PRNewswire (09/04/12)

Continuing expansion efforts along the Mid-Atlantic corridor, Accountable Healthcare Holdings Corp. announced on Sept. 4 that it finalized the purchase of Stafford, VA-based Rich Healthcare Solutions LLC, a private company that specializes in providing per diem, contract, and permanent placement of health care professionals at leading health care facilities throughout Northern Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland. Rich Healthcare Solutions is the fourth acquisition for AHS in 2012 as the company continues to blend start-up offices with strategic acquisitions under the carriage of a single nationwide platform.

Associated Press (09/05/12)

The U.S. Department of Labor reported today that U.S. workers were more productive in the second quarter than initially thought and inflation remained tame. Productivity of the U.S. nonfarm business sector rose at a 2.2% annual rate in the second quarter, stronger than the 1.6% pace estimated a month ago. Output was revised up to a 2.4% increase from 2.0%. The increase in hours worked was revised down to 0.1% from 0.4%. Unit labor costs—a gauge of potential inflationary pressures—were revised lower to a 1.5% annualized gain from a 1.7% increase.

Wall Street Journal (09/05/12) Conor Dougherty

A closely watched gauge of the factory sector, released Sept. 4 by the Institute for Supply Management, showed manufacturing activity slipped to 49.6 from 49.8 in July. It was the third consecutive month in which activity fell. The two engines of the recovery—exports along with business spending on capital equipment and other investments—appear to now be running on fumes. Exports contracted during the month, though less than in July. A gauge of new orders fell 0.9 percentage points to 47.1 in August. Manufacturers surveyed by the ISM said orders have turned down as tepid global activity—due to the slowdown in Asia and a recession in much of Europe—has curbed demand.

Associated Press (09/05/12)

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Tuesday that U.S. construction spending fell 0.9% in July from the month before, the largest amount in a year. The decline followed three consecutive months of gains driven by increased home and apartment construction. Outlays on single-family homes bumped up 1.5% and spending on apartment construction rose 2.8%, adding to other evidence that suggests the residential real estate market is slowly mending.

Baltimore Sun (09/04/12) Andrea K. Walker

Columbia, MD-based Maxim Staffing Solutions Inc. faces a lawsuit from a patient who allegedly contracted hepatitis C from David Kwiatkowski, a traveling medical technician accused of injecting himself with stolen narcotics and leaving contaminated needles behind for use in patients. The lawsuit claims that although Maxim fired Kwiatkowski when he was discovered stealing narcotics by a co-worker, it failed to report him to legal authorities, enabling him to travel to other hospitals around the U.S. for another four years and putting thousands of patients at risk. Additionally, Omaha, NE-based staffing firm Medical Solutions LLC is accused in the lawsuit of failing to perform the appropriate background checks on Kwiatkowski. Greg Dolin, co-director of the University of Baltimore School of Law’s Center for Medicine and Law, says that unless it can be proven that hospitals knew the worker was negligent, contract workers generally are the responsibility of the staffing firm.

Associated Press (09/04/12)

William Lubker, a staffing professional with Medstaff Locums in St. Louis, pleaded guilty to defrauding the medical staffing company of more than $400,000 by placing phantom employees and keeping a portion of the payments made by the company to them. Lubker, who has been ordered to repay the money and forfeit items he purchased with it, was accused of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, having misused an individual’s name and Social Security number as a phantom employee.