Healthcare Strategic Management articles from April 2005

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from April 2005

Acute care hospitals respond to specialty hospitals.(Market Memo)
April 1, 2005... Hospitals facing competition from specialty hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are downsizing, cutting non-revenue-generating services and hiring physicians to replace surgeons and anesthesiologists who have defected and become...

The art of taking charge in a new job.(In You're in charge--Now what?)
April 1, 2005... The first 100 days in a new job are critical for any health care system executive regardless of whether you have been brought in from outside or promoted over your peers. New chief executive officers face the toughest challenges, because...

Quality initiatives offer consistent means of improving patient safety, reducing costs.(STRATEGIC NOTES)
April 1, 2005... Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., 1,882 beds, reduced by 67% the number of pneumonia cases associated with ventilator use. Mercy Health Center, Oklahoma City., Okla., 440 beds, cut the rate of surgical site infections by 78% over a...

Saunders sees clinicians as focus of future hospital efforts to control health care costs.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Charles Saunders)
April 1, 2005... As a physician who heads a group purchasing organization, Charles Saunders, M.D., believes clinicians will be the key to controlling the high cost of health care. Saunders is CEO of Broadlane, Dallas, a GPO that was formed from the...

Community Health sells Mississippi hospital, transfers management of Tennessee property.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(King's Daughters Hospital)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Community Health Systems, Brentwood, Tenn., this year plans to shed a few of its 70 hospitals. In February, Community agreed to sell King's Daughters Hospital, Greenville, Miss., 104 beds, to Delta Regional Medical Center, also in...

Merger leads to antitrust charges against Northwestern; managed care advantage seen.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Ill., faces antitrust action because of its 2000 consolidation of its two owned Illinois hospitals, Evanston Northwestern and Highland Park hospitals. In February, the Federal Trade Commission and...

HCA adds diagnostic imaging centers in effort to diversify services, support acute-care effort.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Total I Imaging)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Hospital chain HCA, Nashville, Tenn., is acquiring outpatient facilities as part of a strategy to support its 189 hospitals. The latest is Total I Imaging, Tampa, Fla., a chain of five diagnostic imaging centers. The deal includes a mobile...

Farber leaving Tenet; new CFO will be former energy company executive Robert Shapard.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Appointed Robert Shapard as Chief Financial Officers)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... When Tenet Healthcare Corp. moved its headquarters to Dallas from Santa Barbara, Calif., last year, it lost a number of employees, including CFO Stephen Farber. In February, Tenet announced the appointment of a new CFO, Robert Shapard. ...

Sisters of Charity investment in IT to focus on improving patient safety by coordinating care.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System)(Information Technology)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System, Lenexa, Kan., with eight hospitals totaling 2,066 beds, will invest $10 million in new clinical and financial information systems under a strategic initiative called CareQuest. The network...

Growing demand for critical care will correspond with pressure on hospitals, experts predict.(STATISTICAL NOTES)
April 1, 2005... In 10 years, the demand for critical care services will peak, as the Baby Boom swells health care demand. Meanwhile, reimbursement will still be declining, there will be a continuing shortage of clinicians and the patient population will be...

Sutter improves ICU outcomes with aid of new remote monitoring software from Visicu Inc.(STATISTICAL NOTES)
April 1, 2005... Sutter Health, Sacramento, Calif., installed early-warning software in its ICUs in an effort to decrease mortality and improve outcomes. Monitoring centers like Sutter's have been shown to reduce severity-adjusted hospital mortality for ICU...

Ohio hospitals take prevention to heart, joining program to inform women about heart disease.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Premier Health Partners)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Premier Health Partners, Dayton, Ohio, in February became the 100th VHA health system to participate in its Women's HeartAdvantage program, an effort to change consumer and physician behavior about heart disease. Two Premier facilities, Miami...

Hospitals working hard to improve medication safety, using technology and psychology.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Institute for Safe Medication Practices)
April 1, 2005... Hospitals have shown much improvement in their patient safety efforts, a new study shows. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), Huntingdon Valley, Pa., said results of its 2004 Medication Safety Self Assessment show...

Health care executives agree: rising hospital costs threaten health care system the most.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Nearly 60% of health care executives believe rising hospital expenses are the most important issue for the industry in 2005. Providers, attorneys and opinion leaders identified increasing pressures on hospitals from uncompensated care and...

Vast majority of nurses working overtime, survey shows, while more plan to leave ranks.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A survey by the American Nurses Assn. showed that 82% of registered nurses worked overtime last year. That could increase, as about 3,800, or 5% of the 75,900 RNs surveyed, said they will stop providing direct care this year. Meanwhile,...

In effort to reduce mortality, NQF publishes quality improvement measures for cardiologists.(DATABASE NOTE)(National Quality Forum)
April 1, 2005... Cardiac surgery is one of the most profitable product lines for U.S. hospitals, but it also accounts for 14,000 in-hospital deaths each year. A new set of quality improvement measures adopted by specialists offers a chance to reduce that...

Former Mercy Hospital manager implicated in kickback scheme with construction company.(DATABASE NOTE)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Jeffrey L. Davidson, former head of maintenance and construction at Mercy Health System, Pittsburgh, 506 beds, was indicted March 8 in connection with a $5.6 million commercial bribery investigation. He was charged with accepting kickbacks...

Texas study shows general hospitals are hurt by proliferation of doctor-owned specialty centers.(DATABASE NOTES)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... A study by the Texas Hospital Assn. confirmed federal research showing that physician-owned specialty hospitals put a strain on general hospitals in the same markets. Texas has more such specialty hospitals than any other state: 33,...

Automated defibrillator connected to high-risk patients studied for potential to save lives.(DATABASE NOTES)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center in March began a clinical study to assess the effectiveness of a fully-automatic hospital bedside monitor-defibrillator made by Cardiac Science, Irvine, Calif. The cardiovascular center is part...

New web site contains results of HHS hospital performance comparisons for public to review.(DATABASE NOTES)(Health and Human Services )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Dept. of Health and Human Services in March placed the results of a hospital quality survey on a new web site, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. The site contains data from 3,763 U.S. hospitals on treatment of patients suffering from heart...

Groups and standards organizations promoting two different codes for customer identification.(WORTH READING)
April 1, 2005... The promotion of standard codes for use in electronic commerce has become a bone of contention as group purchasing organizations and standards organizations battle for the hearts and minds of materials managers. Novation, Irving, Texas, in...

Sterns Bank raises $209,000 for tsunami relief effort in Minnesota community using print ads.(WORTH READING)
April 1, 2005... Stearns Bank, St. Cloud, Minn., facilitated donations from a compassionate community as people everywhere rallied in the wake of December's tsunami disaster in south Asia. The Norman C. Skalicky Foundation partnered with the Central Minnesota...

Starting a facility master planning process? Seven steps to prepare.(MASTER PLANNING)
April 1, 2005... As a member of hospital senior management, scenario: you have been charged with developing a facilities master plan. While you have been involved in a few construction projects, you have never guided a planning project as comprehensive as this....