Healthcare Strategic Management articles from June 2004

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from June 2004

Neurosciences provide great opportunities for hospitals.(Market Memo)
June 1, 2004... The neurosciences will prove to be a huge cash cow for hospitals during the next decade or two. Indeed, many institutions are already benefiting greatly from advances in the treatment of neurological diseases and from their investments in...

Big employers seek more purchasing clout.
June 1, 2004... Can the private sector do more for the uninsured than politicians have been willing to do? And how can large employers, hospitals, physicians and insurers overcome regulatory obstacles to get anything done? Do all the players, especially...

VA seeks funds to relocate hospitals to bring them closer to where majority of veterans live.(Strategic Notes)(Veterans)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Dept. of Veterans Affairs plans to build new hospitals in Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas, 156 new community clinics, four new spinal cord injury centers, two blind rehabilitation centers and expanded mental health outpatient services...

Joint venture will bring New York surgeons to New Jersey to serve pediatric heart patients.(Strategic Notes)(Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A joint venture aims to give New Jersey children access to cardiac surgery without a trip to New York. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood John University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., and the Morgan Stanley...

Electronic medical records expected to serve military well; Lockheed tapped for software.(Strategic Notes)(Lockheed Martin Corp. and defense department contracts)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Dept. of Defense took the first step toward converting to electronic medical records for military patients in May, when it awarded a $47.8 million contract to Lockheed Martin, Seabrook, Md. The expected total value of the contract includes...

Texas hospital gets new lease on life as voters agree to provide public funding via tax hike.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Privately-owned Winnie Community Hospital, Winnie, Texas, 25 beds, got a new lease on life when Chambers County voters approved 315 to 164 a 0.9% tax levy to support it. In the April referendum, voters agreed to create the Winnie-Stowell...

Tenet plans to move headquarters to Texas from California during remainder of 2004.(Strategic Notes)(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)
June 1, 2004... Tenet Healthcare Corp., whose purchasing center has long been in Dallas, will move its headquarters there from Santa Barbara, Calif., CEO Trevor Fetter announced May 6. "As we build the new Tenet around a core group of 69 hospitals in key...

Destination therapy offers transplant alternative for some patients; UCLA pioneers program.(Strategic Notes)(University of California (Los Angeles))(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, 668 beds, on May 22 launched its Destination Therapy program, designed to offer a permanent alternative to heart transplantation. The hospital will begin implanting the HeartMate XVE Left Ventricular...

Texas-based investment company to acquire 15-hospital Iasis Healthcare in $1.4 billion deal.(Strategic Notes)(Texas Pacific Group)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Iasis Healthcare Corp., Franklin, Tenn., will be acquired by a private investment company for $1.4 billion. The deal is expected to close June 30. The buyer, Texas Pacific Group, Fort Worth, Texas, will continue operating the 15-hospital...

Hospitals aim to recoup software investment by improving charge capture and pricing.(Strategic Notes)(MedAssets Net Revenue Systems)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Five-hospital Mercy Health System, Philadelphia, and West Jefferson Medical Center, Marrero, La., 462 beds, in April signed six-year contracts with MedAssets Net Revenue Systems, Alpharetta, Ga. The agreements cover software that automates...

Charles Evans moves to top spot in Eastern Group of HCA, following Grinney's departure.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... When Jay Grinney left HCA, Nashville, Tenn., to replace ousted HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, he left a vacancy at the top of HCA's 100-hospital Eastern Group. On May 18, HCA named his successor, Charles R. Evans. Evans was promoted from...

Quality improvement in patient care earns 60 Michigan hospitals awards of excellence.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Providing both accessible and affordable care earned 60 Michigan hospitals quality improvement awards. On May. 20, the Lansing-based MPRO gave the Governor's Award of Excellence for Improving Care in the Hospital Setting to the 60...

Case management, clinical improvement make Covenant Health ready for public reporting.(Statistical Notes)
June 1, 2004... In a competitive market, there is strong pressure to be the best in critical product lines such as cardiac care. When community pressure and federal regulations promote public reporting of performance measures, the pressure is even greater to...

Combination of geography, economics, patient factors may spell doom for some hospitals.(Statistical Notes)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported that hospitals with high proportions of low-income and uninsured patients may also have overburdened emergency rooms, and this condition threatens their financial viability. In some...

Manufacturer defends diagnostic capsule safety for endoscopy in light of patient death in Israel.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The so-called "camera pill" that has become popular in U.S. hospitals as a diagnostic tool was blamed for the death of a patient in Israel, but the manufacturer, also based in that country, insists the device is not hazardous. Given...

Hospitals, regulators, competing manufactures focus on future of drug-eluting stent industry.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Drug-eluting stents continue to stay in the spotlight. They are one reason the FDA in May proposed a new rule to create a special pre-market review category for combination products. "Products, such as drug-eluting stents (which combine a...

Next less-invasive procedure: Lenox Hill begins using radio-wave ablation in cardiac procedure.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, 652 beds, has begun using less-invasive surgery to treat atrial fibrillation. As of May 4, the hospital had performed two procedures using a radio-frequency ablation device made by Cardima Inc., Fremont, Calif....

Study shows combo drug may make it easier to control blood pressure in African-Americans.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Research indicates African-Americans, a high-risk group for high blood pressure, may soon have more treatment options. A new study, AADVANCE, shows Diovan HCT[R] (valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide) lowers blood pressure in African Americans...

It takes only three protocols to boost outcomes during CABG procedures, new research shows.(Database Notes)(coronary artery bypass grafts)
June 1, 2004... Following three specific protocols strictly can mean the difference between superior outcomes for isolated coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) and unacceptable mortality rates. That was the conclusion of a study at Aurora Health Care,...

Massachusetts hospital hosts seminar on ways to make health care friendlier to environment.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Beth Israel Deaconess Boston, 673 beds; St. Joseph Hospital, Nashua, N.H., 208 beds; and Bay State Health System, Springfield, Mass., 800 beds, are among hospitals that discovered it pays to be good to Mother Nature. Beth Israel Deaconess...

Aspirin use to prevent, mitigate heart disease woefully inadequate, new Stanford study shows.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Health care professionals agree that patients should take aspirin to reduce the risk of heart disease. So why don't more of them receive it at the first sign or coronary trouble? Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at...

Stroke education program for clinicians and public pays off in lower mortality, new facility.(Database Notes)(ischemic stroke, Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare, Mohawk Valley Network)
June 1, 2004... Faxton-St. Luke's Healthcare, Utica, N.Y., 532 beds, saw an 11.3% decrease in mortality for ischemic stroke patients in the first year of its stroke awareness program. Its parent integrated delivery network, Mohawk Valley Network, opened a...

Business group study optimistic about amount of savings seniors will gain from drug discounts.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Senior citizens who qualify for the new Medicare drug discount cards will save $24.1 billion on their prescriptions during the program's first two years, 2004-2006. That prediction comes in a new report released in May by Business...

Pennsylvania hospital finds way to share news about winning Distinguished Hospital Award.(Worth Reading)
June 1, 2004... Everyone likes to share good news, and Sue Ross, like all good directors of community relations, is especially fond of sharing good news about Easton Hospital, Easton, Pa. "When we learned we had won the Distinguished Hospital Award for...

Amerinet acquires group purchasing contract portfolio from JPC, adds $500 million annually.(Worth Reading)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Amerinet, St. Louis, on April 23 acquired the group purchasing operations of Joint Purchasing Corp., New York. The move followed talks initiated by JPC as part of its long-range strategic planning. Amerinet immediately began working with...

Minimally invasive spine surgery for osteoporosis, cancer patients grows.(Technology)
June 1, 2004... The minimally invasive orthopedic and spinal surgery market looks strong to companies that supply instruments and supplies used by surgeons treating spine fractures caused by osteoporosis and cancer, which means it also looks like a strong...

Sentara's neuroscience network.(Market Memo)
June 1, 2004... Sentara Healthcare, a six-hospital system based in Norfolk, VA, tested VHA's StrokeSense program within its flagship facility in June, 2001. Sentara sits in the heart of America's so-called "stroke belt", an 11-state southeastern swath where...