More employers pushing domestic medical tourism (Morning Read)

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

More employers pushing domestic medical tourism: In yet another effort to slow the inexorable rise of health costs in the U.S., more employers are turning to domestic medical tourism–essentially steering workers to facilities with high-quality care and lower prices. Employers with domestic travel programs say they save money in part by negotiating a single rate, which includes the fees for surgeons, anesthesiologists and all medical care up until the patient is discharged. Lowe’s heart-surgery alliance with the Cleveland Clinic is among the more high-profile examples of the growing trend.

Top 10 Pharma CEO salaries: Leading the way in Big Pharma executive compensation last year was Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan, just south of $50 million. That was nearly $20 million more than No. 2., Johnson & Johnson’s Bill Weldon. If you think these numbers seem obscenely large, they do. Chalk it up to American culture. Toyota’s CEO made just $1.1 million last year (though he may have had a hefty expense account to go along with it.)

The nation’s doctor-shortage capital? That’d be Idaho, which has fewer physicians per 10,000 residents than any other state. And things could get worse before they get better–40 percent of Idaho physicians are 55 or older and 21 percent are past retirement age.

America’s most beautiful hospitals: San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital tops the “most beautiful” list, according to staffing firm Soliant Health.

Dealflow: Seattle’s Oncothyreon lines up $20 million; San Francisco’s Calithera gets $40 million for cancer drugs; Massachusetts-based Excelimmune grabs $4.5 million.

Photo from flickr user mikebaird