Healthcare Strategic Management articles from May 2002

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from May 2002

Market memo: strategists and financial planners collaborate in meeting hospitals' goals.
May 1, 2002... As the labyrinthine health care system continues to twist and turn with devilish complexity, health care organizations may not even know that a better map to achieving their goals is within reach. Many have formed multi-institution systems...

GPOs' boards need new policies and strategies.(group purchasing organizations)
May 1, 2002... Hospital and health care system CEOs who sit on the boards of the industry's group purchasing organizations must make some major changes in how GPOs are governed and operated. GPOs are under fire from their owners, customers and trading...

Laparoscopic surgery reduces trauma for kidney donors. (Strategic Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Surgeons in several hospitals are using laparoscopic surgery to remove kidneys from donors, making the donation of a kidney less traumatic for the donor. The minimally invasive surgical procedure for removing kidneys is expected to increase...

Mayo Clinic increases national presence by licensing health content to Web sites. (Strategic Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Blue Shield of California will offer health and wellness content from the Mayo Clinic and health news from Reuters Health Information on Blue Shield's mylifepath.com Web site. The relationship between Blue Shield and Mayo will provide users...

Keane launches new program to help with HIPAA's privacy rules. (Strategic Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Keane, Inc. launched its Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Compliance Solution for health care providers, payers, clearinghouses, and government agencies. Compliance to new patient privacy regulations must be...

Team Health to acquire Spectrum Health. (Strategic Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Team Health, the nation's leading provider of hospital-based physician services, announced an agreement to acquire Spectrum Healthcare Resources (SHR), provider of permanent health care professional staffing services to military health care...

Demand for reconstructive surgery falls 6%. (Statistical Notes).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... The number of people who had reconstructive plastic procedures performed in 2001 fell 6% to 5.7 million, the majority of which were tumor removals, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) said. ASPS 2001 expanded statistics...

New book on informed consent and clinical trials. (Statistical Notes).(Informed Consent[TM]: The Consumer's Guide to the Risks and Benefits of Volunteering for Clinical Trials)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... CenterWatch published "Informed Consent[TM]: The Consumer's Guide to the Risks and Benefits of Volunteering for Clinical Trials" to provide patients and their advocates. The volume offers comprehensive and facts, information and resources that...

Home dialysis may be available to more patients and patients may be able to use it longer. (Statistical Notes).(research by Baxter Health Care Corp.)
May 1, 2002... Results from the largest randomized controlled trial ever conducted among patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) demonstrate that PD, a flexible home-based dialysis therapy for people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), may be a viable...

Oncology diagnoses will increase 9% by 2006; hospitals will reallocate mix of beds and services. (Statistics Notes).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Oncology diagnoses will increase as much as 9% between 2001 and 2006, forcing hospitals to closely reevaluate and reallocate the proper mix of beds, care and service they provide their communities. These research findings from Solucient are...

Kaiser Family Foundation finds 66% of small employers unhappy with cost of health insurance. (Statistics Notes).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... A new National Survey of Small Businesses by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that two-thirds (66%) of small employers say they are dissatisfied with the cost of health care and health insurance, and about one-third (35%) of small businesses...

In vitro diagnostic testing for chronic diseases grows as new technologies are applied. (Database Notes).(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
May 1, 2002... The global market for in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests, used to monitor chronic and infectious diseases, is showing signs of life, thanks in large part to the application of new technologies to traditional IVD areas. According to a new study...

Thompson acquires Praxis Press. (Database).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The Thomson Corp., Greenwood Village, Colo., acquired Praxis Press, Inc., an electronic provider of comprehensive, disease-specific, diagnostic and treatment information. Praxis Press will be managed through the Thomson Healthcare group....

American Obesity Assn. revises www.obesity.org for professionals and consumers.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The American Obesity Association (AOA) said it has completely revised its website, www.obesity.org, which appears to promote drugs and weight loss programs, but not bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is considered the most effective way to...

Harris survey highlights public's ambivalence about clinical trials. (Clinical Trials).(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Many people are nervous about participating in clinical trials, according to a Harris poll. Only about one-third of all adults nationwide are very confident that patients in clinical trials get very good medical care. Only about a quarter are...

MedCath commissions study that shows its cardiovascular quality. (Heart Hospitals).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Hospitals facing competition from MedCath's heart hospitals often fight back by claiming that their new competitor won't be able to deliver the same quality of cardiovascular care as a full service medical center. MedCath is fighting back...

Auto industry and UAW sponsor health status and cost studies. (Employers).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... The auto industry and United Auto Workers of America are continuing their efforts to contain health care costs by sponsoring studies of the health care delivery systems where they have concentrations of employees and union members. In fact...