Health Highlights: Sept. 28, 2009

Sept. 29 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Hundreds More Nursing Homes Candidates for Inspection: Report

Hundreds of potentially sub-par nursing homes aren't included in a U.S. government program that pays special attention to poorly performing nursing homes, says a Government Accountability Office report.

The report looked at a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services program that identifies as many as 136 nursing homes as "special focus facilities" that warranted more frequent inspections, the Associated Press reported.

But GAO investigators said as many as 580 nursing homes could be considered candidates for the program. The GAO report didn't identify the nursing homes.

The findings suggest that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services program has too narrow a focus, said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, the AP reported.

"If far more than 136 nursing homes boast the bleakest conditions, then perhaps we should consider expanding" the program, Kohl said. At the least, he said he wants stronger warnings used on Medicare's Nursing Home Compare Web site.

-----

Switch to Digital Patient Records Driven by Big Hospitals

Large hospitals seeking to improve patient care and gain a competitive edge are driving the United States' move toward computerized medical records, The New York Times reported.

One example is North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. On Monday, the regional hospital group was scheduled to announce plans to offer its 7,000 affiliated doctors subsidies of up to $40,000 each over five years to adopt digital patient records, the newspaper said.

That amount would be in addition to a federal program that offers up to $44,000 over five years for doctors who switch to computerized medical records.