New Mexico awarded nearly $2 million for health care improvements

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By Sarah Matott

smatott@currentargus.com @SarahMatott224 on Twitter

CARLSBAD>> The state of New Mexico has been awarded about $2 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in order to better develop the overall health care system in the state.

New Mexico is one of 28 states who will receive funds, provided by the Affordable Care Act, to design health care payment and service delivery models that will improve health care quality and lower costs.

"We are committed to partnering with New Mexico to advance the goals we all share: better care, smarter spending, and ultimately, healthier people," Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell stated in a news release.

In the same news release, it reports that 34 states are participating in a comprehensive state-based innovation in health system transformation.

State Innovation Models include the improvements of primary care through patient centered medical homes, providing technical assistance to health care providers and strengthening the health care workforce through education programs and inter-professional training.

The State Innovation Model initiative is one part of an overall effort to help lower costs and improve care through the Affordable Care Act.

Some of the initiatives have helped reduce hospital re-admissions in Medicare by nearly 8 percent between 2007 and 2013, reassuring that Medicare patients who have been discharged will not have to be readmitted.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has both the Alamogordo Ben Archer Health Center and Presbyterian Medical Services Sacramento Mountain Medical Center in Cloudcroft listed on their website as health care facilities where innovation models are being tested.

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New Mexico awarded nearly $2 million for health care improvements

Hospital's new CEO takes job at tumultuous time

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Published: Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 10:40 p.m. Last Modified: Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 10:40 p.m. Facts David C. Verinder

Age: 47 Position: CEO, Sarasota Memorial Hospital Education: MBA, Auburn University, Bachelor's in Accounting, Louisiana State University Hometown: Dallas, Texas Family: Wife Monica, daughters Hayden and Haley

The health care industry is undergoing a tectonic shift, as the federal government and insurance companies recalibrate paying for health care under the Affordable Care Act.

In the last two months, the hospital has renegotiated large insurance contracts with United Healthcare and Staywell Wellcare after breaking a management agreement with Baycare, a nonprofit health system based in Clearwater.

And as a public "safety net" hospital, Sarasota Memorial bears the largest responsibility for treating uninsured residents in Sarasota.

Florida lawmakers, meanwhile, continue to refuse federal money to expand Medicaid coverage to nearly one million low-income Floridians, leaving hospitals such as Sarasota Memorial responsible for millions of dollars in uncollected debt each year.

But if his eight years at the nonprofit public hospital are any sign, Verinder is up to the task. He led the push to develop Sarasota Memorial's new $250 million Courtyard Tower.

"The Courtyard Tower was probably what got him the job as CEO," said Dr. James Fiorica, who, as the hospital chief of staff, represents the interests of the hospital's 800 medical staff members.

"He made the tower fit physician needs and came in on budget. That's what physicians look for in a leader: someone who can deliver what he promises and keep things stable for the staff," added Fiorica, a practicing gynecologic oncologist.

Financial credibility

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Hospital's new CEO takes job at tumultuous time

Wearable devices with health IT functions poised to disrupt medicine

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Wearable devices with health IT functions poised to disrupt medicine Share This Home News Newswire Wearable devices with health IT functions poised to disrupt medicine The next innovation in health care may come from Silicon Valley.

The next innovation in health care may come from Silicon Valley.

With Google, Apple and Samsung exploring how to incorporate health IT features into wearable devices, patients may soon provide information to doctors through devices such as smartwatches that can measure and transmit biometric data. Health IT wearables will open a digital conduit so that, for instance, doctors can more readily monitor patients with chronic conditions while also cutting down the need for office visits.

"What's going to accelerate health as much as anything is consumer devices having [medical] features on them so that we're continuously collecting this data over a large population of patients," said Dr. Leslie Saxon, a cardiologist at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and executive director and founder of the USC Center for Body Computing.

Companies like Apple, Google and Samsung "have the ability to, unlike medical companies, create continuous engagement with their users."

While none of these companies has health IT wearables generally available, each has shown interest in the market. Apple executives met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December to discuss mobile medical applications, according to the agency's public calendar. The company is rumored to be developing a smartwatch with health IT functions and has hired staff with backgrounds in medical sensor technology.

The FDA's calendar also noted that Google last year met with agency representatives including the adviser on mobile medical applications and staff who regulate ocular and cardiovascular devices. Additionally, Google developed and is testing a prototype contact lens that can help diabetics monitor their blood sugar by measuring glucose levels in tears.

Samsung and the University of California, San Francisco, recently established a lab on the school's campus to test and validate medical sensors and digital health technologies.

"We are now seeing a transition to companies thinking about these [devices] in a much more rigorous way, that they are going to be used for maintaining wellness or treating disease," said Dr. Michael Blum, the associate vice chancellor of informatics at the UCSF School of Medicine and the director of the school's Center for Digital Health Innovation.

The first generation of wearable devices from companies like Fitbit and Jawbone collect information that people would find interesting, like the number of steps walked, but have somewhat limited use from a health perspective, said Blum, who is a cardiologist.

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Wearable devices with health IT functions poised to disrupt medicine

Five hospitals receive rate increases from Health Care Authority

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Patients paying out-of-pocket or with private insurance in West Virginia can expect to pay a little more at five regional hospitals, which have received all or part of rate increases requested for their nongovernmental patients through the West Virginia Health Care Authority.

Two of the hospitals, the Logan Regional Medical Center and Williamson Memorial Hospital, received their entire requested rate increases from the Health Care Authority. Logan requested a 5 percent increase, from an average charge per discharge of $21,512 to $22,587, and Williamson requested a 4 percent increase, from and average charge per discharge of $11,759 to $12,229.

Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, in Ronceverte, United Hospital Center in Bridgeport and Raleigh General Hospital each received a portion of the rate increase they requested from the Health Care Authority.

Marianne Kapinos, general counsel for the Health Care Authority, told the Gazette in October that many hospitals do not receive their entire request because of penalties against the hospital.

Hospitals can incur penalties for different things: if theyve overspent, if theyve exceeded their revenue limits, different things, she said. If they dont spend the amount of money theyre given, theyre subject to penalties.

Greenbrier, United and Raleigh each exceeded their allowed average rates set for last year by between $1,200 and $1,500 on average, according to the Health Care Authority, so each was penalized with a smaller rate increase for this year.

Greenbrier requested a 7.25 percent rate increase and received a 6.19 percent rate increase; its average charge per discharge will increase from $13,486 to $14,320. United requested a 4 percent rate increase and received a 3.7 percent increase; its average charge per discharge increased from $21,133 to $21,916. Raleigh requested a 5 percent rate increase and received a 4.9 percent increase; its average charge per discharge will increase from $23,333 to $24,476.

Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.

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Five hospitals receive rate increases from Health Care Authority

The Top 10 NY Times Brunch Hate Reads Of 2014

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In 2013, the Times reached a zenith in onanistic trend pieces with a feature filled with futurism consultants who thought "Brooklyn is turning out to be the last three days of Burning Man." We worried that the paper of record would not reach those heights again this yearbut thankfully our fears were as unfounded as the reports that hipster baby boomers were encroaching upon "hip-hopping" territories. Whether they were lamenting the Sad Plight Of White Brooklyn or combing through the latest pubic hair trend, the NY Times was on it in 2014. Below, take some antacid and check out the best of the worst Brunch Hate Reads.

10. NY Times Picks Up Women With Real Life "Hitch": The Times profiled a Pick Up Artist (PUA) who resents the phrase PUA, and would rather be known as "a social development coach," dating coach, romantics professor, courage therapist, or interactions teacher. It was almost sweet, if you ignored much of the creepy subtext. But extra points for being a "life coach for young children."

9. The NY Times Is ON IT (Pubic Hair): Brunch Hate Reads transcend any one time and placethey can occur without warning in the middle of the week, but still carry with them the foul stench of Sunday morning coffee mingling with manufactured outrage. Anyone who opened the Thursday Style section the last week of January was greeted with just such a feeling upon reading the Times' dedicated pubic hair coverage. It was like listening to your grandfather talk about merkins.

8. Brunch Hate Reads: Having More Than One Job Is Hot New Millennial Trend: No, they're not talking about the millions of Americans struggling in this garbage economy and forced to take multiple part-time jobs just to get bythis is about precious young trendsetters reinventing a wheel that has been rolling downhill for decades.

7. Brooklyn Is Dead (Serious About Expensive Real Estate): The Times dug in to explore one of its favorite topics: the plight of well-off Brooklyn residents who are being priced out of Brooklyn by equally well-off Brooklyn residents.

6. NY Times Weekend Reaches Peak NY Times Weekendness: Long will we remember the weekend of August 16th/17th, when the stars aligned and the Weekend section gave birth to three beautifully masochistic trend pieces: a feature on mason jars (not a joke), an article about the indignity of adults living with roommates (the horror), and "Generation Nice," which included 33 uses of the word Millennial.

5. Brunch Hate Reads: Irritating People Discover Queens: The Times turned its terrible gaze toward Queens in a series of articles in the fall that confirmed that the "Toyota Corolla" of neighborhoods is finally getting respect from singularly irritating new gentrifiers. RIP Ridgewood, we hardly brunched in ye.

4. Sad Young People Lament The Plight Of Living On The Upper East Side: Some sad, financially-stable 20-somethings complained about the hardships they've endured by sacrificing their social lives to reside on the Upper East Side. Because, dear god, no one will visit them.

3. Young Rich People Are Aliens Infiltrating NYC With Cold Hard Cash: Reading between the lines, we finally understood how all these rich young people were able to afford prime Manhattan real estate while everyone else gets poorer: they're extraterrestrials in sweatpants.

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The Top 10 NY Times Brunch Hate Reads Of 2014

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core – The Price of Freedom (432 Hz) – Video

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Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - The Price of Freedom (432 Hz)
This is music from Final Fantasy VII (Crisis Core) named "The Price of Freedom" converted from 440 Hz to 432 Hz. Original music composed Takeharu Ishimoto. I am not compose it! *****No Copyright...

By: Isira Eternica

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Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core - The Price of Freedom (432 Hz) - Video

Fleeing To Dismal Swamp, Slaves And Outcasts Found Freedom

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Great Dismal Swamp, in Virginia and North Carolina, was once thought to be haunted. For generations of escaped slaves, says archaeologist Dan Sayers, the swamp was a haven.

Most Americans know about the Underground Railroad, the route that allowed Southern slaves to escape North. Some slaves found freedom by hiding closer to home, however in Great Dismal Swamp.

The swamp is a vast wetland in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. In George Washington's time, it was a million acres of trees, dark water, bears, bobcats, snakes and stinging insects. British settlers, who first arrived in 1607, believed the swamp was haunted.

By 1620, some of their slaves may have overcome that fear to find freedom there.

Hidden Islands Of Resistance Communities

Daniel Sayers has been working for more than a decade in Great Dismal Swamp; here, in 2011, he displays a fire-cracked rock from a dig site. His new book pieces together the stories of those who once lived in settlements scattered on patches of dry land in the swamp. Steve Helber/AP hide caption

Daniel Sayers has been working for more than a decade in Great Dismal Swamp; here, in 2011, he displays a fire-cracked rock from a dig site. His new book pieces together the stories of those who once lived in settlements scattered on patches of dry land in the swamp.

Today, 112,000 acres of swamp remain, and archaeologist Daniel Sayers has explored many of them. He's found large islands where escaped slaves settled.

"When you're walking through a thousand feet of the briars and the water, the mosquitoes are eating you alive, sweating bullets, and you're almost exhausted, and then suddenly your foot's no longer squishing in the peat but now it's walking on dry ground and crunchy leaves it blows your mind," Sayers says. "You can't imagine people not living there."

He's now written about life on these islands in a new book, A Desolate Place for a Defiant People. He believes 10 generations of escaped slaves lived here, along with Native Americans who'd been driven off their land and whites who were shunned by mainstream society.

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Fleeing To Dismal Swamp, Slaves And Outcasts Found Freedom