Posts Tagged ‘Chicago’

Remote Area Medical Brings Healthcare Services to Needy Locales – Including Chicago

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

New Illinois law lets doctors cross state lines to take care of the uninsured.  A prime example of why access to quality healthcare needs to be expanded is an ambitious effort to hold an enormous, free medical event in Chicago.  The proposed event, sponsored by Remote Area Medical (R.A.M.), can move ahead now that Governor Pat Quinn has signed a law making Illinois the second state to allow healthcare professionals licensed in other states to volunteer their services without obtaining official authorization. This change to Illinois’ Good Samaritan laws, which applies to out-of-state physicians providing charity care at free clinics, will directly help the 1.6 million Illinois residents who lack healthcare insurance.

Knoxville, TN-based R.A.M. brings free health, dental and vision care to geographically isolated areas around the world.  Last year, the organization broadened its scope to include large U.S. cities by holding a clinic in Los Angeles where more than 6,000 people received treatment.  Now, a group of Chicago physicians want to have a similar event in Chicago.  “Any time you can take a speed bump out, take away borders from healthcare, it helps,” said Dr. Ken Nelson, medical director at the Community Nurse Adult Clinic in LaGrange, IL.  “Not everybody is going to get insurance.”  One in six of Illinoisians under the age of 65 is uninsured.  Of those, 80 percent are in working families and 25 percent are children.

“The greatest impediment to what R.A.M. does, except here in Tennessee where they had the good sense to change the law back in 1995, is that for some extraordinary reason, a doctor, dentist - even nurses who are licensed to the same standards - are not allowed to cross state lines to provide free care for people in another state,” said Stan Brock, R.A.M.’s founder.  Ending these restrictions leads to “a quantum leap in volunteerism in this country.”

Healthcare High School Set to Open in Chicago

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

The Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy high school to train tomorrow’s healthcare professionals.  The Chicago Public School system (CPS) is moving proactively to train tomorrow’s medical professionals - starting at the high school level.  This coming fall, CPS will open the doors at Chicago’s inaugural charter high school specializing in healthcare education, a move that local hospitals believe will help relieve shortages in their workforces.  The Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy’s 160-member freshman class, which was chosen by lottery, will concentrate their studies on math and science.  Juniors and seniors will earn credits by working with hospital employees and serving internships as assistant nurses or in other healthcare specialties.  The goal is to prepare the students for jobs in healthcare, pharmacy technicians and assistant physical therapists.

“There’s a tremendous need for us to prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals,” said Juan Salgado, president of the Instituto del Progreso Latino, a non-profit career-development organization based in Chicago’s largely Hispanic Pilsen neighborhood.  “If we don’t do a better job of that in our city neighborhoods and communities of color, we’re going to fall short.”  The Instituto is one of approximately 100 created under Renaissance 2010, Chicago’s plan to open innovative schools in deprived neighborhoods.

Initially, the Instituto will share space with the Chicago campus of National Louis University at 122 South Michigan Avenue.  At some point, it will move to a permanent site in the Pilsen neighborhood.  In March, Chicago-area hospitals had openings for more than 3,000 registered nurses, according to statistics provided by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.  Additionally, hospitals have openings for physical therapists, pharmacists, lab technicians, computer experts and other professionals.

“The shortage of nurses and allied health professionals continues to exist, and it’s going to become a bigger problem,” said Kevin Scanlan, CEO of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council.  “This is an innovative program that relies on hospitals to provide opportunities to students.”

Rick Mattoon: Is the Recession Over?

Monday, March 8th, 2010

 The Fed says the recession is over.  Economic indicators show that the recession is over.  This is the opinion of Rick Mattoon, a senior economist and advisor in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Rick’s primary research focuses on issues facing the Midwest regional economy.

In a recent interview for the Alter Inspire Podcasts, Mattoon warned that most people probably don’t feel like the nation is coming out of a recession because there are few signs of job creation or easier access to credit.  One of the major concerns economists have is that this will be a double-dip “W-shaped” recession because once the bump from the $787 billion stimulus ends, there will be scant pent-up consumer demand for products and services to take the place of government spending.

One positive sign is an uptick in hiring by temporary employment agencies, which usually is considered to be a good harbinger of what future demand will be.  Another interesting theory about this particular recession in terms of jobs is the idea that companies adjusted their employee levels much more aggressively at the beginning of this cycle.  As a result, they are operating at extremely lean levels and so may hire earlier rather than later.

One problem is that there is a skills mismatch in the economy.  Many people who have lost their jobs don’t possess the right skills to find employment in growth industries such as clean energy or healthcare.  The challenge is training these individuals to bring their skills up to par.

 
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Illinois Should Improve Healthcare Delivery Quality: Study

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Illinois places 44th in national survey on quality of healthcare delivery.  Illinois medical providers rank among the nation’s most ineffectual when it comes to providing cost-effective treatment  and avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations.

According to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund’s report, Illinois ranks 49th among 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of “avoidable hospital use and costs.” The study measures how often Medicare patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease are admitted to the hospital or how frequently nursing home patients shuttle in and out of hospitals.  New York came in 50th, with Louisiana occupying the last place.

Illinois also placed 44th in terms of how effectively hospitals deliver basic care that avoids complications.  Healthcare costs and volumes of tests and treatments were found to be unusually high, especially in metropolitan Chicago.

There was some good news for Illinois in the Commonwealth Fund’s study.  The state ranked 20th in access to care, quality in terms of income, race and ethnic background; 29th in quality-of-life measures such as infant mortality; and 32nd in death rates for colon and breast cancer.  The study places Illinois in 42nd place in terms of the quality of overall healthcare delivery.

Cathy Schoen, Senior Vice President of the Commonwealth Fund and a co-author of the study, noted that the findings underscore the need for wide-ranging healthcare reform.  “We need payment reforms with incentives to do well on outcomes and efficiency of care,” she said.

Individual Health Insurance Policies Cost Less in Chicago Suburbs

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Study shows wild disparity in pricing between Chicago suburbs and the city.  A study has found that people living in Chicago’s inner-ring suburbs - towns like Oak Park, Evanston, Berwyn and Oak Lawn - have access to individual healthcare insurance quotes that average 14.6 percent less  than people living within city limits. According to data compiled by Norvax, Inc., a technology firm that serves the healthcare insurance industry, people who live 15 to 25 miles from downtown Chicago pay 12 to 15 percent less on their monthly premiums.  Move out another 25 or 40 miles from the city and premium rates are 20 to 30 percent less.

Norvax makes software that lets individuals search the lowest or best-priced private coverage offered by insurance brokers and agents.  Its public exchange, which has more than 80 insurance carriers, operates as Go Health Insurance. The research was based on data culled from running GoHealthInsurance.com quotes for 3,029 zip codes and 963 health insurance plans available in Illinois.  Later, Norvax narrowed the field of research solely to the Chicago area.

The most unexpected result is that residents of Chicago’s southern and western suburbs, many of which are considered to be blue-collar, pay 24.5 percent less for healthcare insurance than their city-dwelling counterparts.  By contrast, suburbanites living north of the city pay 14.6 percent less.

According to Judy Dugan, research director for public policy advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, Norvax’s research proves that today’s individual-coverage insurance market “is the Wild West” because the customized coverage available is not regulated.  “It’s one reason we need healthcare reform - to get rid of this kind of weird disparity in pricing,” she said.

Recession Makes Access to Quality Healthcare Less Accessible for the Poor

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Thousands of poor women on Chicago’s South Side have lost what may have been their single lifeline to decent healthcare with the University of Chicago’s recent announcement that it is closing its storefront Women’s Medical Center on 47th Street near Woodlawn Avenue. This move is the latest in a pullback by the University of Chicago on some of the healthcare services it delivers to the city’s poor and indigent.47001667

According to University of Chicago Medical Center executives, the clinic’s June closing is a victim of the deep recession that has forced the hospital to cut $100 million from its budget.  The Women’s Medical Center, which treated women whose only healthcare insurance is Medicaid, consistently lost money.  The tax-exempt hospital insists that it isn’t hurting the poor, saying that most of the clinic’s patients will be sent to other neighborhood clinics.  The move will let the hospital focus on the more complex illnesses of the patients who utilized the clinic.

“We can’t do everything for everyone in the community,” says John Easton, the medical center’s spokesman.  “Our goal is to use our scarce resources to provide complex care and let our partners in the community provide primary care, which they do very well.”

The clinic’s closure is a highly controversial move.  As a non-profit hospital, the Medical Center is perceived as having a responsibility to give back to its community in exchange for the enormous tax breaks it receives.  It’s a tremendous loss for the women who visited the clinic to keep up with their annual pap smears and mammograms.

Just Out of the Hospital? Check in at the Fairmont

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

You’ve just had grueling knee-replacement surgery and feel like a little pampering to make you feel better?  Reserve a room at Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel fairmont_600_x_558 for a plush post-operative stay until you’re ready to head home.

The Fairmont is just one American hotel cashing in on luxury medical tourism, which constitutes a $16 billion industry.  The Fairmont’s owner, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, did some research and found that most American patients, if given the option, prefer to stay in the country because of the cost of overseas travel and for the access to home-grown technology and medical expertise.

The Fairmont is teaming with Dr. Mitch Sheinkop, head of the joint replacement program at the Neurological & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago, who arranges post-operative hotel stays for interested patients .  According to Mike Phares, the Fairmont’s marketing director, “We make it easy for rehab technicians to come and go from the hotel to work with patients.”

Pricey, but a little pampering after a hospital stay has strong appeal to the affluent patient.  So far, the Fairmont is limiting medical recovery stays to orthopedic cases, but plans to target plastic and cosmetic surgical patients next.

Walgreen’s Reaches Out to Help the Unemployed

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

The nation’s largest drugstore chain is helping the unemployed and uninsured take good care of their health at a time when they need it the most.  walgreens23Walgreen’s, which operates 6,679 drugstores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, is offering free clinic visits to the unemployed and uninsured through 2009.

Although patients still have to pay for prescriptions, people who lose their jobs and health insurance after March 31 will be able to get free treatment at Walgreen stores with Take Care clinics for conditions such as respiratory problems, allergies, infections and skin conditions, among other ailments.  These treatments typically cost $59 or more for people with no insurance.

According to Hal Rosenbluth, chairman of the Take Care Health Systems division, the plan is an experiment; he isn’t certain how patients will respond to the program or what it will cost the company.  What’s certain is that the move is likely to generate positive attention for the clinics.  The typical Take Care patient tells eight other people about the experience, so the move could bring in significant new paying customers.  Walgreen’s operates 341 Take Care clinics in 35 markets around the country, including Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and Cleveland.

walgreens1To receive free treatment, patients must present proof that they have lost their jobs, including a federal or state unemployment determination letter and an unemployment check stub.  They will be required to sign a form stating that they have lost their jobs and health benefits.