MNA Daily NewsScan, December 14, 2012: Alarms don’t prevent falls, nurses do; Big bucks for HC C-Suites

NOTES ON NURSING

Hospital Alarms Fail to Prevent Injury     “My own 2 cents: If an alarm sounds when someone stirs, is any hospital or nursing home so well-staffed that someone can materialize within seconds? Does a staff become less vigilant when patients have alarms and are presumed – wrongly, it seems – to be safer?”

HEALTH CARE

Health Care Costs Rise Faster than Wages   Health insurance costs for the average family have risen more than five times faster than incomes in the last decade, according to a new study from Commonwealth Fund.

Paying for Prevention Works    That kind of attention has always been good medicine. For Folch, 59, it’s now good business. He is among thousands of physicians in Massachusetts whose pay depends on how their patients fare, not just on how many times they see them. If patients stay healthy and avoid costly medical care, he gets more money.

Big Bucks for Health Care’s C-Suite   For not-for-profit CEOs nationwide the median total cash compensation (base  plus incentives) increased 3% to 6.7% over last year, and these organizations’ senior leadership teams gained similar pay increases.

LABOR UPDATES

Lowry Hotel Site Draws Union Ire    On Tuesday, a Local 110 business agent sent a stern e-mail to county commissioners and other county leaders saying that he had found “dangerous job conditions” on a visit to the work site last week