State Highlights: Mass. Health Spending Higher Than Initially Thought; Fla. High Court Hears Medical Records Case

Boston Globe: State Revises 2015 Health Spending Higher On Harvard Pilgrim Error 
Turns out health care spending in Massachusetts was actually worse than we thought last year. The state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis, or CHIA, said Thursday that statewide medical spending increased 4.1 percent last year, up from the 3.9 percent rate the agency previously reported. CHIA said Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, one of the state’s largest insurers, noticed an error in the figures it submitted to the agency. After Harvard Pilgrim turned in new data, CHIA ran the numbers again. (Dayal McCluskey, 10/6)

Health News Florida: Florida Supreme Court Hears Arguments About Medical Record Access
Though the parties reached an eleventh-hour settlement, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday plunged into a dispute that could have implications for medical-malpractice cases across the state. Justices heard more than 45 minutes of arguments about an issue rooted in a 2004 constitutional amendment that was aimed at expanding access to records in malpractice cases. Plaintiffs' attorneys heavily backed the voter-approved amendment, as records held by hospitals and other medical providers can play a key role in pursuing malpractice claims. (10/7)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles County Now Plans To Require Hospitals To Report Superbug Infections
Los Angeles County plans to require hospitals to begin reporting when patients are infected with a certain superbug so lethal that it can kill half its victims, health officials said Thursday. Unlike two dozen other states, California has not required hospitals to report when patients are sickened with the lethal bacteria, which federal officials warn is one of the nation’s most urgent health threats. (Petersen, 10/6)

Los Angeles Times: UC Irvine Health Laying Off 175 Employees
U.C. Irvine Health began laying off 175 employees this week as part of a plan to ensure efficiency of its medical center's clinical and educational operations, the university-based care provider said. Those being let go — many of whom are in management or administrative and support positions — are being notified individually, according to UC Irvine Health spokesman John Murray. The layoffs will not include faculty, which includes doctors, he said. (Chan, 10/6)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Western Reserve Hospital Seeks Artists To Help Promote Healing 
Western Reserve Hospital has partnered with Collide: Cuyahoga Falls and ArtsNow of Summit County to introduce artwork from the local creative community to patients at their Cuyahoga Falls facility. The partnership's goal is to enhance the environment for oncology patients. (Jackson, 10/6)

Denver Post: Welltok Figures Out How To Motivate People To Get Healthier — And Attracts Another $33.7 Million From Investors 
By mixing artificial intelligence and machine learning with custom health plans and financial rewards, Welltok figured out a way to help people get healthier — and attract even more investors. The Denver digital-health company will announce Thursday that it added $33.7 million from new and existing investors. That brings Welltok’s funding to $163 million to date. (Chuang, 10/6)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Jefferson Medical School Meets Design School, Resulting In Drones, ER Heat Maps And Innovation
This week, as part of the 10-day DesignPhiladelphia event series, a 20-foot-tall monument occupies the plaza at 10th and Locust Streets on the Thomas Jefferson University campus. Called the Beacon, it's made of laser-cut steel and light-emitting yarn, with an outer skin to be woven by a pair of drones performing a nightly 30-minute ballet choreographed based on how visitors respond online to questions about urban regeneration. This futuristic totem is, on one level, a symbol of an idea that's recently become trendy among medical school administrators: bringing creativity and, with it, empathy back into medical education. (Melamed, 10/6)

Pioneer Press: St. Paul MN Boys Group Homes Close, Multiple Violations Cited
After reviewing clients’ medical records, state officials believe a resident ran out of lithium, a prescribed anti-psychotic medication, and went without it for eight days. Another boy spent five days without trazodone, a prescribed anti-depressant. The treatment plan for a boy admitted in mid-March called for a mental health referral. By early May, there was still no evidence he had received one. On Monday, [the Department of Human Services] ordered the Vintage Place and Vintage Place North to close, citing more than 30 state licensing violations. If they hope to stay open, the group home administrators have 10 days to file an appeal with the department. (Melo, 10/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: City Receives $75,000 For Water Filters
The city has received $75,000 to buy water filters for low-income Milwaukee families with young children. Mayor Tom Barrett announced the grant Thursday, one month after he urged owners and residents of Milwaukee homes built before 1951 to install faucet filters capable of removing lead from drinking water. The money was donated by the United Way of Milwaukee and Waukesha County and a group that includes Aurora Health Care, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Ascension Wisconsin, and Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. (Spicuzza, 10/6)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Who's On The Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee? See The List. 
Ohio's new medical marijuana law required Gov. John Kasich and legislative leaders from both parties to appoint 14 members to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee within a month of the law taking effect Sept. 8. The panel will make recommendations to the three state agencies writing the rules for the program: The Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio State Medical Board and Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. (Borchardt, 10/6)