Obama Names Former DaVita Director Health Czar
from Renal Business Today
President Obama has named former DaVita director Nancy-Ann DeParle to be the nation’s health czar, who will coordinate the administration’s health policy. DeParle, 52, will serve as counselor to the president and director of the White House Office for Health Reform. Her position is not subject to Senate confirmation.Obama made the announcement after he nominated Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to be the secretary of health and human services. Tom Daschle was originally pegged to fill both roles, but had to bow out after he revealed that he owed more than $140,000 in back taxes. More

On Health, President Takes Team Approach
from The New York Times
In naming a new team to run health policy for his administration, President Obama has recruited a formidable array of talent, but has not clarified the lines of authority, leaving various appointees to jockey for primacy. Mr. Obama announced his intention on Monday to nominate Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas to be secretary of health and human services. He also named Nancy-Ann DeParle to coordinate health policy for the administration. Her position, counselor to the president and director of the White House Office for Health Reform, is not subject to Senate confirmation. More

U.S. Hospital Profits Fall to Zero: Thomson Reuters
from Reuters
Plunging revenues from investments have forced median profit margins for U.S. hospitals to zero, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of hospital finances published on Monday. And half of the more than 400 hospitals studied are losing money, the analysis found. More

SHCA Online Education
from The Greenwich Time
Administrators from the Greenwich Department of Health, Greenwich Hospital, the Commission on Aging and the Greenwich Chaplaincy have teamed up to create the Advanced Care Planning Coalition of Greenwich. Coalition programs, scheduled for noon every Tuesday at the hospital starting this week, aim to help residents develop advance care-planning documents for use if a family member is sick or dying. The program is more than developing an advance directive. The program allows families and individuals to get very specific about the type of care they would want if they could not speak for themselves. More

Key Healthcare Players to do Lunch
from The Boston Globe
Senator Max Baucus said this morning he plans to have lunch with Senator Edward M. Kennedy this week to discuss a major healthcare overhaul, the top priority for both senators. The news is significant because Kennedy, who is suffering from brain cancer, has mostly been in Florida since Inauguration Day, when he experienced a seizure during a Senate luncheon. Obama, making healthcare a priority, put $634 billion in his 10-year budget plan as a downpayment and on Monday named two key aides to push an overhaul: Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as health and human services secretary, and former Clinton administration official Nancy DeParle as director of the White House Office of Health Reform. More

The New Reality: Coping With the Growing Shift to Patient Payment
from MSNBC
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that 46 million Americans, or 18% of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007, the latest year for which data is available. The sudden increase in numbers of uninsured patients means that those who walk through a healthcare provider's front door must assume greater financial responsibility for their treatment. More

Are You Health Literate? Medical Communication in the 21st Century
from HealthNews
Everyone reading this is literate. However, with increasing responsibilities on patients to understand their health care and to make increasingly more sophisticated decisions about disease prevention, screening for chronic illnesses, and use of vaccinations and medical therapies, health literacy has become a necessary skill which many people lack. Special comprehension is needed to understand the medical care system in this country, as well as one’s own healthcare. More