Healthcare Strategic Management articles from May 2003

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from May 2003

HealthSouth woes may spell opportunities for providers. (Market Memo).
May 1, 2003... HealthSouth's implosion is likely to cause reverberations across the health care provider spectrum, industry observers agree, but it's less clear whether not-for-profit hospitals have a chance of picking up any of the pieces should the company...

New news sources for hospital executives.
May 1, 2003... Staying in touch with the latest developments in hospitals, integrated delivery networks, managed care, health policy, the courts and publicly-owned health care companies is a major challenge for strategists. As if hospital executives...

HCA completes $1.1 billion Health Midwest deal. (Strategic Notes).(HCA- the Healthcare Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... HCA has completed its $1.1 billion acquisition of the 14-hospital not-for-profit Health Midwest system in Kansas City. Health Midwest owns, manages or leases hospitals in Kansas and Missouri with 1,951 in combined beds. The deal was...

United Hospital plans neuroscience institute. (Strategic Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... United Hospital of St. Paul, Minn., has unveiled plans for a new state-of-the-art neuroscience institute. Once complete, the John Nasseff Neuroscience Institute will be one of only a few nationwide, according to United Hospital. It will...

Milford, Mass., hospital breaks ground on major expansion; completion date set for 2005. (Strategic Notes).(Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Milford-Whitinsville Regional Hospital in Milford, Mass., has broken ground on an 85,000-square-foot patient care addition. The $45 million addition and renovation to the 114-bed hospital includes medical surgical nursing, maternity,...

Sunrise Assisted Living completes $150 million acquisition of Marriott Senior Living communities. (Strategic Notes).(Marriott Senior Living Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Sunrise Assisted Living Inc. of McLean, Va., has completed its previously announced acquisition of Marriott Senior Living Services Inc. In acquiring Marriott Senior Living, Sunrise assumes the management of 126 operating properties with a...

Report finds hospital M&A activity declined in '02. (Statistical Notes).(merger and acquisition)
May 1, 2003... Hospital merger and acquisition activity declined significantly in 2002, hitting its lowest level of transactions in 10 years, according to Irving Levin Associates, a New Canaan, Conn.-based research and health care publishing firm. During...

Independent reps on hospital boards shrinking along with overall size of boards, group finds. (Statistical Notes).(Outside/independent representation on hospital boards)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Outside/independent representation on hospital boards has declined as the overall size of those boards has shrunk, according to a recent report from The Governance Institute. The Governance Institute survey on governance practices, "State...

CDC: inpatient stays continued to drop in 2001. (Statistical Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The average hospital length of stay continues to decline, down to 4.9 days in 2001 from 7.8 days in 1970, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the CDC, the majority of...

Not-for-profit credit quality continues to decline. (Statistical Notes).(nonprofit hospitals)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The credit quality of not-for-profit hospitals continued to decline in the first quarter, two major credit ratings agencies announced in separate reports. Standard & Poor's reported 17 downgrades and four upgrades for the quarter. That...

Report calls speciality hospitals a challenge to general acute-care facilities. (Statistical Notes).(Center for Studying Health System Change)
May 1, 2003... Policy makers need to balance the possibility that specialty hospitals can improve care and reduce costs in their field against the competitive threat they pose to general acute-care hospitals, according to a recent report from the Center for...

Study shows HMO enrollment continues to drop. (Statistical Notes).(health maintenance organizations)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... HMO enrollment fell from 76.1 million enrollees in January 2002 to 74.2 million in July 2002, according to a new study from InterStudy Publications of St. Paul, Minn. The company reported that a major factor in the decrease of full-service...

AHA/FAH report shows premium increases exceed health care cost growth. (Statistical Notes).(American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Recent increases in health insurance premiums have exceeded the growth in health care costs, according to a recent report from the American Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals. The report, prepared by Seattle-based...

NIC finds occupancy rates fall for independent living facilities, assisted living units stabilize. (Statistical Notes).(National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industries)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The occupancy rate for independent living facilities was down somewhat for fourth quarter 2002. but rates increased for assisted living facilities, according to a recent report from the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care...

JCAHO moves toward unannounced surveys. (Statistical Notes).(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has announced it will conduct all regular accreditation survevs on an unannounced basis beginning in January 2006. Unannounced surveys will be pilot-tested in volunteer...

Harris survey finds number of 'cyberchondriacs' virtually unchanged in 2002. (Database Notes).(Harris Interactive)
May 1, 2003... A recent survey by Harris Interactive suggests that the number of people who go online to find health care information may be reaching a plateau. The survey found that 52% of people surveyed in early 2003 reported going online to "look for...

Web site launches women's heart online center. (Database Notes).(iVillage.com)
May 1, 2003... The web site iVillage.com has launched a new online center focused on women and heart disease, with a specific focus on how women can protect their cardiovascular health. Located at iVillage.com/healthyheart, the comprehensive new center,...

AHA web portal unites 50 internet sites. (Database Notes).(American Hospital Association)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... The American Hospital Association (AHA) has launched HospitalConnect, a web portal uniting 50 internet sites from 22 organizations that serve health care providers. The prototype for HospitalConnect went live in July 2002 for fine-tuning...

Cain Brothers promotes web-based data collection accounting and risk management tool. (Database Notes).(Cain Brothers, Shattuck and Company Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Health care-focused New York-based investment banking firm Cain Brothers has launched CBFiRM, a web-based data collection accounting and risk management tool tailored to the needs of not-for-profit hospitals and health systems. "Simply...

Solucient launches internet-based tool for operational/financial performance improvement. (Database Notes).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2003... Health care market intelligence firm Solucient has launched Action O-I, an internet based comparative tool for operational and financial performance improvement. According to Solucient, Action O-I enables hospitals and health systems to...

IT-focused, consumer-driven health care offers potential for big savings. (Information Technology).(Frost & Sullivan)
May 1, 2003... Managed care providers can reduce overhead costs by as much as 16% by implementing IT-focused, consumer-driven health care and disease management plans, according to a recent report from health care consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. Frost...

Service line strategy provides hospitals with a competitive edge. (Service Line Strategies).
May 1, 2003... In the past two or three years there has been a renewed interest in the concept of service line management. Those who have been in the health care industry for a while will recognize that this is the second wave for the strategy--the first wave...

Hospitals must be good negotiators: attorney who won major judgment against Humana offers providers three basic tips. (Service Line Strategies).
May 1, 2003... As many a hospital administrator can testify, being a quality provider is not enough to succeed financially. In today's world of large managed care contracts, hospitals must also be good negotiators with insurers. It's important for...

New strategies required to improve hospital-physician alignment. (Hospital-Physician Relations).
May 1, 2003... During the past 10 to 15 years, hospitals have employed a variety of strategies to integrate with physicians. At their core, each of these strategies was intended to improve hospital-physician alignment. Although not explicitly stated,...

CGE&Y forecasts MCO movement to 'population management' model. (Population Management).(Cap Gemini Ernst and Young)(managed care organizations)
May 1, 2003... Managed care organizations will increasingly shift from a utilization management model to preventative care and care management model for insured individuals with chronic conditions; the relationship between providers and MCOs will improve...