Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospital Merger Trend Drives Up Prices, Hurts Quality, FTC Chief Warns
Consolidation in the health-care industry is accelerating and has helped drive up prices in parts of the country, Edith Ramirez, chair of the Federal Trade Commission, said in a speech Friday. 鈥淚 remain very concerned about the rapid rate of consolidation among health-care providers,鈥 Ramirez said. Last year, the number of hospital mergers increased 18 percent compared with the previous year, she said. In areas where there is a hospital monopoly, prices are 15 percent higher than those in areas with four or more competitors, and the average in-patient stay in those places is almost $2,000 higher, Ramirez said. (Merle, 5/13)
After "super bug" outbreaks last year involving a hard-to-clean medical scope, state health inspectors descended on two of Los Angeles鈥 largest hospitals and found numerous safety violations that appeared to put far more patients at risk. At UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the state declared an 鈥渋mmediate jeopardy鈥 鈥 meaning lives were at imminent risk 鈥 on March 4, 2015, after finding staff using contaminated water and a tainted liquid cleaner dispenser being used to ready colonoscopes and other devices for the next patients. (Petersen, 5/14)
On average, 78 percent of hospital beds in the state were filled during the 2014 fiscal year, and patients stayed an average of five days. Connecticut鈥檚 acute care hospitals earned an average margin of 6.22 percent that year. And overall, 42 percent of their patients were covered by Medicare, 31 percent had private insurance and just under a quarter had Medicaid. (Levin Becker, Ba Tran and Chang, 5/16)
The University of Connecticut opened its new 11-floor, 38,000-square foot hospital tower. Seventy patients on five floors, including those in intensive care, were moved Friday from their rooms inside the existing Connecticut Tower at John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington into the new University Tower. (5/14)
What happens when a big-league health system, clean-air advocates and construction companies sit down at the same table? Medical values influence building projects, averting some pollution at two health system construction sites. (Clabby, 5/14)
