Morning Read: Violent crime rising in hospitals

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of healthcare:

Violent crime rising in hospitals: In recent years, there’s been a “significant” increase in violent crimes at hospitals and clinics, according to a report from the Joint Commission, an independent health care oversight group. Worse, it’s likely that only a small percentage of such crimes are reported. “The health care system in this country is broken, with long waits in the ER, short staffing, and many other problems, and all of the players are under incredible stress, which means that those of us who consume health(care) are driven to the edge of our ability to cope,” one health policy expert says. The report strengthens the case for state laws that more severely punish those who assault hospital workers.

Medical costs continue to skyrocket: Medical costs are expected to slow their rate of increase slightly next year–increasing 9 percent in 2011, compared with an expected 9.5 percent this year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Putting upward pressure on costs will be payments to providers, as hospitals look to commercial payers to make up for lower Medicare payments, providers consolidate and hospitals pour money into electronic medical record systems. Deductibles for most employees are expected to exceed $400 for the first time.

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M&A flat–and that’s not bad: The value of U.S. deals announced so far this year is down 1 percent from last year. And that’s following two years of annual declines. Still it’s not such a bad thing, writes Rolfe Winkler of Reuters, because “flat is the new up.” Still, many M&A watchers have to be disappointed given that expectations were so high–late last year Goldman Sachs predicted “a perfect storm for M&A,” for example. More disappointing, however, may be that Goldman chose to trot out the ridiculously-overused-to-the-point-of-being-meaningless “perfect storm” metaphor.

Easy ways to cut costs? Thomson Reuters says it’s identified several “common-sense” steps to cut fraud, waste and errors that would save the U.S. health system $3.6 trillion over 10 years. Recommended changes include giving patients a medical home to better coordinate care, eliminating a culture of fraud, encouraging patients to ask about healthcare costs, and rewarding quality improvement initiatives. If it only it were as easy as Thomson Reuters says it is.

Mass layoffs soaring at hospitals: Cuts of 50 employees or more at hospitals are affecting more workers than at any time since Hurricane Katrina. And they’re likely to continue. While hospital layoffs typically hit administrative staff the hardest, clinical workers are starting to feel the pain, too.

J&J’s escape: Pharmalot speaks with a marketing consultant about how Johnson & Johnson can bounce back from the PR problems caused by recalls, a Congressional investigation and the firm’s own ineptitude. “You don’t get too many chances, but with a strong brand, there can be a second or third chance. People want to believe you can continue with the product.”