Allina News

[Modern Healthcare, Dec. 14, 2010] Allina Hospitals & Clinics is among a group of large hospital systems that has sent a letter to the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (PDF) disputing the findings of a recent study put out by the organization. The study, released this past October, concluded that group purchasing organizations’ contracting practices drive [...]

[Oncology Nurse Advisor, Sept. 1, 2010] Advance care planning (ACP) discussions are not sufficiently incorporated into the care of oncology patients. Studies have consistently found that patients with late-stage cancer have a low rate of completing advance directives (ADs). Yet even the completion of ADs or appointment of proxies may be insufficient to address end-of-life [...]

[Fast Company, September 2010] Many patients at Allina needed narcotics to manage chronic pain due to back problems or arthritis. Unfortunately, some patients were misusing or reselling the drugs. Everyone agreed on the goal: eliminate narcotics misuse. But good intentions hadn’t been enough. Read the full article at fastcompany.com.

[Minnesota Medicine, July 2010] Guitarist Billy McLaughlin has a story to tell, and he wants to make sure everyone he encounters hears it. Even before taking the stage at the Guthrie Theater, where he performed in front of a full house for the Society for the Arts in Healthcare’s annual conference in April, the 47-year-old [...]

[Minnesota Medicine, June 2, 2010] To launch a 10 By 10 initiative in Minnesota, in 2008 leaders in the psychiatric community formed a work group. The group’s first effort was to accurately determine the extent of the disparity between the lifespans of people with serious mental illnesses (defined as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar affective [...]

[Twin Cities Business Magazine, May 26, 2010] Ken Paulus, CEO of Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics, has voluntarily chosen to work without compensation until the hospital settles current negotiations with its nurses. In an e-mail sent to all Allina employees on Thursday, Paulus said that he had “plenty of worries” about the hospital’s negotiations with [...]

[Minnesota Monthly, April 2010] Integrative medicine is starting to transform the Western world. And here in Minnesota, it’s blooming like crazy. When it comes to your health, the best thing you can do is protect and defend against future problems. Six local health experts say smart thinking about nutrition, supplements, and mind-body connections can make [...]

[Massage Magazine, March 25, 2010] A new study shows complementary therapies—including massage therapy—relieve pain as much as 50 percent among a wide range of hospitalized patients. The study shows that an inpatient integrative medicine program—one that includes complementary and alternative medicine alongside traditional Western medical approaches—can significantly address pain. “Roughly 80 percent of patients report [...]

[ChicagoBusiness, Sept. 28, 2009] During a medical consultation with an 81-year-old lung cancer patient last spring, Deon Cox-Hayley came face-to-face with Chicago’s medical-spending problem. The man had been to more than 50 appointments at the University of Chicago Medical Center for chemotherapy, radiology scans and blood-thinner injections since his December diagnosis — treatment that continued [...]

[Womeninc Magazine] At seven years old, Lilly Stiernagle maintains a busy schedule of school, dance lessons, skiing, sports and traveling. Before she was born, a level 2 ultrasound at Abbott Northwestern Hospital showed she was missing the femur bone in both legs. Lilly’s family shares what it’s like growing up with PFFD, proximal femoral focal [...]