Chelsey Ledue

Wishard Health Services has announced that as much as $703 million in low-interest public bonds is needed to build a new $754 million Wishard Hospital campus.

Skyrocketing prescription drug prices are stinging Illinois residents over the age 50 - forcing nearly 20 percent to cut back on the basics, like food and utilities, in order to afford needed medications, according to a recent AARP survey.

Fulfilling a demand for both traditional and advanced refractive vision correction treatments will propel the ophthalmology market to become one of the largest healthcare sectors over the next ten years, according to a report by life science market research publisher Kalorama Information.

Qliance Medical Management, Inc., in Washington, has closed a $4 million funding round from three institutional venture capital firms, bringing total capital raised to approximately $7.5 million.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced the availability of up to $40 million in grants to help reach families whose children qualify, but are not yet enrolled in, state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs.

The 161 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are facing substantial increases in out-of-pocket costs, according to a study funded by the Commonwealth Fund.

Increases in physicians’ overall compensation in both primary and specialty care did not keep up with inflation in 2008, according to the Medical Group Management Association’s “Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2009 Report Based on 2008 Data.

Some large physician practices are looking to save money and possibly expand, even in the current economic climate, says an expert in physician practice operations.

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians should play a leading role in achieving healthcare reform by helping achieve a guaranteed 1.5 percent annual savings in healthcare costs that would pay for covering all Americans.