Healthcare Strategic Management articles from March 2004

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from March 2004

Patient satisfaction: eight problems & suggestions.(Market Memo)
March 1, 2004... When I was beginning my health care career some 40 years ago, I worked at the Kenney Rehabilitation Foundation (later Allina's Sister Kenney Rehabilitation Institute at Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis), we tracked patient...

Low unemployment, slow hiring; what next?
March 1, 2004... The United States is enjoying a low unemployment rate of 5.6%, or nearly full employment, but the percentage of adults in the workforce is at a more than 10-year low of about 65%, or a couple of percentage points below the highs reached during...

Next wave of medical innovation will see more kinds of implants, Freedonia survey shows.(Strategic Notes)
March 1, 2004... The idea of the "six-million-dollar man" may not be fiction much longer. An expanding incidence of heart, orthopedic and visual disorders attributable to aging has led to the development of implantable devices to treat an ever-widening range of...

IDN makes double use of reserve funds: saving for capital needs and building local businesses.(Strategic Notes)(Virginia Tech Foundation)
March 1, 2004... Carilion Health System, Roanoke, Va., is doing more than keeping communities healthy through its nine hospitals. It also is providing a booster shot to the surrounding business community. In February, Carilion joined the Virginia Tech...

Tenet continues to spin off hospitals, cites earthquake regulations in Calif. among reasons.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... For Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., 2004, like 2003, will be a year of downsizing. The process began Feb. I when the company completed the sale of Lake Mead Hospital Medical Center, North Las Vegas, Nev., 198 beds, to IASIS...

Georgia hospital expects to reap benefits from addition of on-site long-term acute care unit.(Strategic Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Regency Hospital Co., Alpharetta, Ga., in June will open a 34-bed long-term acute-care hospital on the site of Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, Ga., 518 beds. The Regency addition will provide care to patients suffering medically...

Battle over rural hospitals emerges as Attentus offer to merge is rejected by SunLink Health.(Strategic Notes)(Attentus Healthcare)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A battle is shaping up between two hospital chains that specialize in acquisition of rural hospitals. On Feb. 13, Attentus Healthcare, Franklin, Tenn., offered to acquire SunLink Health Systems, Atlanta, for $4 per share, which was 44%...

Switch to wireless communication would lead to savings from better use of nurses' time.(Statistical Notes)
March 1, 2004... Wireless communication offers more than convenience, recent hospital experience shows. At St. Agnes Healthcare, Baltimore, 299 beds, converting to a wireless system saved each nursing unit $74,000 in the first year. The savings came from a...

For the near future, nurse shortage will ease, but health care costs will continue to rise.(Statistical Notes)
March 1, 2004... A pair of health care economists are offering good news and bad news for this year: On one hand, the nurse shortage seems to be moderating; on the other, health care costs continue to rise despite predictions to the contrary. Countering...

At university hospitals, ivory towers become source of big business for their communities.(Statistical Notes)
March 1, 2004... It seems university hospitals do more than conduct leading research and serve more than their share of poor and uninsured patients. A new report states that members of the Assn. of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Washington, had a...

Medicare legislation still not popular among those who are most affected: older adults.(Statistical Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The recent passage of legislation covering drug benefits for Medicare participants has both health care professionals and consumers talking. Apparently, the general public is less than satisfied with the measure, according to a Wall Street...

Catholic IDN expands use of database service to track productivity, financial performance.(Database Notes)(Integrated Delivery Network )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP), Cincinnati, Ohio, is expanding its use of a database that helps hospitals manage their operations. CHP, which owns 30 acute-care hospitals, has an agreement with its group purchasing organization, Premier,...

Hospital system installs spam-fighting software, sees payoff in improved employee productivity.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Aurora Healthcare, Two Rivers, Wis., is taking aim at one of the more insidious wasters of time and money in the modern world: e-mail spam. In late 2003, Aurora awarded a contract to Network Associates, Santa Clara, Calif., for the company...

Health care organizations seek efficiency, accuracy, safety in electronic patient records.(Database Notes)
March 1, 2004... In the search for better efficiency and safety, hospitals and clinics have been turning to electronic patient records that can be shared by caregivers throughout the system. At East Jefferson General Hospital, Metairie, La., 450 beds, the...

California IDN working with major IT vendors to develop digital systems for 14 hospitals.(Database Notes)(integrated delivery network)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... St. Joseph Health System, Orange, Calif., is using two technology giants in its effort to establish an electronic patient-care environment. Dell, Round Rock, Texas, will provide the hardware, and Perot Systems, Plano, Texas will develop the...

Medicare compliance will be easier with aid of computer software, Florida hospital decides.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Orlando Regional Healthcare, Orlando, Fla., 1,640 beds, is automating its compliance with Medicare rules. The integrated delivery network in February selected Info-X, Northvale, N.J., to provide internet-based software that will ensure...

Video system aims to transmit physician knowledge to disasters, rural hospitals.(Database Notes)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is testing video equipment to be used by hospitals in future disasters or when physicians are in short supply, as in rural areas. The Disaster Response and Emergency Medical Services...

Children's play area at popular mall has health care theme, thanks to St. Mary's Hospital.(Healthcare Advertising Review)(St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center)
March 1, 2004... Thanks to St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center, Green Bay, visitors to The Bay Park Mall have access to numerous free, health-related programs as well as a clean, safe place for their small children to play. This is the largest retail mall...

Legal battle over safety needles continues; hospital gets aid to buy imagers; indices rise.(Hospital Materials Management)(Franklin Lakes)
March 1, 2004... For the second time, the U.S. District Court in Texarkana, Texas, has postponed a civil trial in which Retractable Technologies, Little Elm, Texas, is seeking damages against a competitor. This time the reason was a family emergency that...

SSM Health Care values continuous quality improvement results.(Strategic Planning)
March 1, 2004... SSM Health Care, St. Louis, became the first health care organization to win the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, and it has new quality improvement goals. During the next three years, senior vice president for strategic planning, Bill...