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Vera Whole Health will use Virginia Mason's streamlined care methods
Seattle-based Vera Whole Health is licensing Virginia Mason Medical Center’s strategy for improving care while controlling cost and waste in health care. Virginia Mason officials call the strategy...
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Medicare makes it easier to find out what doctors are paid
Medicare officials are going to start releasing information about how much the agency pays individual doctors – but only through public records requests and on a case-by-case basis. Under the new...
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Seattle Children’s reports cleaning lapse left some patients at risk
Seattle Children’s Hospital has notified about 100 patients that they could have been exposed to infections after officials discovered technicians weren’t properly cleaning a colonoscopy scope. “The...
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Federal commission steps in to address boarding of the mentally ill in...
EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland is being ordered to make changes to the way it treats mentally ill patients who are “boarded” in its emergency room. The Seattle Times first reported the...
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Benaroya Research Institute wins grant to lead international immune research...
The headquarters of an international immunology research network is moving to Seattle and receiving $27 million annually for seven years as it pursues new therapies for the many diseases of the immune...
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Tech problems still plague Washington’s Healthplanfinder site
Washington state’s health exchange has been one of the nation’s most successful – with more than 270,000 people getting coverage so far – but many people are still experiencing technical problems on...
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This week in health care: what’s happening in the Northwest and across the...
This is your weekly roundup of the most critical health news nationally and locally. Every Friday we bring you quick summaries of the news, along with links to full stories from across the nation....
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Transplant patients must wait 90 days under some exchange plans
Some health plans purchased through Washington state's exchange will still require patients who need organ transplants to wait 90 days after their insurance kicks in before they can start the process...
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Washington’s Healthplanfinder enrolls more than 323,000 for health coverage
More than 323,000 people have enrolled in Medicaid or commercial health plans since the Washington state health exchange launched Oct. 1, 2013. So far, more than 86,000 of those people (nearly 27...
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State senator suggests abolishing Office of Insurance Commissioner
Republican state Sen. Randi Becker wants to abolish the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) and replace it with a 10-person state insurance board. Becker introduced a bill Monday that...
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Kreidler's health insurance rules proposal sparks criticism from Republican...
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has proposed new industry rules that have drawn anger from a Republican senator who wants to abolish his office. Last month, Republican Sen. Randi...
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Insurance commissioner's new rules focus on adequate provider networks
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler wants insurance companies to provide more information up front about provider networks and to offer proof they are giving consumers the access to providers that...
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This week in health care: Big federal grants, tax break proposal and organ...
This is your weekly roundup of the most critical health news nationally and locally. Every Friday we bring you quick summaries of the news, along with links to full stories from around the globe. Check...
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Providence will partner with PacMed, reveals how it keeps religion separate
Catholic hospital system Providence Health & Services announced a plan Monday to affiliate with Pacific Medical Center, a Seattle-based secular health system known as PacMed. Officials at...
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Olympia watch: Fight over prior approval for patients heats up
Insurance companies and doctors are clashing in Washington over a paperwork issue that determines what treatment and medication patients receive — and how quickly they’ll get it. At issue is prior...
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Merge or die? An expert looks at hospital consolidation
Kevin Kennedy has helped hospital executives across Washington state make tough decisions about whether to merge or affiliate with other health systems. He is a principal and head of the Northwest...
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Healthplanfinder counts more than 345,000 enrolled for coverage
Here's the latest count: More than 345,000 people have obtained health insurance coverage through Washington state’s Healthplanfinder. More than 88,000 of those people (about 25 percent) bought...
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Despite tech problems, nearly 700,000 navigated through health exchange site
While Washington’s health exchange has struggled with ongoing technical problems, nearly 700,000 people have successfully navigated the system to enroll in commercial health plans or Medicaid. That...
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Doctors already worried about expiration of higher Medicaid rates
The Affordable Care Act raised Medicaid reimbursement rates for doctors, but the federal government will pay for the increase only through the end of this year. Doctors and hospitals in Washington are...
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State's highest court limits religious nonprofits’ right to discriminate
In a deeply divided decision, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employees at religious nonprofits — including hospitals — may sue their employers for discrimination, as long as...
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