WASHINGTON — Consumers on Wednesday will finally get some answers about one of modern life's most persistent mysteries: how much medical care actually costs.
For the first time, the federal government will release the prices that hospitals charge for the 100 most common inpatient procedures. Until now, these charges have been closely held by facilities that see a competitive advantage in shielding their fees from competitors. What the numbers reveal is a health-care system with tremendous, seemingly random variation in the costs of services.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
Sentara Healthcare and Halifax Regional Health System in South Boston, Va., have formally agreed to merge, a Sentara spokesman said.
The full details of the deal were not disclosed as the agreement is pending regulatory approval by the Virginia attorney general's office. The projected closing date is July 1.
The agreement was signed last week and a public meeting was held in South Boston on Monday.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
Sentara Healthcare is consolidating its information technology workforce under one roof, a move that officials say will allow for better management of the growing IT demands of the health care giant.
Currently, IT technicians are housed in at least five different facilities around Hampton Roads. When the transition is finished next year, some 580 employees will occupy a former Sentara hospital location.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
Dr. Richard Homan, a primary care physician who rose through the ranks of medical academia, officially took office as president of Eastern Virginia Medical School this month.
He succeeds Harry Lester, who, in his eight years, has been widely credited with increasing revenue, expanding class size and publicizing the school and its mission of community focus.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
Harold Goodridge, a 46-year-old small business owner, found himself at the Chesapeake Care Clinic recently, his first-ever visit to a free or low-cost clinic.
He opted not to share the reason, but said he was referred there by an area hospital after an emergency room visit. Things may have been different if he had health insurance, he said, but he dropped that years ago due to costs.
"If I had health insurance, a lot of things just wouldn't have been taken for granted and overlooked," he said.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
Sentara Healthcare will likely add its 11th hospital this summer, CEO David Bernd said recently.
Bernd said Halifax Regional Health System, which is based in the south central Virginia town of South Boston, should join Sentara's system in June - the third hospital to do so since 2009.
"There are only seven independent hospitals left in the state of Virginia that aren't part of systems," Bernd said, speaking about the trend of consolidation.
Staff report
First Colonial Inn in Virginia Beach is undergoing renovation to increase its assisted living residences by 200 percent. The expansion will include reconstructing independent living apartment homes to increase the assisted living accommodations from 20 to 60 homes. The property expects to hire up to 10 new employees to manage the additional units.
Hospitals that treat the most vulnerable patients may have the toughest time weathering spending cuts under the president's health-care law.
Approximately 1,500 hospitals nationwide are known as "safety net" providers, because they care for a larger portion of uninsured patients than their competitors.
Under the Affordable Care Act, the safety-net hospitals will gain a new source of revenue when millions of the uninsured gain coverage.
WASHINGTON — Two leading health-insurance providers squared off during congressional testimony Thursday, debating whether the government should allow more plans to participate in the $47 billion health-benefits program for federal employees.
At a hearing before the House subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce, United Healthcare urged lawmakers to allow regional and state preferred-provider organizations (PPOs) to join the health-benefit program, which covers about 8 million workers.
By Jared Council
jared.council@insidebiz.com
CareFamily.com has grown exponentially since its late 2011 launch, and CEO Tom Knox says stay tuned.
The website, which links caregivers to families who need them, has seen its caregiver database grow from 3,000 to roughly 50,000 within the past year, now covering all 50 states. Website traffic is averaging between 30,000 and 40,000 hits a month, up from a few thousand a month last year.
