Healthcare Strategic Management articles from January 2000

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from January 2000

How technology is changing the health care system.
January 1, 2000... Almost every aspect of the way hospitals and doctors deal with patients and deliver care will change in the new millennium as technology revolutionizes the health care system. Everything from interactive Internetcommunication and new computer...

Mental health report is important resource >By Donald E.L. Johnson.
January 1, 2000... Health care strategists last month were handed a comprehensive report, "Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General," which should spark some ideas for developing new services and marketing existing ones. The biggest downer (if you'll...

UR decrease just a step along the path to a mature managed care industry?
January 1, 2000... While some health industry experts say that UnitedHealth Group's move to greatly reduce preauthorization means the end of managed care, others believe it is just part of managed care's maturing process. "Rumors of the death of managed...

Hospitals may save money by using anesthesia monitor to cut drug costs.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Hospital operating rooms may be able to save a considerable amount of money and improve patient care by using a patient monitoring device that closely controls the amount of anesthesia inhalation drug needed, according to a recent case study...

Occupational health offers revenue opportunities for some hospitals.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Occupational health programs can offer significant revenue opportunities for hospitals and health systems located in communities that have a heavy base of industries such as manufacturing, construction and transportation, according to a new...

ATAC may be solution for health systems with unprofitable physician practices.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Before abandoning hope and selling practices off at a loss, health systems with unprofitable physician practices may want to try ATAC (Accounting for Time, Activity and Cost), a computerized method of analyzing physician practices to help...

HBSI: Hospital operating margins continue to shrink, with big hospitals suffering more.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... The average operating margin of the U.S. hospital has decreased steadily from 1997 to 1999, and the larger the hospital, the poorer the margin, according to data released by HBS International (HBSI). The figures are derived from the HBSI...

Disease management growing, but lackof standardization creating challenges.
January 1, 2000... Disease management programs have grown steadily, but a lack of standardization among programs is creating confusion and administrative burdens for physicians who participate in the programs, according to a new report on physicians and HMOs...

Infusion therapy may be hospitals' single biggest area for cost savings.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Despite the availability of new technology to deliver intravenous (IV) therapy effectively, most hospitals continue to use equipment featuring technologies that haven't changed in 30 years and are less sophisticated than a $150 microwave oven,...

HCIA launches Web site providing information on '100 Top Hospitals'.
January 1, 2000... HCIA Inc., the Baltimore health care data company that created the "100 Top Hospitals" program, has now launched a Web site that provides information about its "100 Top Hospitals" winners. The site, www.100tophospitals.com, includes...

Paperless medical reports, prescriptions can save time for providers.
January 1, 2000... In the past, health care providers have been "tricked" into trying various technologies that benefit third party payers but have no benefit to the providers. Now there are technologies that also can benefit the providers, according to Andrew...

NCCN database expansion to include data on cancer patients' pain, quality of life.
January 1, 2000... The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Outcomes Database, which measures clinicians' adherence to NCCN guidelines and provides clinical and other outcomes data to evaluate the quality of cancer care, will expand by compiling...

Lessons health care can learn from banking.
January 1, 2000... Can the health care industry, which began seeing dramatic changes in the '90s, learn lessons from the banking industry, which underwent a similar transformation in the '80s? A new report extrapolates lessons from banking and applies them to...

Tenet's rescue of Philly hospitals helps dispel perception of for-profits as 'bad guys'.
January 1, 2000... Not very long ago, for-profit hospitals were the "bad guys" in the health care industry, often accused of being more concerned about their bottom lines than their patients. But Tenet Healthcare's role in rescuing eight nonprofit Philadelphia...

Orlando system counters impact of BBA by pursuing international business.
January 1, 2000... It's not an approach that would work for everyone, but Orlando Regional Healthcare System (ORHS) provides a strong example of how a health care system can take advantage of strengths in the local marketplace to counter revenue losses resulting...

Managing catastrophic care by aligning clinical, financial results >By Tom Otway, CPCU.
January 1, 2000... It can happen in just an instant, and suddenly a premature labor and delivery, a severe burn, a multiple trauma or perhaps a spinal cord injury changes a patient and his or her family's lives forever. More than ever, patients who suffer...

The need for flexible beds in the 21st Century.
January 1, 2000... Despite all current trends and evidence to the contrary, U.S. hospitals will soon face an inpatient bed shortage. In meeting this shortage, it will be important that hospitals come up with the right solutions at a time when consumer...

Most Americans pleased with health care, but most say change needed.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2000... About six in 10 Americans say they are extremely or very satisfied with the quality of the medical care they receive, but 53% say the U.S. health care system needs major change, according to the second annual "Health Confidence Survey" (HCS)....

Trends will include shift to consumer, e-business, prevention, PWC study predicts.
January 1, 2000... By 2010, health care systems will realize that consumers are their key customers, e-business will become essential for survival, and biotechnology advances will shift health care's orientation from cure to prevention, predicts a major study...