Healthcare Strategic Management articles from October 2001

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from October 2001

Market Memo: Need new beds? Throw out your old formulas.(hospital bed numbers have gone from oversupply to imminent shortage)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... It may be difficult for most of us to remember, but there was once a time when hospitals and health systems throughout the country were expanding their capacities, and building ever more beds while regulators fought fiercely to keep them from...

Hospitals affected less than most by recession.
October 1, 2001... The near-term outlook for hospitals is being changed by the war against terrorism and a deepening recession. Yes, we're in a recession, and it will get worse before it gets better. For hospitals, the recession will be more damaging over the...

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences plans multiple myeloma institute.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) plans to build the world's first institute entirely dedicated to the research and treatment of multiple myeloma, a rare form of cancer affecting blood cells of the bone marrow. UAMS'...

Disease management is strong business for Matria Healthcare.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The disease management business is strong, according to Matria Healthcare Inc., which expects to report increased profits and revenues for 2001 and 2002. Parker H. Petit, chairman, president and CEO said, "I believe that disease management...

UC Davis Medical Center is building autism treatment and research complex.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... UC Davis Medical Center is building a new 135,000-square-foot complex that will become the UC Davis M.I.N.D. (Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders) Institute to study and treat neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism,...

OCT technology another must have for hospitals and their surgeons?(Imalux Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... A new imaging modality may be used for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, according to Imalux Corp., Cleveland, Ohio. The modality, optical coherence tomography (OCT), is based on beaming safe infrared light into soft tissue to create...

Province Healthcare opens $31 million hospital in Elko, Nevada.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Province Healthcare Co., Brentwood, Tenn., opened the new $31 million Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital in Elko, Nevada. Built as a replacement to the existing 50-bed hospital, the new 75-bed, 125,000 square-foot hospital replaces the old...

MRI that allows patients to stand may be on hospital radiologists' wish lists.(FONAR Corporation )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... The next item on radiologists wish lists is likely to be a full-body MRI scanner that allows patients to stand. FONAR Corporation has sold its new Indomitable(TM), the Stand-Up MRI(TM) to a partnership in Florida. The scanner is the only...

Asthmatics less likely to appear in ER if treated under practice guidelines.(guidelines established by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's National Asthma Education and Prevention Program)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Asthmatics are less likely to have attacks that send them to the emergency room or lead to a hospital admission if they are treated in accordance with guidelines established by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's National Asthma...

Endometrial cancer cases increasing 10% per year; deaths up 127% since 1987.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... The rate of women dying from endometrial cancer has shot up by 128% since 1987 to 6,500 per year, according to experts from the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO) who examined American Cancer Society statistics. In addition, they found...

British health service publishes monthly waiting list.(of patients were waiting to be admitted to hospitals)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Waiting to be admitted to a hospital is such a big issue in the United Kingdom that the National Health Service publishes a monthly report on its waiting list. As of July 31, 1,038,500 patients were waiting to be admitted to hospitals, down...

Rising premiums will increase number of uninsured and boost uncompensated care.(rising health insurance premiums)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Rising health insurance premiums will increase the number of insured, and premiums are rising. The rule of thumb is that for each percentage point increase in premiums, the number of uninsured rises by 200,000. Premiums for...

A million kids have taken potentially dangerous performance-enhancing drugs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Approximately 1 million young people between ages 12 to 17 have taken potentially dangerous performance-enhancing supplements and drugs, even though 96% of those surveyed were aware of the potential for health damage. The survey, by the Blue...

Seniors' drug costs are increasing 18.5% as they take more prescription drugs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Older Americans are taking more prescription medications than ever before and incurred an 18.5% annual increase in drug costs over the last three years. As a result, they will need proper counsel on medication use under a Medicare drug...

67% think hospitals do a good job, while only 30% think HMOs do a good job.(poll conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Nurses, doctors and hospitals get much better grades from consumers than HMOs and other health insurers, according to a poll conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation by the Harvard School of Public Health. Nurses were rated highest, with...

American Cancer Society relaunches Web site for patients and providers.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Cancer centers that hope to establish themselves as national and local resources for cancer patients and care givers will compete with and link to www.cancer.org, which has been relaunched by the American Cancer Society. The site offers...

Solucient releases 2000 Medicare MedPAR files for health systems planners.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Solucient, Evanston, Ill., said that 2000 Medicare data are now updated in Hospital Patient Profiles, Solucient's market research tool. Solucient provides the 2000 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data set, integrated with...

NCQA says health plans improve quality for wellness care; doesn't report on acute care.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) last month said health plans participating in its quality survey improved the quality of wellness care that they paid for in 2000 over 1999, but it provided few concrete statistics and didn't...

70% have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives.(posttraumatic stress disorder)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... An estimated 70% of American adults have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives, and up to 20% of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the PTSD Alliance. Women are about twice as...

States can save Medicaid money by controlling beneficiaries' drug costs.(Controlling pharmacy expenditures)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
October 1, 2001... Hospitals' continue to face underpayments by states' Medicaid programs because, among other things, their drug expenditures are under control. New technology is available for states that want to control such technology. EDS and Heritage...

Business coalition publishes reports on health benefits provided by employers.(National Business Coalition on Health)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Integrated delivery networks and major medical centers that are contracting directly with employers need to keep up on how employers are changing their health benefits. The National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) published two NBCH...

Neoforma and Global Healthcare Exchange join e-commerce platforms.(contract with Novation)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Two leading Internet exchanges that are designed to enable online buying and selling of medical supplies and equipment will be operated as one exchange rather than as hospital-sponsored and supplier-owned marketplaces. Marketplace@Novation...

New drugs and other medical advances are worth more than their costs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... "Technological innovations in medicine are on net positive," according to Harvard University's David M. Cutler and Stanford University's Mark McClellan, M.D. In their article, "Is technological change in medicine worth it?" in the...

Preventable deaths caused by medical errors are much lower than reported.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... Hospitals investing in programs designed to reduce medical errors based on an Institute of Medicine study published a couple of years ago probably are working on a smaller problem than they thought they had when they started their programs....

War and recession require a new look at hospitals' business environment.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2001... Wars and recessions change business environments for hospitals, integrated delivery networks (IDNs) and other providers. Because every market is different, strategists will be looking for ways to soften the impact of the country's war...

Hospitals' average Medicare profit per case fell in 2000 in all but two states.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
October 1, 2001... The Average Medicare profit per case in 48 states fell in fiscal year 2000 from 1999 levels, according to the the 10th Edition of the Data Advantage Hospital Trend Report, published by Data Advantage, Louisville, Ky. Using the newly...

Hospitals and country are `woefully unprepared' for bioterrorism attacks.
October 1, 2001... Executives and managers of hospitals and integrated delivery networks and their medical staffs will be updating their disaster plans to deal with bioterrorism. There are widespread concerns that the country and its hospitals aren't prepared for...