AHA responds to tax-exempt proposals, tax form
The American Hospital Association has responded to two initiatives that would affect tax-exempt hospitals. It told the Internal Revenue Service that its proposed changes to Form 990 would require adaptation if it is to accomplish the stated goal of achieving transparency. Separately, the AHA wrote Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that it cannot support any of the proposals outlined in a discussion draft on tax-exempt hospitals prepared by staff of the Senate Finance Committee.
Adverse drug events have doubled since 1998
The number of serious adverse drug events reported to the Food and Drug Administration totaled 89,842 in 2005, more than double the amount in 1998, according to a study published in a recent issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Additionally, The number of fatal adverse drug events more than doubled over the period to 15,107. While 1,489 drugs were associated with adverse events, 20 percent of them accounted for 87 percent of the reports.
New study sheds better light on hospice use
The three causes of death with the highest utilization rates for hospice services are those that commonly impose high burdens of caregiving on families, according to a new study sponsored by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Researchers examined records of the 1,811,720 persons aged 65 and older who died in the United States in 2002. Hospice use by cause of death varied significantly and was highest for people with cancer (65 percent), followed by kidney disease/nephritis (55 percent), Alzheimer’s disease (41 percent) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (30 percent).
Hospitals spending more on information security
Nearly half of the nation’s healthcare providers say their spending on information security increased this year over last year, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/CIO State of Information Security Survey. Some 31 percent of 163 respondents said they are increasing spending by as much as 10 percent, and 15 percent said they are increasing security spending by double-digit rates. Another 34 percent are keeping spending levels the same. Some 84 percent of providers said that regulatory compliance is what is driving their information security spending.