Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/912067
60 HEALTHCARE NEWS Healthgrades: 25 Cities Leading the Way in Healthcare By Brian Zimmerman H ealthgrades on Tuesday released its inaugural National Health Index, which provides consumers with an analysis of 25 cities leading the way in health and healthcare. To create the index, Healthgrades assessed 43 metropolitan areas for access to care, risky behaviors, hospital quality and popula- tion health. Researchers scored each city based on 2018 quality ratings, responses to the CDC's 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey and the number of active primary care providers per 100,000 population compiled by the American Medi- cal Association for 2015. Here are the 25 cities getting healthcare right, beginning with the highest composite score. 1. Minneapolis-St. Paul 2. Denver 3. Sacramento, Calif. 4. Cincinnati 5. Portland, Ore. 6. Baltimore 7. Milwaukee 8. Dayton, Ohio 9. Charleston, W.Va. 10. Boston 11. Akron, Ohio 12. Albuquerque, N.M. 13. Washington, D.C. 14. Seattle 15. Richmond, Va. 16. Cleveland 17. Charleston, S.C. 18. Los Angeles 19. Grand Rapids, Mich. 20. Toledo, Ohio 21. Phoenix 22. Philadelphia 23. Salt Lake City 24. Chicago 25. Columbus, Ohio n 11 Latest Healthcare Industry Lawsuits, Settlements By Ayla Ellison F rom a nurse suing a Michigan health system for discrimina- tion to a Florida medical group settling false claims allegations, these are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines. 1. Freestanding ER operators want Google to find out who left them 22 bad online reviews Two Dallas-based freestanding emer- gency room operators — Highland Park Emergency Room and Preston Hollow Emergency Room — filed a joint petition in Dallas County District Court seeking to find out who left them 22 negative online reviews. 2. Appeals court reverses $751k award in physician's wrongful ter- mination case An appeals court in Missouri recently overturned a lower court's order that required Mercy Springfield (Mo.) to pay $751,000 to a physician who claimed she was fired for raising concerns over the hospital's treatment and billing practices. 3. Nurse sues Spectrum Health, claiming system accommodated patient request for no black care- givers A black nurse claims officials at Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health discriminated against her by grant- ing a patient's request for no black caregivers. 4. DOJ: Personal trainer posed as physician in $25M scheme A 54-year-old personal trainer was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 12, and charged with engaging in a scheme to defraud insurance companies by submitting more than $25 million in false claims for medical services. 5. Florida medical group will pay $448k to settle false claims allega- tions First Coast Cardiovascular Institute in Jacksonville, Fla., agreed to pay $448,821 to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act. 6. DOJ sues Illinois home health- care center owners over alleged Medicare fraud The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against owners of an Illinois healthcare company alleging they de- frauded Medicare millions of dollars. 7. Florida clinic owner arrested for practicing medicine without a license Police arrested Jose A. Ramirez, the president of Med-Clinic Health Care in Doral, Fla., for practicing medicine without a license. 8. Local residents sue Central Health over 'unlawful use' of tax- payer money to support U of Texas' Dell Medical School Three local residents are suing Austin, Texas-based Central Health, the local hospital-taxing district, over allega- tions that taxpayer contributions to Austin-based University of Texas' Dell Medical School were unlawfully utilized. 9. 60+ Wisconsin counties expect- ed to participate in opioid epidem- ic lawsuit The Wisconsin Counties Association expects 60 to 70 of the state's 72 counties to join a proposed lawsuit alleging drug companies engaged in fraudulent practices when promoting opioids in the state. 10. Pennsylvania county opioid epidemic lawsuit names 23 defen- dants Attorneys representing Beaver County, Pa., filed a lawsuit against nearly two dozen drugmakers, drug distributors and physicians for their alleged roles in the county's spike in opioid-related overdoses. 11. US drops lawsuit against UnitedHealth over alleged billing scheme The Department of Justice called off its lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group that claimed the Minnetonka, Minn.-based insurer submitted false claims to increase Medicare pay- ments. n