Paula Blankenship, Author at The Hertel Report

Paula Blankenship

Communications professional with two decades of award-winning work in journalism, corporate communications, promotional video, public relations and higher education. Always seeking opportunities to serve the public good.

Author's Posts

News

Denver Zoo Names Health Executive its CEO

Shannon Block, CEO of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, has been named president and CEO of Denver Zoo following a national search. The Denver Zoological Foundation Board of Trustees announced the selection of Block Friday. Zoo officials...

Arizona News

Fight to Cut Costs Depends on States

States have significant power to cut health care costs and they should use it, a commission co-chaired by former Gov. Bill Ritter declared on Wednesday.

Arizona News

How Much Does A New Hip Cost? Even The Surgeon Doesn’t Know

What will a gallon of milk set you back? How about a new car? You probably have a rough idea. But what about a medical device — the kind that gets implanted during a knee or hip replacement? Chances are you have no clue. And you are not alone: The surgeons who implant those devices probably don’t know either, a just-published...

National News

PepsiCo's Workplace Wellness Program Fails the Bottom Line

A long-running and well-respected workplace wellness program at PepsiCo that encourages employees to adopt healthier habits has not reduced healthcare costs, according to the most comprehensive evaluation of a such a program ever published.

Arizona News

PepsiCo's Workplace Wellness Program Fails the Bottom Line

Arizona News

Healthcare Uncertainties to Intensify in 2014

Many providers who've been on the forefront of the movement away from fee-for-service may find themselves at a disadvantage with payers as healthcare transitions into value-based payment models such as bundled payments and gain sharing, says one analyst.

Arizona News

Medicare Pricing Drives High Health-care Costs

Medicare may be best known for paying the medical bills for millions of people 65 and older, but recent studies show it plays another gargantuan role in American health care: It helps determine prices for everyone.

Arizona News

Shopping for the Right Private Exchange

An estimated 1 million people are expected to enroll in private health exchanges this year, and, if predictions hold out, that number could grow to 40 million by 2018.

Arizona News

Retail Medicine a Big Shift for 2014

With the growth in high-deductible health plans accelerating, "the healthcare business model is starting to turn from wholesale to retail,"

Arizona Bricks & Mortar

Banner Health to Buy Casa Grande Regional Medical Center

The state’s largest hospital system is getting even bigger. Phoenix-based Banner Health has signed a letter of intent to acquire Casa Grande Regional Medical Center.

National News

Drug Maker’s Donations to Co-Pay Charity Face Scrutiny

As drug prices have soared in recent years and insurers have increased co-payments, a new type of charity has blossomed to fill a vital niche — helping patients pay the steep out-of-pocket costs for their medicines.

Arizona News

Buyer plans to expand local psychiatric care for kids

A Pennsylvania-based Fortune 500 company plans to take over a behavioral health hospital that’s been owned by the nonprofit Tucson Medical Center since 1993.

National News

Obamacare Tech Hurdle Looms Right Before Enrollment Deadline

Some technical experts are perplexed at the U.S. government's plan to switch web hosts for its new health insurance portal, HealthCare.gov, in the midst of an expected last-minute rush to beat a March 31 enrollment deadline for 2014 coverage.

National News

Obamacare Tech Hurdle Looms Right Before Enrollment Deadline

Arizona News

Hospital Compare Web Site Adds Infection, Stroke, Readmissions Data

Several new and important hospital quality measures, including indicators of stroke and blood clot care as well as hospitals' rates of C. diff and MRSA infections, are now being tracked on the federal Hospital Compare website.

National News

Ex-Microsoft Executive to Take Over Health Site Repairs

President Obama has chosen a former Microsoft executive, Kurt DelBene, to replace Jeffrey D. Zients as head of the effort to finish repairs on the government’s health insurance website, administration officials said on Tuesday.

National News

Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs

The announcement appears to be a first for a major drug company — although others may be considering similar moves.

National News

Benefits Questioned in Tax Breaks for Nonprofit Hospitals

The billions of dollars in tax breaks granted to the nation’s nonprofit hospitals are being challenged by regulators and politicians as cities still reeling from the recession watch cash-rich medical centers expand.

National News

AP-GfK poll: Health Law Seen as Eroding Coverage

Americans who already have health insurance are blaming President Barack Obama's health care overhaul for their rising premiums and deductibles, and overall 3 in 4 say the rollout of coverage for the uninsured has gone poorly.

Arizona News

Brewer Attorney Asks for Medicaid Lawsuit Dismissal

The lawyer for Gov. Jan Brewer asked a judge late Friday to block dissident lawmakers from challenging the vote of the majority of their colleagues to expand Medicaid in Arizona.

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