Healthcare Strategic Management articles from June 2005

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from June 2005

Market memo: hospitals are facing a new accountability.
June 1, 2005... It is clear that customers, including payers and patients, as well as the general public, are beginning to hold, or at least attempt to hold providers accountable for more things than providers are used to. Essentially, they are moving from...

How will hospitals get their share of ED funds?(emergency department services )
June 1, 2005... Hospitals serving large numbers of uninsured illegal immigrants will be at least partially paid for their emergency department services to those patients under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. What's amazing about the $1 billion...

Newt on health care: technology already exists to automate hospitals, reduce costs, heal better.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Newt Gingrich )
June 1, 2005... It's not politics, but science, that will provide answers to the challenges of making the health care system work in the new century, former Congressman Newt Gingrich told a group of hospital and group purchasing executives May 16. Proving...

War heats up between general and specialty hospitals with lawsuits, legislation in works.(STRATEGIC NOTES)
June 1, 2005... For the past couple of years, hospitals have been protesting the emergence of specialty hospitals owned by physicians who also make patient referrals to them. Now, the specialists are fighting back. Physician-owned Heartland Surgical...

Major renovation in the works at Kansas City hospital including brain and heart institutes.(St. Luke's Hospital)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... St. Luke's Hospital, Kansas City, Mo., 629 beds, has embarked on a $250 million renovation project. A hospital spokeswoman said power plant construction is already under way, but most of the project still lies ahead. Completion is expected...

Providence Holy Cross responds to upcoming population growth by building hospital addition.(STRATEGIC NOTES)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, Mission Hills, Calif., 254 beds, will add a four-story, 101-bed patient care building, making it the second largest acute-care hospital in the San Fernando Valley. The $116 million project also includes...

Specialists balk at ER on-call duty, so hospitals resort to paying extra in controversial move.(STATISTICAL NOTES)
June 1, 2005... A shortage of medical specialists has led some hospitals to break tradition by paying specialists to be on call, a new survey shows. The American College of Physician Executives, Tampa, Fla., polled 814 physician leaders across the country...

In new measurement of medical costs, study finds five-year increase of 9.8% for families.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The average American family of four spent $12,214 on medical care in 2005, an increase of 9.8% from 2001. That is the finding of a new survey by the consulting and actuarial firm Milliman Inc., Seattle. It was used to develop what the firm...

Federal agency offers hospitals latest data for use in verifying codes used in Medicare claims.(STATISTICAL NOTES)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Hospitals in May acquired access to the latest coding database for Medicare reimbursement with release of the Hospital OPPS National Correct Coding database by the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Va. The National...

Patients have different priorities than payers when it comes to pay-for-performance metrics.(patient satisfaction surveys)
June 1, 2005... While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been praising the concept and early results of its new "pay-for-performance" approach to reimbursements, patients using private insurance aren't so sure. That is the conclusion...

Boston Scientific begins worldwide clinical review of its Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent.(clinical trials)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... In late May, the 400th patient was enrolled in the world's largest drug-eluting stent registry, called the Taxus Liberte registry. Registry members will participate in post-approval clinical trials of the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent made...

Executive changes announced at hospitals.(Joseph Zaccagnino, David Shulkin and Thomas Killip)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Joseph Zaccagnino, president and CEO of Yale-New Haven Health System, New Haven, Conn., will retire Sept. 30 after more than 35 years with the system. Officials at five-hospital Yale-New Haven said they expect to name a successor by Sept....

Computers in health care have downside: germs that hide in keyboards can spread infection.(Northwestern Memorial Hospital)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Here's a new problem for the infection control team: A study conducted at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, 779 beds, revealed that harmful bacteria can survive as long as 24 hours on computer keyboards. With hospitals investing in...

Banner hires benchmark firm to provide data for improvement of operational procedures.(Banner Health System, Healthcare Management Council)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Banner Health, Phoenix, Ariz., in May awarded a contract to Healthcare Management Council, Needham, Mass., for performance improvement consulting. The company develops benchmarks for clinical and administrative procedures. ...

Experiment shows higher reimbursement hopes give hospitals incentive to improve quality.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The government's pay-for-performance approach to Medicare payments is working, according to preliminary data from a demonstration program sponsored by the hospital alliance Premier, Charlotte, N.C. At the American Hospital Assn. annual...

Patient safety becomes stronger issue as AHA sets up info center, study shows more incidents.(American Hospital Association)
June 1, 2005... A survey by HealthGrades, Golden, Colo., of cardiology and orthopedic operations serving Medicare patients found incidents that threaten patient safety were on the rise between 2000 and 2003. Just as the May report was released, the...

Hospitals softening stance on patient payments in response to demands from states, uninsured.
June 1, 2005... A group of 18 Minnesota hospitals agreed to reduce charges to many uninsured patients and to refrain from aggressive billing practices. Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch praised the two-year, voluntary agreement. The hospitals belong to...

Oregon Health & Science University to integrate information systems using Streamline Health.(LanVision Systems Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Portland, Ore., 509 beds, in May signed a contract with with the Streamline Health business of LanVision Systems, Cincinnati, for clinical and administrative software. The contract calls for an...

Kaiser plans to put Hawaii patient records online as part of paper-reduction efforts.(Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Members of Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., will be among the first U.S. patients to have access to their medical records online when Kaiser begins offering the service in Hawaii this summer. The web site, www.kp.org, will have...

Materials managers tackle issue of physician preference items using different approaches.(WORTH READING)
June 1, 2005... Now that materials managers have standardized on what consultants insist on calling "low-hanging fruit,"--that is, bulk medical-surgical commodities such as gloves and dressings-they are turning serious attention to physician preference items....

Popular music, nostalgia mark new campaign aimed at revamping Chase's popular image.(J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. advertising campaigns)
June 1, 2005... JPMorgan Chase, Wilmington, Del., in early May launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign designed to establish Chase, its consumer brand, as the company that provides customers with flexibility and choice throughout all...

Here's a guide to planning new health care facilities.(planning and designing)
June 1, 2005... Planning a new health care facility is a one- or two-time project for most hospital planners and executives. A planner might work on a hospital, an ambulatory care surgery center, a diagnostic center, ancillary departments and one each of...

Women need flexible schedules and challenging assignments.(health care industry)
June 1, 2005... Integrated health care delivery networks (IDNs) and their hospitals employ millions of women, especially in nursing and other care giving jobs, and many have often tried to figure out how to retain more talented women. In an article,...