Richard Pizzi

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA, Inc., to positive from stable and affirmed all of the for-profit hospital giant's bond ratings.

More than 300 RNs at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park, Kan., have voted to align with Nurses United, the local arm of National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association.

Ohio hospitals are planning more cuts in staff, services and vital renovation projects, according to a statewide survey.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has released two related issue briefs that document coverage of family planning services and perinatal services in state Medicaid programs.

Beginning in 2010, Joint Commission-accredited hospitals will be able to report on a set of perinatal care core measures to meet Joint Commission accreditation requirements.

National Medicaid enrollment grew by two million in the first half of 2009 to more than 52 million, according to a new report.

The HWS Labor Market Pulse Index, a quarterly barometer of local market healthcare workforce fluctuations, shows near-term demand for healthcare workers growing fastest in Houston, Orlando and Atlanta for the third quarter of 2009.

A study by the Greater Cincinnati Health Council reveals that Cincinnati hospitals provided more than $276 million in uncompensated care in 2008, a 15 percent increase over 2007 numbers.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has released a draft rules-based mapping from SNOMED Clinical Terms to the International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) to support healthcare reimbursement.

Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., has signed an outpatient services agreement that could help underinsured patients and reduce ambulatory charity and bad-debt write-offs.