News in brief - May 30, 2011

Technically advanced hospitals have better credit

A report by Fitch Ratings finds that hospitals with advanced information technology systems or quality awards have better credit ratings than other hospitals.

Fitch rated 291 hospitals. Of those, 26% received recognition for excellence in quality of care either from a patient-safety award from HealthGrades, a quality award from the Baldridge Performance Excellence Program, or a top hospital designation from Leapfrog Group. Eight percent of the hospitals achieved stage 6 or stage 7 of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's seven-stage health IT adoption scale.

More than 80% of the hospitals that had a high level of health IT adoption or received a quality award got at least an A- credit rating from Fitch, compared with 67% of overall hospitals studied.

Back to top

CCHIT to certify specialty EMRs

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology announced that it will certify electronic medical record systems for use in women's health, oncology and clinical research beginning in June.

The certification will be a part of CCHIT's program to certify homegrown products physicians or health systems may have designed in-house. The certification will go beyond what is necessary to satisfy meaningful use requirements that are needed to qualify for federal incentive pay.

Criteria and test scripts are available on CCHIT's website (www.cchit.org). The organization will begin accepting certification applications on June 2.

Back to top

Hospital mass layoffs decline

Fewer mass layoffs occurred at hospitals in April than in the same month in 2010.

There were nine mass layoffs at hospitals in April, leading to 602 people claiming unemployment benefits, according to the monthly mass layoffs report issued May 20 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Eighteen occurred in April 2010, with at least 1,967 employees losing jobs.

Mass layoffs are defined as at least 50 jobs cut from a single company.

Numbers also improved for ambulatory care centers, which includes physician offices. Seven mass layoffs occurred in April, with 496 people losing jobs. There were nine mass layoffs in April 2010, with 637 jobs lost.

Back to top

AMA Insurance Agency offers 401(k) plan for physicians

The American Medical Association's Insurance Agency has launched a 401(k) plan designed for physicians and others working at small medical practices, according to an April 28 announcement on the Association's website.

Physicians' 401(k) is a multiple employer plan that is offered by the Millennium Brokerage Group, a marketing partner of the AMA Insurance Agency.

The plan is a way for several companies to join together and offer a 401(k) much like a larger firm. Multiple employer plans tend to be less expensive than the ones set up by small companies.

More information about the plan is online (www.physicians401k.net).

Back to top