Key Assistance
Baylor College of Medicine's $1-billion Best Minds Best Medicine Campaign has passed a major milestone: occupants have moved into the first building on the College's new McNair Campus.
   Baylor College of Medicine, January 05, 2009

Hospital Officials Mum On Pact
Pasquotank County officials announced last week that Albemarle Health had reached a tentative agreement to have the Greenville-based UHS manage Albemarle Hospital but no terms of the agreement were released.
   Daily Advance, December 30, 2008

Research and Discovery 

UTHSC Nabs Grants Totaling $1.1M
The Univ. of Tennessee Health Science Center has received three grants totaling more than $1.1-million from the Department of Health and Human Services.
   Memphis Business Journal, January 06, 2009

Why Prostate Cancer Patients Fail Hormone Deprivation Therapy
The hormone deprivation therapy that prostate cancer patients often take gives them only a temporary fix, with tumors usually regaining their hold within a couple of years.
   Johns Hopkins Univ., January 06, 2009

JHU-led team solves mystery of failed kids vaccine
Research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center scientists has figured out why a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine used in 1966 to inoculate children against the infection instead caused severe respiratory disease and effectively stopped efforts to make
   Johns Hopkins Univ., January 06, 2009

Alzheimer's research at UM flags key genes
New research by the Univ. of Miami zeroes in on the culprit genes in Alzheimer's disease. But more work is needed to predict, diagnose and treat the neurological condition.
   The Miami Herald, January 06, 2009
   * Registration May Be Required

Testes stem-cell can change into other body tissues, Stanford/UCSF study shows
Scientists at the Stanford Univ. School of Medicine and at UC-San Franciscohave succeeded in isolating stem-cells from human testes.
   Stanford Univ. Medical Center, January 06, 2009

BCM Awarded $1.5M Childhood Obesity Research Grant
Baylor College of Medicine has been awarded a $1.5-million grant for research related to obesity in children.
   MSN-Money Central, January 06, 2009

New Record Set for Research Grants at Northwestern
Northwestern Univ.’s sponsored research award volume climbed to $438.8-million this year, the highest in the Univ.’s history and a 5 percent increase over last year’s record-breaking $416.4-million.
   Chicago Sun-Times, January 05, 2009

Relocation Plan of Metastatic Cancer Cells Uncovered by Stanford Researchers
Few things are as tiresome as house hunting and moving. Unfortunately, metastatic cancer cells have the relocation process down pat.
   Business Wire, January 05, 2009

WU Chemist Receives $1.2 Mil. NIH Funding.
Joshua Maurer, Ph.D. has received a four-year $1,216,000 NIH grant to unravel tricks of neuronal wiring.
   Bio-Medicine, December 30, 2008

Medical Training 

Fewer Family Docs Available As Need Grows
The new study, commissioned by the Physicians' Foundation, says nearly half of 150,000 primary care doctors want to quit or cut back within the next three years.
   Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 30, 2008

Medicare and Medicaid and Other Payors 

7 Hospitals in NY Accused of Medicaid Fraud
Four hospitals in New York state paid kickbacks to get more patients into their drug treatment programs, which billed Medicaid for services that weren't standard or necessary and lacked state certification, lawsuits allege.
   Newark Star-Ledger, January 06, 2009
   * Registration May Be Required

Mass. Probes High Insurance Payments to Favored Hospitals
The governor of Massachusetts is convening a bunch of top state officials to look into why a powerful hospital group has been able to charge more than its competitors.
   Wall Street Journal (Public access), January 06, 2009

Tufts to Break with Blue Cross
Tufts Medical Center has begun warning thousands of patients that Tufts doctors will no longer accept Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO coverage after Jan. 31, asserting in a letter that the state's largest health insurer refuses to pay Tufts doctors at a "reaso
   Boston Globe and Boston.com, January 06, 2009
   * Registration May Be Required

Toledo area physicians say good-bye to prescription pads
Computerized approach designed to avoid errors, boost patient safety
   Toledo Blade, January 05, 2009

Denver Health sees costs for covering poor soar in '08
Denver Health Medical Center in 2008 provided about $315-million in care for the uninsured, a record for the city's primary "safety-net" hospital for the poor.
   Rocky Mountain News, January 05, 2009

UI Revenue Management Adoption Pays Large Dividends.
The Joint Office of Revenue Integrity reports that the enterprise-wide revenue management allowed UI to recover more than $20 million in hospital payments from insurers that UI Health Care would not have received otherwise in the past four years.
   Media-Newswire, December 30, 2008

Hospitals ill from Debt, Credit Troubles
Hospitals, which employ 5 million people, are reporting that donations and investment returns are down, patient visits are flat and profitable diagnostic procedures and elective surgeries are declining as people with inadequate insurance delay care.
   AP, December 30, 2008

Legal and Malpractice 

Cross-dressing doctor who killed wife found hanged
Dr. Richard Sharpe, the cross-dressing Gloucester dermatologist serving life in prison for killing his estranged wife, was found dead Monday night in his cell at the state prison in Norfolk, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction.
   Boston Globe and Boston.com, January 06, 2009

Emory Psychiatry Chair Penalized For Hidden Payments From Drug Company
After investigating allegations that Dr. Nemeroff had improperly accepted money from drug companies without disclosing it to Emory or to the NIH, the university announced that Dr. Nemeroff would relinquish his department-leadership post after 17 years.
   Chronicle of Higher Education, December 30, 2008



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