Healthcare Strategic Management articles from October 2002

Healthcare Strategic Management archives from October 2002

Market memo: fitness/wellness centers promote healthy bottom line.
October 1, 2002... Once considered nonproductive and unprofitable, hospital-affiliated fitness and wellness programs have re-emerged on the scene in recent years amid a growing realization that preventive medicine, rehabilitation and wellness can be packaged as a...

Kaiser Permanente set to open Freemont Medical Center. (Strategic Notes).(Fremont, California)
October 1, 2002... Kaiser Permanente in late September was set to open the doors of a new modern hospital at the Fremont Medical Center. Hospital officials said the opening of the hospital will expand needed services to the 91,000 Kaiser Permanente members in the...

Balanced Care acquired by Canadian nursing home firm. (Strategic Notes).(IPBC Acquisition Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Balanced Care Corp., which operates 53 assisted living centers, has been acquired by IPBC Acquisition Corp., operator of the largest chain of nursing home facilities in Canada. Balanced Care now becomes a subsidiary...

Health Midwest narrows list of possible suitors to two. (Strategic Notes).(HCA, Tenet Healthcare Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Health Midwest of Kansas City, Mo., a not-for-profit system consisting of nine hospitals, says it has narrowed a list of possible suitors to two prospects--HCA of Nashville and Tenet Healthcare Corp. of Santa Barbara, Calif. Despite the...

Mercy Health Partners opens 72-bed, $60 million hospital in Toledo, Ohio. (Strategic Notes).
October 1, 2002... St. Anne Mercy Hospital of Toledo, Ohio, a new 72-bed, $60 million facility on 16 acres, has opened its doors. St. Anne is named after the patron saint of mothers and expectant mothers. St. Anne replaces Riverside Mercy Hospital, which...

Tenet plans $1 billion in capital improvements. (Strategic Notes).(Tenet Healthcare Corp.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Tenet Healthcare Corp. has announced it intends to spend $1 billion in capital projects for its fiscal year ending May 2003. Tenet's audacious plans include expanded emergency departments, new cancer centers, new and expanded cardiology...

Harris Methodist opens epilepsy treatment center. (Strategic Notes).(Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Harris Methodist Fort Worth Hospital (HMFW) in Fort Worth, Texas, has opened a new epilepsy treatment center. "There is a tremendous need in the community for a center with seizure monitoring capabilities for adults," said Susan Blue, M.D.,...

Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh to open at site of former St. Francis Medical Center. (Strategic Notes).
October 1, 2002... A consortium of Pittsburgh-area health organizations will spend $520 million to build a new 235-bed Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and pediatric research facility on the site of an existing, ailing hospital in Lawrenceville, Pa. Terms...

Amerigroup buys Florida health care provider. (Strategic Notes).(PHP Holdings Inc.)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Amerigroup Corp. of Virginia Beach, Va., will pay $121 million to acquire PHP Holdings Inc. of Coral Gable, Fla., a managed health care company focused on serving Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) recipients in...

HMO premiums to rise by 17% in 2003. (Statistical Notes).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... HMO premiums are expected to increase by an average of 17% in 2003, according to a survey by Milliman USA. The 2003 expected increase, if implemented, would be the largest annual increase in the 11-year history of Milliman's survey, the company...

HMOs see 25% increase in profits in 2001. (Statistical Notes).
October 1, 2002... The nation's HMOs and health insurers reported a 25% increase in profits for 2001, earning $4.1 billion for the year, compared to $3.3 billion in 2000, according to research by Weiss Ratings Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. In analyzing...

NAIP study details hospitalists pay, hours. (Statistical Notes).(National Association of Inpatient Physicians)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Sixty percent of hospitalists surveyed are compensated on a salary-only basis and earn on average $164,000 a year for delivering care to hospitalized patients, according to a recent survey of 1,500 hospitalists from 235 hospitalist groups...

HHS demonstration project to expand Medicare+Choice program with PPO option. (Statistical Notes).
October 1, 2002... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced a demonstration project aimed at widening the Medicare+Choice program with a new preferred provider organization (PPO) option. The 33 PPO plans in 23 states will be part...

HHS awards $30 million in health grants. (Strategic Notes).
October 1, 2002... The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced $30 million in grants to create 70 new and expanded health centers as part of an initiative to expand health care services for people without health insurance through local...

Survey: technology underused in hospitals in responding to the nursing shortage. (Database Notes).
October 1, 2002... A recent survey of human resources and nursing professionals who influence recruitment and supervision decisions within the nursing industry finds that technology is underused in responding to the nursing shortage, underscoring differences in...

AHA, Web-based learning company team up to produce combined video and Internet instruction. (Database Notes).
October 1, 2002... The American Hospital Association (AHA) and MC Strategies Inc. of Atlanta have agreed to produce combined video and Web-based learning solutions, creating a new medium by combining the benefits of visual classroom instruction with individual,...

Patient care standards Web site launched to educate hospitals about satisfaction initiative. (Database Notes).
October 1, 2002... Professional Research Consultants Inc. and the Jackson Organization have joined forces to develop the Patient Care Standards Organization in response to the lack of communication surrounding the federal government's recent initiative to mandate...

VHA study: Financial pressures pose problems for not-for-profits community health initiatives.
October 1, 2002... A new survey by the VHA Health Foundation of Irving, Texas, has confirmed that not-for-profit hospitals are committed to community health improvement activities, but financial pressures pose substantial threats to community health efforts, and...

Moody's: hospital outlook good; S&P positive on children's hospitals. (Hospital Creditworthiness).
October 1, 2002... Credit trends of the not-for-profit healthcare sector will continue to experience relative stability over the next 12 to 18 months, though a considerable level of uncertainty exists beyond this period given challenges facing the industry,...

Toledo offers plan to help uninsured. (Hospital Initiatives).(health care systems partner with city of Toledo, OH)
October 1, 2002... The two primary health care systems in Toledo, Ohio, have agreed to partner with the city of Toledo to increase access to health care for residents of the community without health insurance. The program, to be known as Toledo/Lucas County...