Integration & Physician Issues

Among U.S. states, Idaho has the lowest number of active physicians per 100,000 people, while Massachusetts has the highest, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges' recently launched interactive online dashboard. 

CMS allocated 200 new Medicare-funded residency slots to 100 teaching hospitals, according to a Nov. 16 news release from the American Hospital Association.

The Association of American Medical Colleges has launched an interactive online dashboard that combines data previously published in two separate AAMC publications: the Physician Specialty Data Report and the State Physician Workforce Data Report.  

Physicians at Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Hospital narrowly voted against governing documents that could have "punished physicians who criticized the hospital," the Citizen Times reported Nov. 16.

Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Bassett Healthcare is beefing up its 60-person security team that oversees safety at five hospitals and more than 24 regional medical centers with new protective K-9s. 

A 29-year-old employee of Hawaii State Hospital was found stabbed to death Nov. 13 at the facility, which is a behavioral health facility in Kaneohe.

As part of its accreditation process, acute care and critical access hospitals will be required to join The Joint Commission National Healthcare Safety Network, the organization noted in a Nov. 1 news release. 

A federal program designed to incentivize physicians to practice in disadvantaged communities has had little effect, a recent study found.

Physicians who completed residency or fellowship in the last six years spend less than two years on average at their first job, according to a report by Jackson Physician Search and Medical Group Management Association.

A hospital in northwestern Iowa is opting to expand its birthing center — going against the trend of ending labor and delivery services at many hospitals nationwide in 2023, RadioIowa reported Nov. 8.