In Brief: UCSF, John Muir Collaborate On Integrated Care System; CDPH Launches Campaign Against E-Cigarettes
UCSF, John Muir Collaborate On Integrated Care System
UCSF Medical Center and John Muir Health have joined forces to create a new regional network in the Bay Area.
UCSF operates the largest hospital in San Francisco, a network of clinics and outpatient surgery centers, and provides services to San Francisco General Hospital. John Muir operates two hospitals in the East Bay region.
The two providers say they will collaborate on creating an enhanced regional integrated care network called the Bay Area Accountable Care Network, which will include full integration of their electronic medical records into a single system. They will also form a joint venture to collaborate on the construction of new medical facilities. And both entities will jointly apply for a restricted Knox-Keene license, which would allow the provider network to contract directly with health plans to provide services and accept financial risk.
“UCSF Medical Center, and John Muir Health are leading the development of a comprehensive Bay Area network of providers who share a common commitment to providing safe, high quality, patient centered care at an affordable price. We intend to offer this network to health plans who serve patients throughout the Bay Area,” said UCSF Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Mark Laret.
The financial terms of the collaboration between UCSF and John Muir were not disclosed.
CDPH Launches Ad Campaign Against E-Cigarettes
The California Department of Public Health has launched a television campaign against e-cigarettes.
The agency has developed two slick 30-second public service announcements. They compare past marketing campaigns the tobacco industry used to promote traditional cigarettes to today’s e-cigarette marketing and discusses the addictive qualities of tobacco, its health hazards, and the perils of exposing the product to children. “Wake Up” is the tagline for both commercials.
“California has been a world leader in tobacco use prevention and cessation since 1990, with one of the lowest youth and adult smoking rates in the nation. The aggressive marketing and escalating use of e-cigarettes threatens to erode that progress,” said CDPH Director Karen Smith, M.D. “Our advertising campaign is telling the public to ‘wake up’ to the fact that these are highly addictive products being mass marketed.”
The campaign began late last month and will run into June.
Endoscope-Related CRE May Be More Common Than Thought
A new report by Seatte public health officials suggests that the outbreak of CRE related to endoscopes may be more common than thought.
The report suggested that current cleaning guidelines issued by Olympus were not satisfactory and reporting of cases of CRE may be on the low side. A recent outbreak at UCLA Health killed three patients.
