Healthcare Strategic Management articles from January 2004

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from January 2004

Liability insurance premiums on bariatric surgery soar.(Market Memo)
January 1, 2004... Hospitals with weight loss surgery programs may face rapidly escalating liability insurance premiums this year, even if they've have good outcomes and their medical staff surgeons haven't been sued for any deaths or complications. Reports...

Sell evidence-based medicine; cut drug cost.
January 1, 2004... The practice of evidence-based medicine (EBM), continuous quality improvement and effective pharmaceutical and therapeutics (P&T) committees can help reduce hospitals' prescription drug costs by billions of dollars a year. Strong physician...

Methodist Medical Center finds full disclosure offers an advantage in quest for market share.(Strategic Notes)
January 1, 2004... Methodist Medical Center, Peoria, Ill., is hoping to boost business by letting potential patients know about the quality of its patient care, even if that means releasing information that could be used by its competitors. In its print...

Nurses could be added to list of health care professionals subject to background checks.(Strategic Notes)
January 1, 2004... The admission of a registered nurse that he murdered between 30 and 40 seriously ill patients prompted New York Gov. George Pataki to call for background checks on nurses. New York already requires certification of physicians, physician's...

Facilities upgrade can pay for itself, but beware of long-term costs beyond initial investment.(Strategic Notes)
January 1, 2004... An integrated delivery network in Tennessee is saving $655,600 annually on energy and operating costs at its nine hospitals, thanks to lighting retrofits, mechanical equipment upgrades, a new building automation system and water conservation...

Future national health care policy gets dose of reality through visit to Pennsylvania system.(Strategic Notes)
January 1, 2004... Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pa., is helping the government make better decisions concerning health care. In November, Geisinger hosted a site visit by the National Health Policy Forum (NHPF), a non-partisan information exchange program...

Mayo Clinic to focus on advancing research related to Alzheimer's disease, thanks to gifts.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., will use donations totaling $10 million to advance the progress of medical research on Alzheimer's disease. Mayo Clinic's Alzheimer's disease research is conducted at its facilities in Rochester, Minn....

After five-year effort, profitability eludes MCP thanks to reimbursement, insurance climate.(Strategic Notes)(Medical College of Pennsylvania)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... It was not for lack of effort that a prominent teaching hospital is destined to close, but a combination of declining reimbursement, rising malpractice insurance costs and a state budget that has been stretched too thin to support this...

Louisiana hospital to become part of long-term care network following takeover by Pacer.(Strategic Notes)(South Cameron Memorial Hospital)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... South Cameron Memorial Hospital, Creole, La., 49 beds, will be acquired by Pacer Health Corp., Miami Lakes, Fla., a network of long-term care facilities. Pacer will purchase South Cameron, an acute-care hospital, from Revival Healthcare,...

Report: don't neglect volunteers when training hospital workers to comply with HIPAA rules.(Strategic Notes)(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... There has been a lot of discussion about the impact and implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) but most of that has centered on the responsibilities of health care workers and managers. Now...

Design of new Colorado hospital promotes energy-efficiency, air quality, waste control.(Strategic Notes)(Boulder Community Foothills Hospital)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Boulder Community Foothills Hospital (BCFH), Boulder, Colo., 60 beds, in December 2003 became the first hospital in the U.S. to be certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) hospital. BCFH, opened in September 2003...

Hospitals permitted to share flu vaccine in case of local shortages, FDA agrees; more on order.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The FDA has indicated that during the 2003-2004 vaccination season, providers may exchange influenza vaccine between and among themselves in local circumstances where vaccine distribution is uneven. When redistribution occurs, the hospital or...

Survey shows Baby Boomers expect to live long and well using variety of alternative health care.(Statistical Notes)
January 1, 2004... Hospitals could face declining, rather than growing, patient populations as Baby Boomers age. The youngest members of the post-World War II generation will begin turning 40, the official start of middle age, this month. They will make...

New CDC guidelines reflect no new SARS cases worldwide, but warn outbreaks still possible.(Statistical Notes)(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Currently, no known cases of the respiratory disease SARS exist worldwide, according to an updated guidance issued Dec. 18, 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But hospitals must continue to be on the alert for an...

Larger patients mean larger hospital expenses for furniture, appliances, transport devices.(Database Notes)
January 1, 2004... Many U.S. hospitals are forced to buy specialized equipment, and in some cases even remodel their facilities, to cope with the growing number of severely obese patients, according to a survey of hospital purchasing executives. The survey...

Bringing health care into the 21st century takes effort, but will cut future costs, improve care.(Worth Reading)
January 1, 2004... "Slowly, the drive to improve quality and efficiency that has swept through corporations is starting to arrive at the famously inefficient world of hospitals," writes Laura Landro in the Dec. 22, 2003 edition of The Wall Street Journal. ...

Battle of bar codes may soon be resolved, paving the way for electronic purchasing.(Worth Reading)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... In the January issue of Hospital Materials Management, Paula DeJohn reviews another sign of progress in health care: the growing use of universal product codes on hospital supplies. Long a staple of retail and pharmacy products, the UPN is...

Health Management Associates explains gross pricing strategy.(Pricing)
January 1, 2004... How has Health Management Associates, Inc., Naples, FL, become a Wall Street favorite operating non-urban, or rural hospitals? In its press releases and earnings reports, HMA cites its ability to bring modern, centralized financial...

Hospice companies benefit from favorable Medicare rates.(Hospice)
January 1, 2004... The hospice business is so profitable that investor-owned companies are buying and opening hospice offices and locations at a record pace, and their stock prices are sharply higher than a year ago. This may present new business...

How trends will affect health care facilities design and construction.(Facilities)
January 1, 2004... Many hospitals and health care systems are looking taking a hard look at their facilities to determine whether they will be able to support the future health care needs of their community in the future. Facility development planning,...