Health Reform

A special state panel created by Gov. Nathan Deal has proposed a pilot program that would use telemedicine and other techniques to bolster rural health care in Georgia.

The Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee report, released Monday, supports a “hub and spoke’’ model to relieve the burden on rural hospital emergency rooms. It would use telemedicine-equipped ambulances to facilitate remote diagnoses of patients in rural areas.

Telemedicine basically is the transmission of video and digital vital signs of a patient to a physician at another location who can evaluate that information for a diagnosis. Georgia has been a pioneer in this field.

The four pilot sites would be based in hospitals that serve different rural regions of the state: Union General in Blairsville, Appling HealthCare in Baxley, Crisp Regional in Cordele and Emanuel Medical Center in Swainsboro.

The report of the Rural Hospital Stabilization committee makes no mention of the possibility of Medicaid expansion in the state, which is opposed by Deal and the Republican legislative leadership due to cost concerns. full story

Powered by a late surge, Georgia’s enrollment in the 2015 health insurance exchange easily surpassed the half-million mark.

Federal officials said Wednesday that 536,929 Georgians selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled in the state exchange. The Affordable Care Act provides for exchanges in all 50 states, and this is their second year of operation.

Sylvia Burwell

Open enrollment ended Sunday. The figures show that Georgia enrollment accelerated in the final two weeks, with more than 60,000 signing up. As of Feb. 6, 468,464 had enrolled in coverage in Georgia.

This year’s enrollment number far outpaces last year’s Georgia exchange total of 316,543, and exceeded many projections for the state.

Nationwide, about 11.4 million Americans selected exchange, or marketplace, plans or were automatically re-enrolled, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. That was 10 percent more than expected, HHS said Wednesday. full story

It’s a long way from being a done deal, but if it happens it will shake up metro Atlanta health care.

Emory University and WellStar Health System announced last week that they are discussing a merger of their medical assets, a fusion that would face regulatory and logistical challenges. Completion of a deal is at least a year away.

Emory University Hospital Midtown

Yet the news of even a possible marriage between nonprofit heavyweights Emory Healthcare and WellStar sent a tremor through the metro Atlanta health care industry.

The proposed union would be the biggest example of hospital consolidation so far in Georgia, and it could trigger other combinations.

Standalone metro hospitals such as Gwinnett Medical Center and DeKalb Medical may be forced to consider aligning with other entities, said David Smith of Kearny Street Consulting. full story

In the turbulent business of health care, bigger is often better.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the stunning announcement Monday that Emory University and WellStar Health System are talking about merging their medical assets in metro Atlanta.

If a deal is consummated, the resulting nonprofit health system would clearly be Georgia’s biggest and would comprise one of the largest such organizations in the nation.

WellStar Kennestone Hospital

The talks come at a time of revolutionary changes in health care, many of which were ignited by the Affordable Care Act.

That upheaval is having a profound effect in the Georgia hospital industry. Recently, GHN reported that the Texas-based chain Tenet Health is seeking a partner or buyer for its Georgia hospitals.

And Piedmont Healthcare, based in Atlanta, has begun talking about a partnership with St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, which is reeling from a $30 million accounting inaccuracy.

A merger, if completed, would combine Emory’s academic health system with WellStar’s expertise in running community hospitals.

“We want to end up with the best of community health care and the best of academic health care,’’ Emory University President James Wagner said Monday. “We hope to be a model for the Southeast and the rest of the country.”

It would also create a system with geographic reach across Atlanta and into the city’s northwest suburbs, where WellStar dominates the market. full story

Most people agree that Georgia has serious health care challenges.

Kelly McCutchen

Hundreds of thousands of Georgians lack health insurance. Many of the state’s hospitals are in financial crisis. Medical costs are high.

Kelly McCutchen has an idea for a solution.

In a new GHN Commentary, McCutchen, president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, proposes that we convert the funds we spend subsidizing the care of the uninsured (after the fact) into vouchers or refundable tax credits.

“Low-income individuals could use these funds to buy into an employer’s plan or purchase private insurance,’’ writes McCutchen, adding that unused funds “should follow the people to where they get their care: the safety net providers in each community.”

Here’s a link to his Commentary.

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please email Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com