Healthcare Strategic Management articles from December 2004

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from December 2004

Community-based physician need planning methodologies evolve.(Market Memo)
December 1, 2004... National estimates of physician supply and demand often provide little guidance to hospital strategists and planners, because local conditions reflect so many variables that aren't accounted for in national surveys and studies. Physician supply...

'Blue' state academic medical centers vs. 'Reds'.
December 1, 2004... Teaching hospitals and academic medical centers in the "Blue" states that voted for Sen. John F. Kerry over President George W. Bush are on defense more than ever in Washington. This is not an entirely new situation, because Republicans...

Correction and amplification.(Specific Notes)(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2004... The Market Memo for November 2004 (Health Care Strategic Management, Vol. 22, No. 11: Demand for imaging services is growing robustly, by Bradley Worrell) quoted widely from a report by Chicago-based consultant, Tiber Group. Neal Peyser's name...

Baptist Health, HealthSouth, open talks aimed at transferring ownership of all-digital hospital.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The legal and financial difficulties of HealthSouth, Birmingham, Ala., left in limbo the surgical and rehab chain's much touted "all-digital" hospital that was to lead the industry in efficiency, cost savings and patient care in the 21st...

Denver to gain women and children's center following construction of new hospital addition.(strategic notes)(Denver Health Community Health Services)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... New hospitals and pledges of cooperation are giving Denver a range of specialty hospital options. Denver Health Community Health Services, 349 beds, has begun construction on a new 212,000-square-foot facility that will increase its...

Proliferation of cardiac hospitals in Milwaukee area leads MedCath to close year-old facility.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... MedCath Corp., Charlotte, N.C., in November closed its Heart Hospital of Milwaukee, Glendale, Wis., 32 beds, and sold the hospital's assets to Columbia St. Mary's, Milwaukee, 314 beds. Columbia St. Mary's paid $42.5 million for the facility...

Baylor using expertise from cancer vaccine trials in new company that designs therapies.(strategic notes)(Baylor Health Care System)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Baylor Health Care System, Dallas, has established a cancer immunotherapy company, called ODC Therapy Inc. ODC will develop, produce and distribute customized cancer vaccines, including a melanoma vaccine, to individual patients and monitor...

Hospitalists to guide patient treatment at Saint Anthony's under contract with IPC.(Strategic Notes)(Saint Anthony's Health Center)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Saint Anthony's Health Center, Alton, Ill., 292 beds, in November selected IPC, North Hollywood, Calif., to provide hospitalist services for inpatient and emergency patients. Under the two-year deal, acute-care specialists employed by IPC...

Georgia hospital begins construction on modern new facility with larger operating rooms.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Gwinnet Hospital System, Duluth, Ga., on Oct. 4 began construction of a new 81-bed hospital to replace the current Joan Glancy Memorial Hospital. The new hospital, set to open in 2006, will cove, 175,476 square feet. It will have larger...

California hospitals end labor dispute with deal to work with employees to set staff levels.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Two California hospitals settled a labor dispute with nurses and other clinicians adopting standards for staffing and access to training. Doctors Medical Center San Pablo/Pinole and Washington Hospital, Fremont, agreed to let the nurses...

Approval of new artificial spinal disc opens door to increase in procedures to relieve back pain.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Texas Back Institute, Piano, Texas, will open the nation's first center dedicated to the study and application of spine arthroplasty using the CHARITE artificial disc, the first disc approved for use in the U.S. The back institute is located at...

Service improvements earn New Jersey hospital 2004 Malcolm Baldrige award for health care.(Strategic Notes)(Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Hamilton, N.J., 204 beds, received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for 2004 in the health care category. The award was based on service improvements during the year, as well as efforts...

Hospitals save on pharmaceuticals in new VHA program to standardize on high-cost products.(statistical notes)(veterans health administration)
December 1, 2004... Hospitals participating in a program sponsored by VHA, Irving, Texas, cut up to 30% from the cost of a set of commonly-used drugs in 2004. VHA one of the owners of Novation, also in Irving, is helping hospitals shave millions from their...

Rising insurance costs may be preventing patients from seeking needed medical care.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Are U.S. citizens refraining from getting needed health care because of increased co-pay amounts for insured treatment? Hospitals may soon feel the effects of efforts by insurance companies and employers to rein in costs by letting...

Hospitals, suppliers, specialty care providers looking forward to higher profits in new year.(health care spending)
December 1, 2004... Health care executives and their suppliers are facing the new year with a burst of optimism, a new survey revealed. They see rising competition, but also rising profits, despite nationwide concerns about the cost of health care. The...

Rural hospital manager plans to expand using loan, line of credit from health finance company.(Statistical Notes; Schuster Group)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The Schuster Group, a company that manages rural hospitals, will use a $9 million loan to expand beyond its current four hospitals and two cancer treatment centers. Schuster received the loan, along with a $15 million revolving line of...

Firm compiles records of 10,000 mergers of health care organizations in online database.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... A firm that tracks health care mergers and acquisitions recorded 200 such deals in the third quarter of 2004, bringing to 10,000 the number of deals in its database since 1998. Based in New Canaan, Conn., Irving Leving Associates provides...

Contract will allow still-unapproved vaccine for anthrax to be developed, marketed to hospitals.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... It no longer makes headlines, but anthrax is still a threat to public health. The federal government has awarded VaxGen, Brisbane, Calif., a contract to supply 75 million doses of anthrax vaccine for civilian defense, and to maintain the...

New guide shows hospitals how to design, build new facilities that are environmentally friendly.(Database Notes)(www.gghc.org.)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Hospitals planning to build new facilities need to consider their impact on the environment, and a new guide was released in November to help them do that. 'The Green Guide for Health Care' is available online at www.gghc.org. It contains...

FDA approves new Israeli device that uses MRI technology for treatment of uterine fibroids.(Database Notes; Food and Drug Administation)(magnetic resonance imaging )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... An Israeli-made device that provides a new treatment for uterine fibroids was unveiled in late November at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. InSightec, Haifa, Israel, introduced on Nov. 29 its ExAblate(R)...

Flu vaccine supply augmented by shipments to providers treating high-risk individuals.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The Dept. of Health and Human Services is expediting delivery of influenza vaccine. Between mid-October and the end of November, 17.2 million doses of flu vaccine arrived at clinics, doctors' offices and hospitals, earmarked for high-risk...

Capsule endoscopy device to receive higher Medicare reimbursement beginning in January.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Hospitals using the PillCam SB capsule endoscopy device made by Given Imaging, Yoqneam, Israel, can expect better Medicare reimbursement next year. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established a higher national average...

Hospitals eliminate clinical PCs in favor of central server connected to 'blades'.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... The latest PACS (picture archiving and communication system) upgrades include sharp new monitors for viewers of radiology images. The monitors are connected to central computer servers that collect and maintain the data. One of the latest...

Electronic storage makes patient records more manageable, less costly, at Memorial Hermann.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston, is turning its patient records into an electronic database. Using an archive system developed by EMC Corp., Hopkinton, Mass., 12-hospital Memorial Hermann plans to keep records for the lifetime...

Legislation to regulate 'purchasing agents' aims to rein in GPOs, but also could apply to IDNs.(Worth Reading)(Group purchasing organizations)
December 1, 2004... The Health Industry Group Purchasing Assn. (HIGPA), Arlington, Va., is marshalling all of its resources to fight a new Senate bill that it contends goes far beyond just regulating GPOs and intrudes into the daily lives of every hospital and IDN...

Continuous proactive health management opportunites grow.(Wellness)
December 1, 2004... The market for continuous proactive partnerships between hospitals' wellness centers, health clubs and spas and local consumers is likely to expand dramatically as more people focus on losing weight, getting in shape and learning to eat healthy...