A group of German patients has filed a lawsuit against financially beleaguered Integrated Surgical Systems Inc., alleging that the Davis company' Robodoc surgical robot is "defective and dangerous," according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The class action was filed in Yolo County Superior Court Dec. 17, six months after Integrated Surgical System's product liability insurance coverage was terminated because the company could not pay the premiums.

'Smart bombs' to deliver fatal blast to tumors
New Scientist, 1.5.2005

Nanoscale polymer capsules could one day be used to deliver chemotherapy direct to tumors, leaving adjacent tissue unscathed. The capsules would be designed to rupture when heated by a low-energy laser pulse, delivering their payload right where it is needed. Anti-cancer drugs would be more effective, and the side effects less severe, if they could home in on a tumor and be delivered in a single burst. This would allow the drug to reach the concentrations needed to kill cancer cells, while minimizing damage to surrounding tissue.

iPods Store Medical Images
eWeek.com, 1.5.2005

Radiologists are turning to iPods to deal with the hassles of managing medical images. They're not listening to music, though; they're looking at pictures. Medical images are increasingly important in diagnosing everything from cancer to heart disease to sports injuries. And they are used extensively for research, including brain function and experimental treatments, but they also require large data sets, making storing and transferring images problematic. Two radiologists recently developed open-source software, called OsiriX, to display and manipulate complex medical images on the popular portable devices called iPods.

Medication errors cut in Philadelphia area
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1.6.2005

A regional effort to prevent hospital patients from being harmed by medication errors has made progress, but more must be done, according to a new report. Launched in February 2001 by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council and two leading patient-safety organizations, the Regional Medication Safety Program for Hospitals sought to give hospitals the tools needed to reduce mistakes that injure and kill patients. A report on the program being released today concludes that participating hospitals had a 22 percent improvement toward meeting the council's goals.

Innovation or Irrelevance: Six Steps to Move Forward
HealthLeaders News, 1.7.2005

Anytime two or more healthcare executives get together, talk will eventually turn to the "tremendous" or "dramatic" change our industry has undergone in recent years. Yet, management guru/author Ian Morrison begs to differ. In his 2000 book "Healthcare in the New Millennium," he observes that "healthcare moves at glacial speed compared to most other industries." Indeed, the speed of change is relative. While recent years have brought considerable change to the industry (for example, increased physician-hospital competition and advances in information technology), healthcare change pales in comparison to that of industries such as financial services, information technology, pharmaceuticals, and even automobile manufacturing.

Surgical tools cleaned improperly
Raleigh (NC) News & Observer, 1.7.2005

Two Duke University Health System hospitals in Durham and Raleigh have notified about 4,000 patients that they may have been operated on with surgical instruments that weren't properly cleaned. Although letters to patients don't specify what happened, drums labeled "detergent" actually contained a petroleum-based hydraulic fluid that was piped into the instrument-cleaning system at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital. As a result, from early November until late December, instruments were washed with a solution of hot water and hydraulic fluid and then sterilized with heat. The problem was discovered after hospital employees noticed that surgical instruments seemed unusually slick and oily.

New implant highlights tension between patients, profit
Sacramento Business Journal, 1.10.2005

A new medical device called a drug-eluting stent has made the future brighter for heart patients, but darker for the hospitals that implant the devices. Stents essentially are small tubes made of metal mesh. They are used to repair and strengthen damaged arteries, and for the last decade the bare-metal version has surpassed balloon angioplasty as the procedure of choice. In the past few years, an improved stent has been available, one coated with medicine. Once inside the patient, the medicine gradually oozes out of the stent and helps the body accept the device. These drug-eluting stents also cut down on the formation of new blockages that would require repair work later. The problem for hospitals involves cost and reimbursement.

Suros puts product first
The Indianapolis (IN) Star, 1.10.2005

Suros' ATEC system -- Automated Tissue Excision and Collection -- is an air-powered tool that allows doctors to reach, cut and collect tissue samples through a needle. The procedure is minimally invasive, requiring a puncture rather than surgery.

Doctors finding bigger is better to reduce costs
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1.11.2005

Doctors are frustrated by low insurance reimbursements, high malpractice costs, and lack of control over patient care. They don't want to join hospitals or managed-care practices, but can't afford the overhead and malpractice rates of a one-to-two-person practice. So many small groups are finding strength in numbers - merging to form large private practices.

Hospitals Step Up Efforts To Avoid Medication Errors
The Wall Street Journal, 1.12.2005

It's a simple enough concept: Hospitals should find out what medications a patient is taking when he or she is admitted. Yet too many hospitals don't have a medication-checking protocol, opening the door to potential disaster, like a diabetic returning to a hospital recovery room without a resumption of insulin after surgery or a heart patient being discharged with a drug that duplicates one he's already taking.

Overuse of Medical Scans Is Under Fire
The Wall Street Journal, 1.12.2005

The government is likely to join a growing number of private health plans that are attempting to rein in the use of diagnostic scans. A Medicare advisory panel is expected to make several recommendations to Congress on the best way to curb the sharply escalating costs of MRIs and other scans.

Five Ways To Fix The FDA
Forbes.com, 1.12.2005

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may have the world's toughest job. A quarter of every dollar Americans spend annually--some $1 trillion in total--is regulated by the FDA. From the start, the safety of medicines has been the agency's most sacrosanct calling. The FDA was founded after a 1937 incident in which a poisonous medicine killed 107 people, most of them children. Since then, the FDA has become synonymous with drug safety. In a sense, "FDA approved" is the brand that the entire $216 billion U.S. drug market is founded upon. Dilute the confidence of the public in the agency, and many billions of dollars in current and potential sales vanish overnight.

How the Right CFO Fixed Cleveland Clinic
HealthLeaders, 1.14.2005

It's a brisk, calm Fall day in northeast Ohio, but at the Cleveland Clinic Health System's administrative offices, organized chaos reigns. Movers and maintenance personnel scurry about with their hands full, and boxes filled with files, frames and memoirs are strewn about the lobby. All signal a sea change in leadership at the world-famous academic medical center. For the first time in 15 years, a new boss is moving in. By all accounts, it is a friendly transition between outgoing chairman and CEO Floyd D. Loop, M.D., and his successor, Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D. But a six-month period between the naming of the new CEO and the departure of his predecessor has done only so much to limit stress on some 30,000 subordinates. Still, none of the upheaval penetrates the closed office door of Michael O'Boyle, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Health System's self-deprecating chief financial officer, who quietly has brought about tremendous change.

Micromachine grows its own muscles
New Scientist, 1.17.2005

A micromachine that walks using muscles that it grew for itself has been developed in a US laboratory. The remarkable device could eventually lead to muscle-based nerve stimulators that let paralysed patients breathe without a ventilator, or to nanobots that clear away plaque from inside the walls of a human coronary artery.

Through Efficiency, Hospitals Can Improve Both Quality and Safety
The Wall Street Journal, 1.18.2005

For the average patient, the costs and hassles associated with hospitalization make coming to the hospital a last resort. They fear a big bill that they can't pay off as much or more than the illness. Though cutting hospital costs can seem daunting – they've been rising far faster than inflation – there are small changes hospitals could make that would go a long way toward improving the patient experience, and lowering costs in the process. Prices are up because hospitals face challenges such as increasing patient loads, uncompensated care for the uninsured, shortages of nurses and declining reimbursement in the face of rising insurance and general operating costs. Other industries have similar problems too, but they are miles ahead of health care in instituting lean methods that cut the waste from their daily processes.

Minnesota hospital errors revealed

Minneapolis (MN) Star Tribune, 1.20.2005

Minnesota hospitals performed surgery on the wrong body parts, gave the wrong medications or made other mistakes that endangered patients 99 times in a 15-month period starting in the summer of 2003, according to the first such report in the nation. The report, released Wednesday by the Minnesota Health Department, said that 20 deaths were associated with hospital errors, including eight people who died after falls and four after medication errors.

Electronic Medical Records Could Save $78 Billion a Year

The Wall Street Journal, 1.21.2005

Roughly $78 billion is what a group of leading electronic-medical-record proponents believe could be saved annually if the U.S. were to adopt a system that lets medical professionals seamlessly access patient records and other medical data. The conclusion was in a report given to the Bush administration earlier this week.

Health IT Infrastructure Could Net Big Savings

eWeek.com, 1.22.2005

A national system for electronic health information could save as much as $78 billion dollars a year, or about 5 percent of current health care spending, according to a study by the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a nonprofit research group focused on health care. But about half of that value will be lost if health care providers do not make their systems interoperable, or capable of interfacing with each other. As hospitals and their outpatient affiliates move toward adopting EHR (electronic health record) systems, they do so without nationwide standards of interconnectivity. That often means that a patient's information from one provider is inaccessible to other providers.

Kaiser CEO reshapes a health-care giant for the 21st century

Sacramento Business Times, 1.24.2005

George Halvorson, Kaiser Permanente’s chairman and CEO, is convinced that Kaiser's continued financial success in coming years rests on two key strategies, which he's been pushing since he arrived nearly three years ago: Successfully implementing a $3 billion electronic medical record system by late 2006 and introducing a flurry of new products to attract younger, healthier enrollees. So convinced, in fact, that Halvorson has been politely turning aside requests by both foreign health officials and large employers to bring Kaiser to new regions or even new countries.

Baptist South to go 'paperless'

The Business Journal of Jacksonville (FL), 1.24.2005

In just a few weeks the 248,000-square-foot Baptist Medical Center South will open, featuring state-of-the-art care in 92 suites on a 32-acre campus off Interstate 95 and St. Augustine Road. But something will be missing. Paper. Baptist South will be Northeast Florida's first hospital to open as a paperless facility, meaning medical histories, treatment orders and all other documents will be kept only electronically.

Massachusetts hospital group to detail safety plan

The Boston Globe, 1.26.2005

The Massachusetts Hospital Association is expected to unveil an ambitious program today to improve patient safety in the state's 105 hospitals, including public posting of nurses' workloads at individual hospitals and the number of hours each day they spend directly caring for patients. The association's program is voluntary. But hospitals that sign a pledge to participate in the "Patients First" initiative agree to about 20 goals, such as regularly discussing patient safety at hospital trustee meetings and submitting their nurse staffing plans to state public health officials yearly. The association, which is a trade group run by hospitals, plans to report on a new website which hospitals have enrolled and their progress toward the goals, hoping that the public pressure and scrutiny will help motivate hospitals to participate.

High-Tech Alliance on Base for a Digital Health Network

The New York Times, 1.26.2005

Eight of the nation's largest technology companies, including I.B.M., Microsoft and Oracle, have agreed to embrace open, nonproprietary technology standards as the software building blocks for a national health information network. The Bush administration has said that creating such a network should be a national priority over the next several years. The goal is to improve care and reduce costs by abandoning paper and moving to a digital system for handling patient records, clinical research, claims and payments. Such a network, analysts agree, should save both lives and dollars.

MedPAC Recommends Extending Stark Moratorium on
Specialty Hospitals

HealthLeaders News, 1.26.2005

On January 14, 2005, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) announced the much-anticipated recommendations that it will make concerning physician investments in specialty hospitals. MedPAC voted to recommend that Congress take several actions, most notably extending the Stark specialty hospital moratorium for an additional 18 months, to address the growing concern about the effects of physician investments in specialty hospitals. The extended moratorium would give Congress time to further study the quality and efficiency of services offered at specialty hospitals, and, if warranted, to take additional, more drastic steps to level the playing field between specialty hospitals and community hospitals.

President Promotes Switching To Electronic Medical Records

The Washington Post, 1.28.2005

President Bush called on doctors and hospitals Thursday to move their medical records from paper to electronic files, a change that he said would improve medical care while shaving significant sums from the nation's spiraling health care bill. Speaking at the Cleveland Clinic, Bush quoted health analysts who said that the efficiencies wrought by electronic medical records could reduce medical costs as much as 20 percent. Electronic records can "help change medicine and save money and save lives," he said.

Harvard Medical School CIO Tests Embedded
RFID Chip

eWeek.com, 1.28.2005

As an emergency medicine physician, Dr. John D. Halamka immediately saw the life-saving potential of embedding tiny wireless RFID (radio-frequency identification) devices in people. As the CIO of the Harvard Medical School, he was naturally skeptical of such devices and wanted to test them thoroughly before recommending their adoption. As a physician CIO, he knew that there would be risks inserting any foreign object into a human being and that the body might interfere with the device's functioning and that the device could interfere with the body's functioning. Therefore, Halamka said he did the only reasonable move: He offered himself as a radio-signal guinea pig and got a first-hand experience of having an embedded transmitter.

Siemens' unit creating new 'digital hospitals'
Atlanta Business Chronicle, 1.31.2005

Alpharetta-based Siemens One Inc. has been rapidly growing its health-care technology business. The company, which is a subsidiary of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), is building "digital hospitals" in more than five states. The hospitals are designed so that medical equipment and information systems are completely integrated, as are building and energy infrastructure, communications, environmental controls and security. The "paperless" hospitals aim to improve operational and financial efficiency, while creating a more convenient experience for patients.

Medicare to Pay Bonuses to Doctors For Cutting Costs

The Wall Street Journal, 2.1.2005

Medicare launched an experiment to pay some physicians bonuses if they deliver better-quality care while reducing costs, a move that is part of a broad effort to reward health providers for improved performance. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services named 10 clinics that will be awarded bonus payments if they curb costs for patients with expensive health problems. Medicare currently pays physicians based on the number and complexity of services, leaving little incentive for health-care providers to make care more efficient.

Some Push to Make Hospitals Disclose Rates of Infection

The Wall Street Journal, 2.1.2005

There is a growing push for such disclosure, including a two-year-old national campaign by Consumers Union. The intent is both to help people make informed choices about what hospitals to use and, by harnessing competition, to spur hospitals to try harder.

Paying for Better Care, Not More: Medicare Joins the P4P Movement

The Wall Street Journal, 2.3.2005

About 46 cents of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. comes from the government, the bulk of it from the Medicare and Medicaid health-insurance programs for the old, the poor and the disabled. The government pays nearly 60% of the hospital bills and 20% of the doctor bills. So if the government changes the way it pays doctors or hospitals, it makes big waves in the health-care system. Which is why it's worth paying attention to the latest government experiments in paying doctors not for providing more care, but for providing better care. Paying for performance, known as P4P, is a fad in health care.

Pollution fighter turns clot buster

New Scientist, 2.5.2005

A material normally used to clean up car exhaust fumes could one day be used in dressings and surgical equipment to prevent severe skin infections and blood clots. It might even help combat infections by the MRSA superbug, a newly filed patent claims. What these medical problems have in common is that they can be treated with nitric oxide (NO). This gas is able to regulate blood pressure, stop thrombosis - blood clotting in the vessels - and is a powerful antibacterial agent. However, applying NO to the right areas and at the right levels is a major challenge.

Hospitals Build Deluxe Wings For New Moms
The Wall Street Journal, 2.8.2005

Even as hospitals are under increasing pressure to reduce costs, they are spending heavily in an unlikely area: luxurious maternity wards. Amid heightened competition, hospitals are betting that making a good impression on moms-to-be and their families during such a formative experience can build lifelong loyalty. The latest boom in hospital construction is an effort to win over patients with state-of-the-art facilities offering private suites, whirlpool baths and Internet access.

Creeping consolidation in the hospital M&A market

Lawsuit: Surgical robot is defective Sacramento Business Journal 1.3.2005

Micromachine grows its own muscles New Scientist, 1.17.2005

Pollution fighter turns clot buster

Lawsuit: Surgical robot is defective
Sacramento Business Journal 1.3.2005

Micromachine grows its own muscles
New Scientist, 1.17.2005