InfoAnda - Community Hospital In Rural Arizona Finds Innovative Ways To Survive

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Affordable News, Weather and Content for Websites, Apps and Digital Signage | AHN Feed Syndicate | 10 April 2011
US-TECH Summary | 6 December 2010
Hitachi president says green focus key to recovery | 6 April 2010

Montenegro ruling party set for win: exit polls | | 15 October 2012

Advertisement Community Hospital In Rural Arizona Finds Innovative Ways To Survive Source: (KaiserHealth) Reporter: KaiserHealth Staff Location: BISBEE, AZ, United States Published: August 2, 2011 08:19 pm EDT Topics: Health, Hospital And Clinic, Economy, Business And Finance, Financial And Business Service, Healthcare Provider Mayor Jack Porter rode up to the sole post office here on a red motorcycle, wearing all black, his long hair tucked under a baseball cap. Getting off, he walked with a slight limp, the only lingering effect of a frightening morning last July when Porter awoke with numbness in his right side and slurred speech. The paramedics had rushed him to the only emergency room in town -- Copper Queen Community Hospital. There, doctors determined he was having a stroke and gave him tPA, a clot-busting drug that, when administered within a tight timeframe, can minimize the effects of a stroke. Rural hospitals in Arizona rarely give tPA because they don't have stroke specialists; instead, they transfer patients immediately by helicopter to Tucson or Phoenix. But physicians at Copper Queen have a protocol that allows them to work with specialists remotely. So for Porter, that meant doctors 200 miles away at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale diagnosed his condition over a video link, allowing Copper Queen physicians to administer the drug on the spot, saving precious time. "The right decisions were made and I'm alive and walking today. If things hadn't gone well, I could have been another nursing home candidate," says Porter. Reaching out to specialists in Scottsdale and across the country is one way the hospital here is working hard to offer residents better care onsite. It’s also typical of the moves by Copper Queen's CEO Jim Dickson that have transformed the nonprofit rural hospital with just 15 beds into an unusually successful business. Over the past four years, the hospital has made a surplus of 5 to 10 percent, a margin much higher than rural hospital averages. It is a success that Dickson and other hospital officials fear won't continue as Arizona reduces overall health spending by $500 million in 2012. Making the hospital profitable here is tough. For about 100 years, Bisbee was a copper mining town. Scars and holes in the rock mark the spots where copper was once plentiful. But now the town of 5,500 people, just five miles from the Mexican border, has become a haven for hippies and tourists, the streets lined with art galleries and antique shops. People in the town and surrounding Cochise County tend to be low income and often suffer from chronic illnesses. Many are also uninsured. Nearly everyone agrees that Dickson is a savvy businessman. His secret, he says, is carefully tailoring the health care he provides to what the community needs and looking for opportunities to generate cash. He has trimmed services that don't make sense financially, which included some unpopular choices, such as closing the community's only labor and delivery facility, forcing women to travel an additional 25 miles to Sierra Vista. In addition, he has even found a way to keep costs low enough that he makes money from services provided to enrollees in the state's Medicaid managed care plan, which pays far less than most private insurers. More than 30 percent of the hospital's patients are insured through Medicaid. Dickson joined purchasing organizations with larger hospitals in order to buy lower-cost medical equipment, and he drove up his volume of patient services by opening three rural health clinics across the region. In addition to primary care doctors, each clinic has an X-ray machine, a lab and a physical therapist. Those ancillary services are a major part of Dickson's business plan, generating income in addition to the basic doctor visit. "There's one dollar for a patient visit, but three to four for diagnostics. You have to have that," he said. Lab tests are then sent to the main hospital for processing rather than to third-party companies to keep the testing profits in house. Dickson purchased much of the hospital's diagnostic equipment through grants from the federal government. He's also skillfully built a strong workforce, while many rural hospitals have difficulty recruiting. With a fulltime staff of 170, Copper Queen is the city's second largest employer. Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of National Rural Health Association in Washington, explains that the biggest challenge for rural hospitals is "workforce, workforce, workforce. For small rural communities, attracting and maintaining a quality healthcare professional within the facility is an ongoing challenge." Doctors are often hesitant to work in rural areas because of lifestyle issues, and rural areas tend to have the most significant provider shortages. Dickson employs 12 doctors, but pays them salaries similar to those they would earn in an urban hospital. The higher salaries, he says, enable him to attract the best doctors and keep them working in the hospital. He has only two specialists: a general surgeon and a radiologist. When patients need to see a cardiologist, neurologist or other specialist, they often travel 100 miles north to Tucson. But adding telemedicine has allowed Dickson to keep more patients at Copper Queen—and the revenue for admissions and treatments. He has telemedicine programs for cardiology, pulmonology, dermatology and stroke, although stroke patients often have to be sent to larger hospitals for evaluation after their initial treatment. But despite all of his successes, Dickson is anticipating some hard times. The state has begun cutting coverage for 140,000 Medicaid enrollees. In addition, it is scheduled to cut Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals by 5 percent beginning Oct. 1, which comes on the heels of another 5 percent rate cut in April. Altogether, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association estimates that the new state budget reduces hospital payments by $531 million, including more than $1 million for Copper Queen. Association president Laurie Liles calls them the deepest cuts Arizona hospitals have ever sustained. At the same time, hospitals are supposed to be gearing up for the federal health care overhaul, including a major Medicaid expansion in 2014. "It's really hard to get excited about 2014 when we're worried about now," Liles explained. Dickson says the cuts are likely to wipe out his surplus, but he believes he will still be able to offer the same level of services. Other hospitals may not be so fortunate. "I've had several CEOs tell me they'll close their doors," he explains. "That means no more health care in those communities." One of them is Brian Bickel, who runs the 25-bed Southeast Arizona Medical Center in Douglas, about 20 miles east of Bisbee. Bickel's hospital has been running a significant deficit for several years, and almost half of his patients are covered by Medicaid. Southeast is even more isolated than Copper Queen and sits several miles outside the town center on a desert plateau prone to wind storms. "If the cuts get too much more devastating, then you have to make a decision as to what you can live without," says Bickel, who predicted that his hospital might not survive the cuts. The situation is frustrating, says Bickel, because when the federal health law is implemented in 2014, the expansion of insurance benefits to more Americans would improve his situation. "If what we're looking at currently is devastation, then 2014 is going to be the gravy train rolling into the station," he says. Back in Bisbee, Dickson is preparing. If Bickel's hospital closes, those patients are likely to travel the extra 25 minutes to Copper Queen. So Dickson is planning to add an extra 10 beds in a new wing. In fact, he says, if the hospital closes, it could provide him a new business opportunity: a free-standing Copper Queen emergency room in Douglas. - Provided by Kaiser Health News. Republish Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! Share [ Close ] When publishing articles from AHN we require that you follow several simple rules and that you abide by our Terms and Conditions. You may: Use and display the provided article text on a website or blog. Under the following conditions: You may not republish the article(s) wholesale, automatically or systematically; articles must be republished individually. You may not sell license or redistribute the content without specific permission. Email us if you’d like to. You must display and attribute the article in the manner specified by AHN (but not in any way that suggests that we endorse you or your use of the work). You may not remove ads, logos or tracking information from the article. You may display the article on a website, but you may not use the article for any other commercial purposes. You may not alter, rewrite, transform, or build upon the article. You may only use provided the javascript code to request the article from our systems. Copy and paste the following into your blog entry or the HTML on your page. It will automatically deliver the article as the page loads. <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.allheadlinenews.com//syndicator?storyid=7020884860"></script> << Return to script page License THE WORK (AS DEFINED BELOW) IS PROVIDED UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE ("LICENSE"). THE WORK IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT AND/OR OTHER APPLICABLE LAW. ANY USE OF THE WORK OTHER THAN AS AUTHORIZED UNDER THIS LICENSE OR COPYRIGHT LAW IS PROHIBITED. BY EXERCISING ANY RIGHTS TO THE WORK PROVIDED HERE, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE. TO THE EXTENT THIS LICENSE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO BE A CONTRACT, THE LICENSOR GRANTS YOU THE RIGHTS CONTAINED HERE IN CONSIDERATION OF YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS. 1. Definitions "Collective Work" means a work, such as a periodical issue, anthology or encyclopedia, in which the Work in its entirety in unmodified form, along with one or more other contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole. A work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a Derivative Work (as defined below) for the purposes of this License. "Derivative Work" means a work based upon the Work or upon the Work and other pre-existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which the Work may be recast, transformed, or adapted, except that a work that constitutes a Collective Work will not be considered a Derivative Work for the purpose of this License. For the avoidance of doubt, where the Work is a musical composition or sound recording, the synchronization of the Work in timed-relation with a moving image ("synching") will be considered a Derivative Work for the purpose of this License. "Licensor" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities that offers the Work under the terms of this License. "Original Author" means the individual, individuals, entity or entities who created the Work. "Work" means the copyrightable work of authorship offered under the terms of this License. "You" means an individual or entity exercising rights under this License who has not previously violated the terms of this License with respect to the Work, or who has received express permission from the Licensor to exercise rights under this License despite a previous violation. 2. Fair Use Rights. Nothing in this license is intended to reduce, limit, or restrict any rights arising from fair use, first sale or other limitations on the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under copyright law or other applicable laws. 3. License Grant. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, non-exclusive, revocable (for the duration of the applicable copyright) license to exercise the rights in the Work as stated below: to reproduce the Work, to incorporate the Work into one or more Collective Works; The above rights may be exercised on freely and openly accessible web media formats . The above rights include the right to make such modifications as are technically necessary to exercise the rights in other media and formats, but otherwise you have no rights to make any alterations or Derivative Works. All rights not expressly granted by Licensor are hereby reserved, including but not limited to the rights set forth in Sections 4(d) and 4(e). 4. Restrictions.The license granted in Section 3 above is expressly made subject to and limited by the following restrictions: You may publicly display the Work only under the terms of this License, and You must include a copy of, or the Uniform Resource Identifier for, this License with every copy of the Work You publicly display. You may not offer or impose any terms on the Work that restrict the terms of this License or the ability of a recipient of the Work to exercise the rights granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. You may not sublicense the Work. You must keep intact all notices that refer to this License and to the disclaimer of warranties. When You publicly display the Work, You may not impose any technological measures on the Work that restrict the ability of a recipient of the Work from You to exercise the rights granted to that recipient under the terms of the License. This Section 4(a) applies to the Work as incorporated in a Collective Work, but this does not require the Collective Work apart from the Work itself to be made subject to the terms of this License. If You create a Collective Work, upon notice from any Licensor You must, to the extent practicable, remove from the Collective Work any credit as required by Section 4(c), as demanded. You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You in Section 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrighted works by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not be considered to be intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is no payment of any monetary compensation in connection with the exchange of copyrighted works. If You publicly display the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above), You must, unless a request has been made pursuant to Section 4(a), keep intact all copyright notices for the Work and provide, reasonable to the medium or means You are utilizing: (i) the name of the Original Author (or pseudonym, if applicable) if supplied, and/or (ii) if the Original Author and/or Licensor designate another party or parties (e.g. a sponsor institute, publishing entity, journal) for attribution ("Attribution Parties") in Licensor's copyright notice, terms of service or by other reasonable means, the name of such party or parties; the title of the Work if supplied; to the extent reasonably practicable, the Uniform Resource Identifier, if any, that Licensor specifies to be associated with the Work, unless such URI does not refer to the copyright notice or licensing information for the Work. The credit required by this Section 4(c) may be implemented in any reasonable manner; provided, however, that in the case of a Collective Work, at a minimum such credit will appear, if a credit for all contributing authors of the Collective Work appears, then as part of these credits and in a manner at least as prominent as the credits for the other contributing authors. For the avoidance of doubt, You may only use the credit required by this clause for the purpose of attribution in the manner set out above and, by exercising Your rights under this License, You may not implicitly or explicitly assert or imply any connection with, sponsorship or endorsement by the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties, as appropriate, of You or Your use of the Work, without the separate, express prior written permission of the Original Author, Licensor and/or Attribution Parties. 5. Representations, Warranties and Disclaimer UNLESS OTHERWISE MUTUALLY AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES IN WRITING, LICENSOR OFFERS THE WORK AS-IS AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF ANY RIGHTS HELD IN THE LICENSED WORK BY THE LICENSOR. THE LICENSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE WORK, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MARKETABILITY, MERCHANTIBILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE ABSENCE OF LATENT OR OTHER DEFECTS, ACCURACY, OR THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE OF ERRORS, WHETHER OR NOT DISCOVERABLE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SUCH EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 6. Limitation on Liability. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS LICENSE OR THE USE OF THE WORK, EVEN IF LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. 7. Termination This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminate automatically upon any breach by You of the terms of this License. Individuals or entities who have received Collective Works (as defined in Section 1 above) from You under this License, however, will not have their licenses terminated provided such individuals or entities remain in full compliance with those licenses. Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 will survive any termination of this License. Subject to the above terms and conditions, the license granted here is perpetual (for the duration of the applicable copyright in the Work). Notwithstanding the above, Licensor reserves the right to release the Work under different license terms or to stop distributing the Work at any time; provided, however that any such election will not serve to withdraw this License (or any other license that has been, or is required to be, granted under the terms of this License), and this License will continue in full force and effect unless terminated as stated above. 8. Miscellaneous Each time You distribute or publicly digitally perform the Work (as defined in Section 1 above) or a Collective Work (as defined in Section 1 above), the Licensor offers to the recipient a license to the Work on the same terms and conditions as the license granted to You under this License. If any provision of this License is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, it shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of the terms of this License, and without further action by the parties to this agreement, such provision shall be reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make such provision valid and enforceable. No term or provision of this License shall be deemed waived and no breach consented to unless such waiver or consent shall be in writing and signed by the party to be charged with such waiver or consent. This License constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Work licensed here. There are no understandings, agreements or representations with respect to the Work not specified here. Licensor shall not be bound by any additional provisions that may appear in any communication from You. This License may not be modified without the mutual written agreement of the Licensor and You. There are no third-party beneficiaries to this Licesnse. You waive any right to jury trial in connection with any action or litigation in any way arising out of or related to this License. You agree to pay all reasonable attorney fees and other costs incurred by Your breach of this license. This agreement will be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. You agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Palm Beach County in the State of Florida, and any cause of action which arise from use of this web site or from interpretation of these terms and conditions must be filed in the state and federal courts located in Palm Beach County, State of Florida. If any provision of this agreement shall be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from this agreement and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Any remaining provisions shall be given effect to the fullest extent possible. Need more news? visit FeedSyndicate for all of your content needs This is a BETA service and subject to change or cancellation. Most Popular Stories CBS analyst David Feherty joins The Golf Channel Scarlett Johansson hurt by soon-to-be ex-husband Ryan Reynold's rumored romance with Sandra Bullock Cuba registering first lung cancer vaccine in South America Drug cartel murders hurting Acapulco's tourist industry Britney Spears Single "Hold It Against Me" #1 On iTunes Everywhere Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes to skip Oscars because of Anne Hathaway Mass turtle dove death linked to overeating, indigestion Study links prescription drugs with violent behavior LSU football coach Les Miles mulls Michigan move, returns to Tigers Owen Wilson and girlfriend Jade Duell expecting a baby Recent Posts Most Popular Comments Recent Comments Popular Threads Advertisement Advertisement [ CLOSE ] --> [ CLOSE ] [ CLOSE ] [ CLOSE ] Submit News | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us | News and Content Feeds | Journalism Jobs Follow AHN on Twitter AHN Social News connects you with friends and the news © 2011 AHN All Rights Reserved | Hosted on the NewsBahn™

Other News on Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Raising debt ceiling U.S. avoids "default"; Obama urges Congress to nod trade deals
Colombia arrests leaders of submarine cocaine ring |
Redskins cornerback Buchanon suspended four games for unspecified reasons
Chinese cosmetic products sold in Manila contain high levels of mercury
Rachel Zoe to launch children's clothing line
U.S. relaxes limits on Somalia aid as famine looms |
U.S., Vietnam sign military medical cooperation
New law expands health care coverage for women
Miley Cyrus gets closer to God in new movie
Pakistan, U.S. try to narrow differences as officials meet |
Study explains why muscles weaken with age
Tiger Woods' dawn patrol back in action at Firestone
Commerce: Americans trim personal spending in June
Norway police still probing if killer acted alone |
UK to legalize private copying of CDs: source |
LivingSocial enters Korea with biggest acquisition |
MetroPCS warns on subscriber numbers |
U.S. trade panel to probe Apple claim against Samsung |
S1 board rejects ACI offer, backs Fundtech deal |
J.Lo says loved herself enough to quit marriage |
Charlie Sheen's Men character to get screen funeral? |
Whistleblower's tale has no Hollywood ending |
Kings of Leon cancel U.S. tour, Followill exhausted |
Syrian forces hit Hama again |
Egypt's Mubarak to face trial set to rattle Arab rulers |
Romero pitches well, Bautista finally homers again as Blue Jays edge Rays
Durant drops 66 at Rucker Park
Former 'Melrose Place' actor Grant Show's marriage on the rocks
It's Miller Time in Seattle: Seahawks sign free agent tight end
NBA owners file lawsuit against Players Association
Analysis: Honeymoon over, Yingluck treads political tightrope |
Community Hospital In Rural Arizona Finds Innovative Ways To Survive
Garrett Jones belts two-run homer, Bucs lead Cubs 2-1
IL VOLO announce first ever North American Tour
Kings of Leon management tries to pull videos from failed show
Guatemala sentences four in landmark civil war trial |
Kanye West and Jay-Z announce new "Watch the Throne" tour dates
New setback for Haiti's pop star turned president |
China taxi drivers strike for third day, some return to work |
Google+, Apple's iCloud keep developers interested |
Biggest-ever series of cyber attacks uncovered, U.N. hit |
Cavium forecasts Q3 sales below Wall Street, shares |
Sonus Networks posts surprise loss on delayed deals, |
Gotti film casts John Jr. but Lohan role in doubt |
Katy Perry, Teenage Dream make Billboard history |
Redmond O'Neal arrested for alleged drug possession |
Somalia heads terrorism risk, South Sudan in top 5: survey |
Chinese rating agency downgrades U.S.
Australian woman free after hours-long bomb scare |
Hughes pitches like No. 2 starter should as Yanks blank ChiSox
Rome starts crisis talks with Eurozone finance ministers
Sean Kingston hopes to release new single this year
USGS reports 5.2 magnitude quake off west Indonesia |
Iraq open to talks with U.S. on training mission
Ramadan fighting threatens Somali famine relief |
Michigan nabs dozens including physicians, pharmacies in health care fraud
Heidi Montag, Spencer Pratt say they're broke, regret seeking fame
Deutsche Borse-NYSE move forward with merger
Panel Formed To Give Consumers Reliable Treatment Information
Egypt’s Mubarak denies all charges on opening day of trial
Libyan rebels say counter-attack at Zlitan repelled |
Fear stalks Chinese residents in Kashgar after attacks |
Under fire in drug war, Mexico's media falls silent |
As bleak Ramadan begins, Yemeni protesters cling to hope |
RIM launches two new BlackBerry Torch phones |
South Korea fines Apple $2,855 over location data |
UK shakes up copyright laws, scraps plan to block websites |
Gloomy 2011 on the radar for Garmin |
Three firms drop EU antitrust complaints against IBM |
PCs another pest for Australian wheat growers |
Huawei bets on the cloud, mobile phone sales soar |
Gotti film casts John Jr. but Lohan role in doubt |
Latin jazz artists sue Grammys for dropping their category |
ABC Family, the CW tops in gay inclusive shows |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01