Healthcare Strategic Management articles from August 2003

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from August 2003

Developing a winning ambulatory game plan.(Market Memo)(hospitals and health system executives faces several questions concerning ambulatory care)
August 1, 2003... While hospitals and health systems are busy upgrading and adding inpatient capacity at historic levels, the demands and opportunities for ambulatory care have never been greater. In facing todays outpatient environment, hospital and health...

Cut charges and get better rates from HMOs.(hospitals expect higher rates from insurers and self-insured employers)
August 1, 2003... Hospitals across the country will be demanding higher rates from insurers and self-insured employers to cover the cost of lowering charges to uninsured and self-insured individuals. Ever since The Wall Street Journal reported that Yale-New...

Two Michigan non-for-profits agree to merge.(Strategic Notes)(United Memorial Health System and Spectrum Health are merger)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Two Michigan not-for-profits agree to merge Two-hospital United Memorial Health System of Greenville, Mich., is joining seven-hospital Spectrum Health of Grand Rapids, Mich., the boards of the two hospital systems have announced. The...

Select Medical Corp. acquires New Jersey-based Kessler Rehabilitation Corp. for about $230 million.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Select Medical Corp. of Mechanicsburg, Pa., has agreed to acquire Kessler Rehabilitation Corp. for about $230 million. Kessler Rehabilitation, of West Orange, N.J., operates four freestanding rehabilitation hospitals in New Jersey and one...

HMA buys 135-bed Monroe, Ga. hospital.(Strategic Notes)(Health Management Associates Inc. agrees to acqurie Walton Medical Center)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Health Management Associates Inc. has negotiated an agreement to acquire the 135-bed Walton Medical Center in Monroe, Ga. The purchase price was not disclosed. "Located in a region that has grown at a rate more than double the state of...

Coventry to buy Utah health plan for $41 million.(Strategic Notes)(Coventry Health Care will acquire Altius Health Plans for around $41 million)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Coventry Health Care has agreed to acquire Altius Health Plans, a Utah-based commercial-only health plan, for about $41 million. Privately owned Altius has a total membership of about 160,000 and annual revenues of about $235 million....

New book identifies 70 health care trends related to demand, consumerism, technology and reform.(Statistical Notes)(a discussion of 'Futurescan 2003: A Forecast of Healthcare Trends 2003-2007')(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... A hospital building boom is looming, providers are undergoing a digital transformation, and managed care's moderating effect on medical care inflation is over. Those are some of the assessments of "Futurescan 2003: A Forecast of Healthcare...

Abbott Northwestern creates heart failure center.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital has announced the creation of its Heart Failure Center. The center--which will include a range of services from early management to long-term treatment strategies--brings...

Methodist Medical in Illinois opens $2.5 million 26-bed adult behavior health facility.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, Ill., has opened a $2.5 million, 26-bed adult behavioral health facility. The new 12,000-square-foot facility is an addition to the 22 existing beds dedicated for mental health. Additionally, construction is...

SurgiCare to open MRI center in Dover, Ohio.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... SurgiCare Inc. of Houston, an ambulatory surgery center provider, has said it plans to open an MRI center in Dover, Ohio. Upon completion, the MRI center will be the first open MRI operating in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It's expected the...

Fitch Ratings health care downgrades outnumber upgrades by more than five to one.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Fitch Ratings' health care group issued 22 downgrades and only four upgrades through the first six months ended June 30, reflecting a trend of more downgrades Health Care Strategic Management, August 2003 than upgrades the New York-based credit...

Report suggests preliminary HMO rates for 2004 averaging 18%, down somewhat from 2003.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Preliminary 2004 HMO rates are averaging almost 18%, continuing a trend of double-digit health care cost increases but showing signs that rate hikes may be starting to moderate, according to recent data from Hewitt Associates, a Lincolnshire,...

Medicare demonstration project to pay cash to improve hospital inpatient care quality.(Statistical Notes)(the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announces a new Medicare demonstration program)
August 1, 2003... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a new Medicare demonstration program that will use financial incentives to encourage hospitals to provide high quality inpatient care. The demonstration involves Premier...

Survey finds health care strategist pay rose 5% on average in 2002.(Statistical Notes)(health care marketers, strategists, and communicators receive an average salary raise of 4.9% in 2002)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The average salary raise received by a health care marketer, strategist or communicator was 4.9% in 2002, according to a recent survey released by the American Hospital Association's Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. ...

HHS moving toward establishing national electronic health care system.(Database Notes)(the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announces two new steps in building a national electronic health care system)
August 1, 2003... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced two new steps in building a national electronic health care system that will allow patients and their doctors to access their complete medical records anytime and anywhere...

McGraw-Hill makes information on SARS available free from its online medical reference source.(Database Notes)(McGraw-Hill Professional is providing free content about the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome from its Harrison's Online)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... New York-based McGraw-Hill Professional is making content regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) available for free from its online medical reference, Harrison's Online. "As the leading publisher of medical resources, we feel it...

Nursing executives web site launches.(Database Notes)(NursingExecutives.com is launched )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... NursingExecutives.com, an online career building and employment resource for executive, middle management and administrative nurses as well as for employers and recruiters, recently launched. According to the company, the web site differs...

Solucient: Americans turning to internet in growing numbers to seek health information.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Roughly 45% of adults now turn to the internet for numerous health care-related purposes, including personal health research, prescription medication purchases, or details on hospitals and health plans, according to a recent study by Solucient,...

Medstat launches internet-delivered health market intelligence modeling tools.(Database Notes)(Medstat releases Market Expert )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Medstat has announced the release of Market Expert, an internet-delivered market intelligence solution that allows hospital CFOs and planners to quickly assess the impact of proposed business strategies. Market Expert provides decision...

Groups offer web site allowing California patients to rate their hospital experience.(Database Notes)(the California HealthCare Foundation and the California Institute for Health Systems Performance launch a web site)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) and the California Institute for Health Systems Performance (CIHSP) have launched www.calhospitals.org, a new web site that allows patients in California to rate their experience in seven categories...

Observation units can improve outcomes, financial performance.(Patient Management Strategies)(hospitals can benefit from clustering observation patients into units within the hospital)
August 1, 2003... As government and private insurers have increased pressure on health care organizations to control the escalating costs of care by reducing unnecessary hospitalizations and as the proportion of health care services delivered in outpatient...

HealthSouth outlines strategy for surgery centers, rehab services.(Crisis Management)
August 1, 2003... The crisis management team at HealthSouth last month laid out its plans for averting bankruptcy, provided that the government doesn't give the 49,000-employee company the "death sentence" by indicting it as well as its former executives for...

Hospital execs share what works, what doesn't, in surgery center JVs.(Surgery Center JVS)
August 1, 2003... PinnacleHealth System of Harrisburg, Pa., didn't have any plans for a joint venture ambulatory surgery center (ASC) in its hometown market, where it already had the lion's share of the surgery market--until it learned that about 20 of its...

Study highlights importance of EDs.(Market Memo)(the average non-trauma emergency department in California generates 20% of a hospital's profits)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The average non-trauma emergency department (ED) in California generates 20% of a hospital's profits, according to a new study commissioned by the California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF) and conducted by the University of Southern California...