NYCHSRO Medreview Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 2 July – Sept. 2006
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A PUBLICATION OF News in NYCHSRO/MEDREVIEW VOLUME 9, NO. 2 JULY - SEPTEMBER 2006 REVIEW www.medreview.us MedReview Forms Alliance to Recruit Nurses n recognition of the severe shortage of qualified Registered mine specific provider needs Nurses in the United States and in the New York area in particu- and work closely with providers Ilar, MedReview has entered into an alliance with Personnel to ensure that the needs are Management Services, LLC to recruit and place foreign-born nurses met. This will include identify- and other health care professionals with prospective employers in ing applicants that meet all the United States. The main thrust of the initiative is to recruit nurs- necessary legal and profession- es from the Philippines. al requirements for employment The joint program will be called International Healthcare Staffing in the United States. The pro- Solutions and will be directed by Gary Stern who is the President gram will then be responsible of Personnel Management Services. Mr. Stern has extensive experi- to see that all necessary docu- JOE STAMM AND HELEN MUTCHLER AT ence in recruitment of professional medical staff, both in the United mentation and licenses that are A MEETING WITH GARY STERN States and the Philippines. He has an established recruitment office required by the prospective in the Philippines and has successfully recruited more than 600 employees for travel and work in the United States are obtained. nurses per year. Any clients who are interested in participating in this new initia- The program will reach out to the provider community to deter- tive should contact Helen Mutchler at 212.897.6105. Humanitarian Mission to Israel t the request of Assemblyman Dov and members of relief organi- Hikind, MedReview’s CEO Joseph zations as well as families and A Stamm traveled to war torn Israel on a individual citizens in their fact finding and humanitarian mission on July houses and in their 30, 2006. The four day trip which centered bunkers. exclusively in the embattled northern region of The trip left an everlast- the country was also attended by Councilman ing impression as to the David Weprin, Chairman of the Finance plight of the Israeli citizens Committee of the New York City Council. which, for the most part, The eighteen member group met with the was never clearly presented mayors in the northern Israeli towns. The group in the media. (See accompa- was particularly interested in how Israel was nying published article by managing the health care emergency created Joseph Stamm on Page 4). by the war as well as the bombing of civilian populations in Israel. They were able to sched- ule a meeting with the CEO and other top Inside This Issue... administrative staff of Rambam Hospital. e MedReview Forms Alliance to Recruit Nurses Rambam Hospital is the largest hospital in the north and was the triage hospital attending to e Humanitarian Mission to Israel all of the injuries/casualties of the war. The e Healthcare Headline Summaries group also visited with the wounded soldiers e MedReview Political Outreach e News In Review Profile: Richard Bonforte, M.D. e Trip of a Lifetime e NYCHSRO Poetry Corner e Memorial Service for Dr. Eric Vanderbush e Obesity Costs e NYCHSRO/MedReview Takes to the Seas Infant Mortality in Voluntary C-sections – Change in Medicare Part B Premium amount for uninsured patients notwithstand- New York Times (NYT) – 9/5/2006 – A Calculation – (New York Times (NYT) – ing recent lawsuit attempts to collect on recent study has found that the risk of death 9/11/2006 – The Medicare Part B unpaid bills. in newborns delivered by Cesarean section deductible will no longer be a uniform The Senate Committee was also advised is much greater than previously believed. amount for all recipients. Effective in 2007, that NYPH’s CEO, Dr. Herbert Pardes made The rate among low-risk women is 1.77 the Part B premium payments will be gradu- more than $4.6 millions per year while the deaths per 1,000 live births while the rate ated based on personal income with wealth- hospital’s director and executive vice presi- for vaginal deliveries is 0.62 per 1,000. ier people paying a surcharge to offset the dent made about $3.4 million, not counting The study included 5,762,037 live births less wealthy. retirement contributions. NYPH also indicat- and 11,897 infant deaths in the United Using income from the Internal Revenue ed that, in addition to undisclosed travel States from 1998 through 2001 and Service from tax returns for 2005, if an indi- expenses for its top executives, the hospital encompassed 311,927 Cesarean deliveries vidual has modified gross income of reimburses Dr. Pardes about $4,300 each among low-risk women. $80,000 to $100,000, the surcharge will year for his membership in an unidentified The percentage of Cesarean births has be 13.3 percent, which will add about $13 “private social club”. been dramatically on the rise, increasing to the monthly premium, for a total of about from 20.7% in 1996 to 29.1% in 2004. $111.50. For a single person with income Health Care Premiums Rise Twice as Fast as While the mortality rate from Cesarean of more than $200,000, the surcharge will Wages and Inflation in 2006 (WSJ) – deliveries has always been higher than be 73.3 percent, or about $72 a month, for 9/26/2006 – Average family health insur- vaginal deliveries, it has always been a total premium of about $170.50. ance premiums rose 7.7% in 2006. After assumed that this was due to the high risk When the transition is fully implemented several years of steady increases, the cost nature of Cesarean. This study is the first to in 2009, it is anticipated that the wealthiest for family coverage under an employer reflect a significant higher degree of mortal- individuals will pay two to four times as health plan is now $11,480. However, this ity in a low risk population. much as the average person. year’s increase was lower than previous The report speculates that part of the rea- years and many large employers expect the son for the increased mortality may be that Congressional Review of New York downward increases to continue in 2007 to labor is beneficial to the baby releasing hor- Presbyterian Hospital Costs- New York Sun 6%. mones that promote healthy lung function. (NYS) - 9/13/2006 – Senate hearings Most larger firms indicate that they’re The physical compression of the baby dur- focused on high charges billed to uninsured adding “consumer directed” plans, which ing labor is also useful in removing fluids patients at nonprofit hospitals were centered combine deductibles of typically more than from the lungs and helping the baby pre- on New York-Presbyterian hospital. Senator $1,000 and some sort of tax-saving account pare to breathe air. Grassley, during the hearings, indicated to make employees more of a financial that “Non-profit doesn’t necessarily mean stake in their health care spending. Cancer Mortality Trends – Wall Street pro-poor patient. Non-profit hospitals may Journal (WSJ) – 9/6/2006 – The Annual provide less care to the poor than their for- Quality and Cost of Care Disclosure- (WSJ)- Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer profit counterparts. They may charge poor, 8/23/2006 - On August 22, 2006, reported that death rates from cancer are uninsured patients more for the same ser- President Bush issued an executive order continuing to decline but there has been an vices than they charge insured patients. requiring all federal agencies to disclose the unexpected increase in cases of thyroid can- They sometimes give their executives gold- quality and cost of care provided to cer. plated compensation packages and gener- Medicare beneficiaries, federal employees, For men, overall rates declined 1.6% ous perks, such as country club member- the military and veterans. The order also annually between 1993 and 2003 and the ships. All of this calls into question whether promotes the use of health-care technology decline was 0.8% for women. However, non-profit hospitals deserve the billions of and rewards consumers who shop for med- thyroid cancer rates during that same period dollars in tax breaks they received from fed- ical care based on quality and value. increased 9.1% for women from 2000 to eral, state, and local government.” President Bush called on private employ- 2003. The rate for men also increased but While Presbyterian wasn’t singled out ers, unions and local governments to follow not as significantly. specifically, some of its practices could gen- suit. "People deserve to know what their The study also found that Latinos had erate further questions. At the hearings, health care costs, how good it is, and the lower incidence rates than non-Hispanic NYPH indicated that its list prices for proce- choices available to them…", Secretary of whites for most cancers but that Latino chil- dures, office visits, and hospital stays repre- Health Leavitt stated. Some insurers such as dren have higher incidence rates of sent, on average, a 98% markup from the Humana and Aetna are already experiment- leukemia, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, hospitals costs. Insured patients and their ing with giving information to help con- and germ cell tumors than do non-Latino insurance companies almost always get a sumers compare care and may use federal white children. discount, which averages 47% for private government standards, as they are devel- plans. However, NYPH also indicated that oped, to become benchmarks in the private it never sees about 82% of the billed sector.