Healthcare Strategic Management articles from February 2006

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from February 2006

Pay-for-performance programs show results, spur development.(Market memo)
February 1, 2006... Marketing executives who want to position their healthcare organization as the high-quality choice for consumers should carefully track the evolution of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)/Premier Hospital Quality Incentive...

A message to our readers: your source for healthcare management and marketing strategy has a new look.
February 1, 2006... Dear valued subscriber, I'm pleased to present the updated look and feel of Healthcare Strategic Management. The newsletter has been strategically redesigned for a more open and modern feel. We chose the new layout, fonts, and...

Study says pay for performance might not pay off after all.
February 1, 2006... In pay for performance (P4P) programs--one of the latest approaches in the effort to control nationwide healthcare costs--government or insurance companies peg physician reimbursement to patient outcomes. But physician responses to these...

Healthcare spending continued to rise in 2004, but not as steeply as in previous years.(Research notes)
February 1, 2006... Americans continued to increase their spending on healthcare in 2004, but the rate of spending growth was down for the second consecutive year. According to a report released January 10 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...

What's in a name? Survey tries to define categories of healthcare facilities and organizations.
February 1, 2006... Healthcare providers use many terms--sometimes without regard to their legal or technical meanings, which can cause a great deal of confusion. A recent survey attempted to identify, for example, the difference between an integrated delivery...

Study of hospital mergers in Louisville market predicts strong competition between two giants.(Research notes)
February 1, 2006... A new report from HealthLeaders-InterStudy in Nashville, TN, offers a rosy prospect for the recent merger between Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services (JHHS) and CARITAS Health Services, the Louisville, KY--area's second- and fourth-largest...

Diabetes stats discouraging, as more American children are found to have type 2, CDC reports.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
February 1, 2006... Nearly 21 million Americans--7% of the population--have diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in October 2005. Most cases are type 2, which is associated with poor diet, too little exercise, and being...

Surveys say pricing uneven in nation's hospitals.(Statistical notes)
February 1, 2006... Now that health savings accounts and rising numbers of uninsured Americans have made patients more aware of the costs of medical treatment, hospitals have come under fire for overcharging and for arbitrary or inconsistent pricing. That's the...

Hospital construction takes off in 2005 as old suburban facilities are replaced.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... New construction of hospitals and other healthcare facilities peaked in June 2005 at 315 building starts nationwide, according to research by Patrick Michael Plummer of HealthcareConstruction.com. Plummer, a consultant to medical device...

NJ hospitals lag behind nation in financial returns; those in Ohio cities report higher profits in 2004.(New Jersey)
February 1, 2006... With a few dramatic exceptions, most hospitals did well financially during 2004, the most recent year for which such data is available. In Ohio, urban hospitals saw increased income following mergers that provided economic efficiencies,...

Healthcare CPI rises sharply in November.(consumer price index)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Prices consumers pay to hospitals rose a full percentage point in November 2005, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the largest one-month increase in two years, and it came at a time when the overall Consumer Price Index...

Overhaul of military healthcare system offers lessons for civilian disaster response strategy.(Strategic notes)
February 1, 2006... U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Paul Friedrichs recalled riding in a medical evacuation helicopter out of a battle zone in Iraq with two patients, both severely wounded and on respirators. The helicopter was a flying intensive care unit, and...

Colorado hospital gears up with HCA grant to solidify market dominance in cardiology.(Hospital Corporation of America)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... In November 2005, the 346-bed Medical Center of Aurora (CO) became one of four of Nashville, TN-based HCA's hospitals to receive a $1 million grant to improve its competitiveness in cardiology. But that is just a small part of the $60...

Third organization may be authorized to conduct accreditation services for hospitals, CMS declares.(Strategic notes)
February 1, 2006... TUV Healthcare Specialists in Cincinnati is poised to become the third nongovernmental organization authorized to certify hospitals for accreditation. In December 2005, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) agreed to accept...

Colorado hospital woos clinicians, staff with novel service that picks up dry cleaning, plans parties.(Strategic notes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Hospitals looking for novel ways to retain staff could follow the example of Littleton (CO) Adventist Hospital, which offers concierge services to its employees. In December 2005, the hospital signed a contract with Concierge Colorado to...

Before and after hospitalization: eight ways to ensure a positive patient experience.(Worth reading)
February 1, 2006... Buyers often lament that they are soon forgotten after the sale. So much up-front energy goes into convincing people to buy, but little is done after the sale to ensure that those customers become loyalists who buy again and tell others about...

Shut the door on incidental disclosures.(Worth reading)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Health Insurance Portability and Acountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) does not require organizations to track incidental disclosures and include them in accountings of disclosures. But that doesn't mean hospitals can afford to ignore them....

Laser treatment eases heart pain, brings revenue into system.(Worth reading)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Doctors at several Greater Cincinnati hospitals are finding that a new procedure--transmyocardial revascularization (TMR)--is effective for patients with chronic angina that can't be relieved. TMR also provides the institutions a revenue...

Higher copays causing more unpaid medical bills.(Worth reading)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... High-deductible plans including health savings accounts require patients to make higher out-of-pocket expenses before insurance starts paying a portion of the bill. With deductibles of $1,000 to $5,000, employees are responsible for a...

Marketing hospitalists to physicians, nurses, and patients.(Market strategy)
February 1, 2006... The growth of the hospitalist movement has been nothing short of remarkable. Less than a decade ago, healthcare leaders wondered who these doctors were, questioned their staying power, and disputed their worth. Today, there is no doubt that...