HEALTH CARE
Twin Cities Ranks #1 in Fitness High rates of physical activity helped to propel Minneapolis-St. Paul to the top of the list of the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2012 American Fitness Index (AFI) for the second year in a row, while raised obesity levels and smoking pushed Oklahoma City to the bottom.
Change is Coming to Rural Health Care, Whatever the Supreme Court Decides Even if the Supreme Court rules some part of the law unconstitutional, he said, “I don’t think it will derail the move forward toward change. It’s not prudent for health organizations to sit back and wait. Reform will continue to move and evolve. The push toward more integrated models will continue to occur. The notion that individual hospitals [and other providers] will exist as islands is probably not realistic.”
NURSING
Communicating with Patients is Fundamental to Culturally Competent Care Recent statistics show the U.S. is more diverse than ever before. The Hispanic and Asian populations, for instance, each grew by 43% between 2000 and 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. For nurses, a diverse society translates to a need to keep cultural sensitivity in mind during every encounter with patients.
Care Coordination Advancing Slowly Teamwork is an emerging focus, with nearly three-quarters (72%) entering collaborative care relationships, while 28% say they are not. At the same time, healthcare leaders are reluctant to engage in shared savings programs as a risk-sharing cost-reduction tactic: 63% say they have no plans for such programs, which are a foundation of the evolving accountable care organization models.
LABOR
Union to Vote on Lockheed Offer They’ve made it nine weeks on the picket lines, and it sounds like 3,600 Lockheed Martin workers may be willing to walk a few more if they don’t like the company’s latest offer.