Healthcare Roundup: Surgical Checklist Surges, Rockefeller Cues EHR Mandate, Health Plan Enrollment Drops, ASCs Suck Straw, and More

Good start for safety measure – In January, the Institute of Healthcare Improvement announced that it was trying to get all U.S. hospitals to test a surgical checklist by April 1. The checklist for ORs and surgeons has been shown to reduce complications and mortality. Although only 622 hospitals—about 10 percent of the total–had tried the checklist in at least one OR by IHI’s deadline, the organization is pressing on with its campaign to save lives. [Sources: BNET Healthcare, IHI]

Hospitals still have long way to go – Only 7 percent of hospitals meet the medication error prevention standards of the Leapfrog Group, according to a recent report from the private/public coalition, which has long fought for improvements in hospital safety. One of the Leapfrog criteria is the use of computerized physician order systems—which is also one of the areas where all but 6 percent of hospitals fall short in terms of qualifying for government health IT subsidies. Leapfrog also found that a minority of hospitals adhered to nationally endorsed process measures that are known to save lives during eight procedures. [Source: Healthcare IT News, BNET Healthcare]

Is an EHR mandate on the horizon? – The stimulus incentive law doesn’t require physicians to get EHRs; it will just reduce their Medicare payments if they don’t, starting in 2015. But Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, would go further. In a proposal that would create a new post of National Director for Health Care Quality, Rockefeller also would require EHR usage by 2015 as a condition of receiving Medicare payments. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Big insurers report lower earnings, membership – WellPoint, one of the largest U.S. insurers, said its enrollment had fallen by 500,000 members since the end of last year; 325,000 of those members were laid off during that period, and lost their coverage as a result. WellPoint also reported a 1.3 percent decline in net income for the first quarter of 2009. UnitedHealth Group, the other market leader, saw commercial plan enrollment drop by 900,000 people during the first quarter. Again, layoffs were blamed for much of the decline. [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Kaiser Permanente sees PHR uptake – Kaiser Permanente said that more than 3 million of its 8.6 million members nationwide use its My Health Manager web service. My Health Manager, which is connected with Kaiser’s EHR, allows members to access their PHRs, e-mail their physicians, order prescriptions, view lab results, and schedule appointments. [Source: iHealthBeat]

ASCs are sucking straw -  In a recent survey of nearly 1,000 ambulatory-care organizations, 61 percent of the respondents reported that patient volume had decreased in the past 12 months, and 11 percent reported a falloff of 20 percent or more. The number of elective procedures decreased for 57 percent of the respondents. Three-quarters of the participating organizations were ambulatory surgical centers, and the rest were either office-based surgical practices or student health services facilities. [Source: Modern Healthcare]

Not everybody is suffering – Aetna CEO Ronald A. Williams took home $3.14 million in compensation last year, and was also awarded stock rights that could be worth up to $10 million. However, they won’t be worth anything unless the stock price more than doubles. If earnings per share rise 15 percent this year, Williams could also stand to gain $4.3 million from “performance stock units.” The total of $17.4 million is a come-down for Williams, who earned $40.2 million in 2007, including $32.8 million from exercising stock options granted in previous years. Aetna’s stock price fell steeply in 2008, but its revenue jumped 14 percent—excluding investment losses. Enrollment grew by 848,000 members. [Source: Hartford Courant]