Medicare releases hospital prices for outpatient procedures

Federal officials pushing for more price transparenny on Monday released new data revealing what hospitals charge for 30 outpatient procedures, reflecting big differences in the prices that hospitals bill patients for similar services.

Surgeries down at Holtz Children’s Heart Center

Administrators for the pediatric cardiovascular program at Holtz Children’s Hospital accepted probation from the state after the number of children’s heart surgeries fell below the required 150 per year.

Jackson Health board working to reverse financial crisis up for re-approval

The board that runs Jackson Health System is up for re-approval by the Miami-Dade County Commission after two years of working to turn around the hospital system’s dire financial situation. One member faces ethics questions.

Healthcare

Jackson Health System solvent for first time in five years

For the first time in five years, Jackson Health System is solvent, administrators say, but many financial challenges remain for Miami-Dade’s public hospitals.

Marijuana

Miami area leaders discuss marijuana legalization

The Urban League of Greater Miami and Concerned African Women are hosting a public conversation to discuss the broad impact of the legalization of marijuana, particularly in inner-city communities.

Healthcare

In Miami, more hospital prices may see light of day

Hospitals are loath to reveal their prices for fear of giving competitors an advantage. But the disparity in prices for the same procedure at different hospitals — and healthcare reform — could change that.

Drug addiction

As pill mills fade away, heroin fills the void

There are signs that heroin is returning as a cheap alternative to prescription pills, the by-product of Florida’s successful crackdown on pill mills.

Healthcare

Abused, isolated: the hard life of little Anubis Day

Anubis Day and more than 200 other Florida children are at the heart of a bitter fight over the state’s practice of putting frail children into nursing homes.

State oversight

Inside a nursing home: cartoons, tunes and tears

A recent inspection at one nursing home caring for children found significant shortcomings.

Florida health centers to help enroll uninsured for coverage

Federal officials announced that $8 million is available to 48 Florida community health centers to help the uninsured enroll in insurance coverage made available by the Affordable Care Act.

Healthcare

Want to compare hospital costs in South Florida? Here's how:

The federal government released data for the first time to allow consumers to compare medical costs at hospitals, including those in South Florida, revealing some major price differences.

New health clinic opens in West Grove

A new, federally-funded clinic serving the poor and uninsured opened in Coconut Grove this week, and a second is scheduled to open in the area in June after a longtime neighborhood health center closed in April.

FIU researchers develop new pathway to brain for medicine

A physicist and an immunologist working together at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine have developed a technique to deliver anti-HIV drugs to the brain more effectively.

Cancer treatment bill awaits Scott’s signature

Among the healthcare-related achievements of the legislative session that ended last week: passage of the Cancer Treatment Fairness Act, a bill that now awaits the signature — or veto — of Gov. Rick Scott. It would require insurance companies to cover oral chemotherapy treatment in the same manner they cover the treatment when administered intravenously by injection.

Healthcare humanitarian speaks in Coral Gables

“What I’m most interested in is getting good outcomes for poor people,” Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, the organization that has delivered healthcare to millions throughout the world, especially in Haiti, said Sunday at Coral Gables Congregational Church.

Baptist Hospital launches $90 million expansion of cardiac, vascular institute

New operating rooms for neuroscience, cardiac and robotic surgery, along with new medical technology and programs for treating a range of cardiovascular conditions will be added to Baptist Hospital of Miami by 2016 as part of a $90 million expansion launched last week, hospital officials announced Tuesday.

Jackson board recommends renewal of Migoya’s CEO contract

The board that oversees Jackson Health System recommended renewing the $590,000-a-year employment contract of CEO Carlos Migoya. Miami-Dade commissioners must approve the contract before it becomes official.

Jackson board member accused of ethics violations

Two hospital administrators have filed complaints with the Miami-Dade ethics commission against a Jackson Health System board member for allegedly exploiting his position.

Discrimination suit filed against Baptist

Administrators at Doctor’s Hospital in Coral Gables discriminated against a physician with epilepsy when they refused her request for a “reasonable” schedule change and later fired her, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.