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Please support the Doctors In Chains campaign for the medics tortured and sentenced for up to 15 years in Bahrain. #FreeDoctors
This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory.
Understand CEO burnout to improve employee wellness
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by Dr. Kenneth H. Cohn
In "Hospital CEO burnout on the horizon: Look for successors now," Karen M. Cheung describes the challenging conditions healthcare leaders face as they move forward in an uncertain environment.
According to the September/October issue of Healthcare Executive, there was a 17 percent CEO turnover rate in 2009, compared to 14.6 percent in 2001.
I am pleased to see reports like this, because we need to bring attention to burnout at all levels in the healthcare profession to make it better.
As I wrote in a previous Hospital Impact blog post, burnout affects physicians as well--often with devastatin...
Source: hospital impact - February 1, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Catherine says "Zero is the benchmark." Gets an A+.Email this article to a colleague.
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I've been following the National Patient Safety Foundation's listserv for a few weeks. As suggested by Dr. David Lawrance, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the conversations and interchange are professional, thoughtful and helpful.A great comment came through yesterday from Catherine Carson, Director, Quality & Patient Safety at Daughters of Charity Health System. The topic was benchmarking, and the initial question was "Are you willing to share your falls benchmarks?"After a number of answers were submitted, Catherine replied:A thought for this email stream: When the goal is zero – as in ze...
Source: Running a hospital - February 1, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Israel Journal of Health Policy ResearchEmail this article to a colleague.
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There is a new health journal called the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research. An important feature is its open access. Here's the link, and here's the summary of purpose:Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (IJHPR) seeks to promote intensive intellectual interactions among scholars and practitioners from Israel and other countries regarding all aspects of health policy, health services research, public health, health promotion, health economics, health care management, and the ethics, sociology, and political science of health care in Israel. The ultimate aim of these intellectual interactions is to co...
Source: Running a hospital - February 1, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Hello, North Dakota!Email this article to a colleague.
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An open letter to the press, business community and people of North Dakota: The authors of this letter are journalists, columnists, bloggers and content publishers for the workers' compensation industry across the United States. We are a politically and professionally... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - February 1, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Source Type: blogs
Return of the pigs! This time in Vancouver.Email this article to a colleague.
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It is a great kick for me to see some of my older blog posts resurface from time to time, especially when they are indicative of a new Lean training program in one hospital or another. The most popular in that regard is the June, 2009 three-part series about drawing a pig as an introduction to designing standard work. In that regard, thanks to Tim McMahon of Westfield, MA, who has summarized the exercise beautifully on his blog, A Lean Journey.This week, all of a sudden, I received a bunch of hits on these posts from Vancouver General Hospital. If anyone out there is reading this, please comment on what y...
Source: Running a hospital - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Should TakeAway be a give-away?Email this article to a colleague.
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I came upon this tent display in my local CVS last night, and it left me wondering. I like the idea of giving people a mailer with which to dispose of unused medicine. After all, it is good to have substances like antibiotics not enter the ecosystem. And as noted here, unused and expired drugs pile up in home medicine cabinets, which increase the likelihood for teenagers, elderly, pets, or others to misuse or abuse them.But are people willing to pay an extra $4 for the privilege? (Walgreen's also charges the same.)In Iowa, there is no charge to consumers:Iowa’s TakeAway program has been fund...
Source: Running a hospital - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Small businesses and the Affordable Care Act. What do they need to know?Email this article to a colleague.
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Small business is an essential part of the American economy and a key focus of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Only 57 percent of companies with under 50 workers provide health insurance, compared to 92 percent in the 51-100 range and 97 percent with more than 100 employees. Despite what you may have heard, PPACA (aka ObamaCare) is not a radical government takeover of the health care system. Instead, it seeks to preserve and extend the employer-sponsored health insurance model and extend it further into the smaller employer realm.
PPACA was crafted to encourage smaller companies to provide insurance...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Policy and politics Source Type: blogs
IHI Conversations in MarchEmail this article to a colleague.
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Speaking of office practices, please check out this IHI conference on March 18-20, the 13th Annual International Summit on Improving Patient Care in the Office Practice & the Community. It is especially geared towards health leaders and professionals working office practice and community settings.My pals at IHI tell me:Over 60 sessions will address the latest thinking and practices on topics that are crucial in today's environment. This year’s theme is “rediscovering conversations” – the kind of real, human conversations that are at the heart of transformational care … and help create a higher standard ...
Source: Running a hospital - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
This is no bull!Email this article to a colleague.
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I would have been hard-pressed to imagine that two of my recent topics -- autism and process improvement -- could combined with animal husbandry. But check out this article from the Burlington (VT) Free Press. It is about Dr. Temple Grandin, an expert in sustainable agriculture and proper treatment of farm animals. During her 35-year career, Grandin’s work to improve humane handling of large animals, particularly during processing, has earned her much attention, from a spot on Time magazine’s list of “100 most influential people in the world” to an award-winning biographical HBO movie starring Claire Danes. The mov...
Source: Running a hospital - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Think your hospital bill was high?Email this article to a colleague.
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A hospital bill for $44 million showed up in Alex Rodriguez' mailbox a couple weeks back. Although Alex is a resident of New York, he's not "the" A-Rod, but even the A-Rod who wears pinstripes to work at Yankee Stadium... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 31, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Providers Source Type: blogs
Personalized medicine for the brain. A discussion with Brain Resource’s Evian GordonEmail this article to a colleague.
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The Brain Resource Company (BRC) is a global leader in personalized medicine for the brain. In this podcast interview, BRC’s Executive Chairman Evian Gordon and I discuss:
The similarities and differences between personalized medicine for the brain and overall
The iSPOT study that focuses on biomarkers for depression and ADHD
The importance of a standardized platform
The business case for personalized medicine for the brain in pharmaceutical discovery and development
How the next few years will unfold from a brain research standpoint
If you want to hear more from Evian, you can check out a video of his recent conf...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 30, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blogDavid E. Williams Tags: Pharma Research Source Type: blogs
Comparability doesn't matterEmail this article to a colleague.
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I was talking about public reporting the other day with an MD colleague. He pointed out that hospitals often have different definitions for a variety of measures, like ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). Therefore, he pointed out, public reporting of such measures can be problematic. I said, "No, it's not a problem."Why not?Let's look at what we are trying to accomplish. Simply put, we want the hospitals, doctors, and nurses to engage in systemic process improvement in their institutions. What are the elements of doing that? Brent James lays them out quite clearly, based on the concep...
Source: Running a hospital - January 30, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
$3 million and countingEmail this article to a colleague.
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To date, Automated Healthcare Solutions and other companies owned by their principals have donated over $3 million to various politicians, campaigns, and political organizations. Automated Healthcare Solutions and their sister companies are heavily involved in physician dispensing to workers comp... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 30, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Workers Comp Source Type: blogs
Individual or systems error? Or, leadership lapse?Email this article to a colleague.
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Was Baltimore Ravens Billy Cundiff at fault for that missed field goal attempt last week, or was he the victim of a systems error? Or, was it the coach's fault? This is not about Cundiff trying to pass off the blame. He took full responsibility for the miss.Stefan Fatsis offered his view on Slate. An error on the Gillette Stadium scoreboard caused Cundiff to think he had one more down to prepare for his kick. Fatsis explains:Because the sidelines of an NFL game are crowded—scores of players, coaches, staff, and game officials, a tangle of benches, equipment, and cables, all crammed between the two 30-ya...
Source: Running a hospital - January 29, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Something we could learn from changes in referral ratesEmail this article to a colleague.
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Michael Barnett and colleagues published an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine that documents a rather large change in the annual rate of referrals to other physicians from physician office visits in the United States. "Trends in Physician Referrals in the United States, 1999-2009" concludes that the probability that an ambulatory visit to a physician resulted in a referral to another physician increased by 94% (from 4.8% to 9.3%) during this period.The authors are not sure why this happened. One hypothesis they toss out for future study is that physicians are under pressure for time and therefore refer mor...
Source: Running a hospital - January 29, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
What healthcare can learn from the car industryEmail this article to a colleague.
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by Frederick Southwick
Too often, everyone assumes the work is being done correctly and that each person knows his or her role. Many customer-supplier relationships are undefined and dysfunctional, and caregivers generally assume they are not empowered to make changes to specific processes.
In the absence of a standard model of healthcare delivery, medical errors sneak through the cracks of the disorganized care system.
By modeling the healthcare delivery system after successful business practices, we can help prevent medical errors. Let's look at Toyota, whose Toyota Production System (TPS) uses three fundamental appro...
Source: hospital impact - January 28, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Help your physician inventors make a splashEmail this article to a colleague.
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by Keeley Wray
Do your providers have an idea that can revolutionize medicine? Well, it is important they investigate what is currently on the market or in the development pipeline. A thorough analysis of competing technologies is essential to successful market adoption, a step that should follow the ideation phase but precede the building of a prototype or pilot-ready version.
The reasoning behind my suggestion is, "You could remake the wheel, but would it be a valuable use of your time?"
It's surprising how common it is for a physician inventor to stumble on a concept that has already been realized by someone else....
Source: hospital impact - January 28, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
A dad who missed the pointEmail this article to a colleague.
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Courtesy MA Futsal AssociationWinter brings indoor soccer in the form of futsal, and I have been refereeing those games. This is a fast sport -- a small-sized ball designed with very little bounce -- played 5v5 on a basketball court. Often lots of goals are scored. Since the game favors teams with good foot skills and passing, some matches are lopsided. That was the case today, with some Under-10 boys on the gray team pummeling those on the black team, most of whom were a year younger. At halftime, it was 9-2. By the end, it was 20-5. (For the official record, we only record a six-...
Source: Running a hospital - January 28, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Nursing shortage. Is it a case of crying “wolf?”Email this article to a colleague.
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How many times have you read about the staggering shortage of nurses? It’s routine to see numbers in the hundreds of thousands tossed around –representing the seemingly insatiable demand for nurses from an aging population. I’ve always been suspicious of these estimates. First, it’s not how the economy works. We’re not really going to have 260,000 unfilled nursing positions in 2025. Either supply will rise, demand will fall or there will be a substitution of other kinds of labor or capital. Second, these numbers often come from interested parties, usually advocates for higher nurse pay and ben...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 27, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Economics Hospitals Source Type: blogs
Spear (Part 2) at MIT WebinarEmail this article to a colleague.
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Creative Experimentation: Developing a Skill Critical for Managing Complex Operating Systems (Part 2)MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar SeriesSteven J. SpearSenior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management; Senior Lecturer, MIT Engineering Systems Division; Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; and author, The High Velocity EdgeDate: January 30, 2012Time: Noon - 1 p.m. ESTOpen to all Register A broad-based capacity for experimentation is critical for organizations to succeed because the systems in which people are embedded are increasingly complex and fast. For instance, medical treatment used to...
Source: Running a hospital - January 27, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
American Telemedicine Association Supports Medical Licensure ReformEmail this article to a colleague.
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On Tuesday, January 31 the American Telemedicine Association will host an important Capitol Hill briefing entitled, “Physician Licensure Barriers to 21st Century Healthcare.” This public briefing is designed to inform Congressional offices, national organizations and other key stakeholders about how the current U.S. state-based systems to license and regulate physicians unduly restrict quality modern healthcare. Speakers will share constructive ideas for medical licensure reform.
The briefing will be held in the Russell Senate Office Building Caucus Room (SR-325) on Tuesday, January 31, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a...
Source: MSSPNexus Blog - January 27, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Rita Schwab Tags: Professional Staff Admin Medical Licesure telemedicine Source Type: blogs
Broken escalator leads to a crisisEmail this article to a colleague.
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A friend found this wonderful video in an article by Renskee Visscher at TEDx Maastricht, who notes: "It’s an exaggeration of our dependency on modern technology… at least I hope it still is."If you can't see the video, click here. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - January 27, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
How do we feel about hospitalists?Email this article to a colleague.
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I had missed this original MedPage Today column by George Lundberg back in November and so was pleased to catch it as a re-run over at Kevin, MD. George asks the question, "Are Hospitalists a Boon or a Bane, and for Whom?"A hospitalist, you will recall, is an internist who is the surrogate for your primary care doctor when you have been admitted to the hospital. Before the hospitalist movement started in the mid-1990s-- thanks in great measure to Lee Goldman and Bob Wachter at University of California San Francisco -- your PCP would be in charge of your care at the hospital. S/he would visit early in the mornin...
Source: Running a hospital - January 26, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Reducing pre-term births; where public health campaigns can make a differenceEmail this article to a colleague.
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Health plans have realized for quite some time that the widespread practice of scheduled C-sections and induced labor before the end of 39 weeks of pregnancy is an expensive proposition. Even babies born a week or two early have a significantly higher chance of being admitted to neonatal intensive care units, having difficult breathing and experiencing bloodstream infections. Such births are surprisingly common. In 2010 about 17 percent of babies were delivered at 37-39 weeks without a medical reason.
The Leapfrog Group. March of Dimes and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has taken the initiative t...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 26, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Hospitals Patients Physicians Research Source Type: blogs
Jonathan Byrnes on inventory optimizationEmail this article to a colleague.
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MIT's Jonathan Byrnes presented a terrific webinar last week. His topic -- inventory management -- has a lot to do with all kinds of businesses, including hospitals. I want to summarize some key points for you. (For those who want learn more, Jonathan has his own blog, which I highly recommend.)The major point of the webinar was that there is a huge difference between inventory optimization and inventory management. Jonathan puts this in terms of a paradigm shift:In the past, the job of the supply chain manager was to optimize the flow of goods into and out of the storeroom. For example, reduc...
Source: Running a hospital - January 26, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Autism in FranceEmail this article to a colleague.
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A friend, a doctor in the UK, wrote me this:Just back from France where I was horrified to learn that autism is treated only by psychoanalysis there because it is believed to be caused by lack of maternal bonding in the first year of life. I almost hit a senior pathologist as he held forth. Medicine isn't always as international as we would like it to be.Could it be, I thought? So I did a little Google searching on the topic. The first item was an article from The Lancet in 2007. Are you ready for this?In France, autistic children who have psychiatric problems routinely undergo a treatment that has ...
Source: Running a hospital - January 26, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Killing claimants.Email this article to a colleague.
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Over the last ten years, more than two thousand claimants have died as a result of drugs received as part of their "treatment' for their occupational injury or illness. That's the conclusion reached by Peter Rousmaniere in his latest column... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 26, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Workers Comp Source Type: blogs
End-of-life preferences on WIHIEmail this article to a colleague.
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Have You Had The Conversation? Helping Loved Ones Discuss End-of-Life Preferences January 26, 2012, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Eastern Time Guests:Ellen Goodman, Columnist, Author, founding member of The Conversation ProjectIra Byock, MD, Professor, Dartmouth Medical School; Director of Palliative Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Bernard “Bud” Hammes, PhD, Director, Medical Humanities and Respecting Choices®, Gundersen Health System Martha Hayward, Lead for Public and Patient Engagement, Institute for Healthcare ImprovementMost of us, if asked, say we care a great deal about will happen to us when we’re at t...
Source: Running a hospital - January 25, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Hospitals asking for payment upfront: generally ok with meEmail this article to a colleague.
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Hospitals in Northern New Jersey (and no doubt elsewhere) are a lot more likely these days to collect patient payments upfront rather than waiting to bill and collect later. Although it sounds a bit cold-hearted, it’s not a bad idea if done properly. In particular if a hospital can determine upfront what a patient’s co-pay or deductible is, it’s reasonable to try to collect it when the patient is there. That avoids the substantial costs of collection and dramatically boosts the percentage of patients who pay. In theory it may also lower the rates a hospital can accept from insurance companies, which ultim...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 25, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Economics Hospitals Patients Source Type: blogs
Heed these healthcare social media remindersEmail this article to a colleague.
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by Nancy Cawley Jean
Today, roughly 20 percent of the nation's hospitals use social media. We're there because that's where our community is, and it's a medium that allows us to communicate important health and wellness information and build brand loyalty and awareness, among other reasons. Of course, these are all things you've heard before. Unfortunately, using social media is not without risk. You've probably heard that before, too. But sometimes, we need reminders.
Last week, I received that reminder in the form of an email from our risk management department. It was passing along information from the ECRI Institute,...
Source: hospital impact - January 25, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Zeno's paradox of hospital pricesEmail this article to a colleague.
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I apologize to my non-Massachusetts readers for having yet another column about the insurance company payment situation here in the Boston area, but I know there is a lot of interest around the country about the first state that put in place the kind of health care reform that was modeled at the national level. Many things are local in the health care world, but the issue of market power is one that is of interest everywhere. Indeed, there is substantial concern about whether the movement to accountable care organizations will lead to abuses of market power by providers and payers. The market structure is...
Source: Running a hospital - January 25, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Building Bundling BusinessEmail this article to a colleague.
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An intermediate rate design between fee-for-service pricing of medical services and capitated, or global, payments is the concept of bundled payments. Under this scheme, the health care organization gets a fixed fee for a given medical condition. A recent article from Medscape Business of Medicine by Kenneth J. Terry addresses some of this issues arising from this kind of payment scheme. It notes:There are 3 main types of bundled payment structures: Bundling of hospital and physician payments for inpatient procedures;Bundling of inpatient and post-acute care for a time-limited episode; andBundling o...
Source: Running a hospital - January 24, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Newt Gingrich and “conservative” hypocrisy on Medicare Part DEmail this article to a colleague.
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Newt Gingrich has positioned himself as the “true conservative” in the Republican Presidential primary. And last night he trumpeted his support for the Medicare Part D drug benefit program, which was spearheaded by Republican majorities in Congress and signed by Republican President George W. Bush. Sorry, but supporting Part D and being a conservative don’t go together.
Gingrich said he supported the measure because it didn’t make sense to pay for kidney dialysis and open heart surgery but refuse to pay for insulin or heart medicine. That’s logical enough.
But Medicare Part D was and still ...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 24, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Policy and politics Source Type: blogs
Disease Hashtags on Twitter … the Healthcare Hashtag Project: Phase 2Email this article to a colleague.
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“We are so fond of one another because our ailments are the same.”
~ Johnathon Swift
_____________________________
The number of healthcare conversations taking place on Twitter is truly staggering. And, as many of you are aware, we’ve made an attempt to organize these conversations via the Healthcare Hashtag Project. Our initial launch of this ever growing list of health related hashtags for Twitter was focused on the “business of healthcare”. But we announced early on that it was our intent to add a section that would include disease hashtags to the mix. However, over the ensuing months a numb...
Source: Fox ePractice - January 24, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Thomas M. Lee, B.S., NHA Tags: Connecting the dots in healthcare social media Source Type: blogs
Reporter's ABM helps shoot down medical armament in UtahEmail this article to a colleague.
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In this world of medical arms races, it is refreshing to find a reporter who isn't taken in by the latest hype. It is brave when the story is about a hospital or doctors in one's own town. It is also refreshing to see a reporter who doesn't just parrot the press release, but -- like the journalists of a previous era -- finds alternate viewpoints.Kirsten Stewart at the Salt Lake Tribune wrote this piece. Excerpts:An independent group of radiation oncologists affiliated with hospitals throughout Utah is hyping the arrival of “the world’s most advanced radiation therapy.”But it isn’t new technology, ...
Source: Running a hospital - January 24, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Physician dispensing in Florida - Can money buy bad policy?Email this article to a colleague.
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One of the most powerful firms in the physician dispensing business is sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to elected officials in Florida. [sub req] The donations, to individual politicians and their affiliated organizations, come as the Florida Senate is... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 24, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Workers Comp Source Type: blogs
Doctor/patient email: Are we really still having this debate?Email this article to a colleague.
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The Wall Street Journal devotes its Journal Report section today to pro/con debates on six health care issues. Five are reasonable and either timely or timeless: Should everyone be required to have health insurance? Should healthy people take cholesterol drugs to prevent heart disease? Should every patient have a unique ID number for all medical records? Can accountable-care organizations raise quality while reducing costs? Should patents on pharmaceuticals be extended to encourage innovation?
But one –Should physicians use email to communicate with patients?– should have been settled more than 10 years ago. It...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: e-health Source Type: blogs
Rhode Island Quality Institute seeks helpEmail this article to a colleague.
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Laura Adams, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute writes:The Rhode Island Quality Institute in Providence, RI is seeking its first Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and its first Director, Strategy and Development. Both of these positions report to Laura.Founded in 2001, the Rhode Island Quality Institute’s (RIQI) mission is to significantly improve the quality, safety, and value of health care in Rhode Island. RIQI is a non-profit and a collaboration of leaders in the Rhode Island community including CEOs of hospitals, health insurers, and businesses, along with leaders of consumer groups, academia, a...
Source: Running a hospital - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The shamans knewEmail this article to a colleague.
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Thanks to Kevin, MD for reprinting an excellent column by Joe Kosterich entitled, "There is scope for harm when ordering tests." Dr. Kosterich notes:Most symptoms that we experience are not due to disease. A cough may be a symptom of lung cancer but hardly anyone who coughs has lung cancer. Likewise with a headache and brain tumors.Most conditions we see today are not acute emergencies and hence can be given time to resolve themselves. You do not always have to run to the doctor at the first sign of any symptom. Listen to your body.Tests and treatments have an important role but are never free from potential harm. We...
Source: Running a hospital - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
The Joint Commission tries to lead hospital leadersEmail this article to a colleague.
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I was intrigued to read of a new standard, effective July 1, 2012, adopted by The Joint Commission regarding the need for hospital leaders to create and maintain a culture of safety and quality throughout a hospital. Here it is:I do not know how to find the previous standard for this topic, so I don't know how different it is. But this one seems to reflect comments made in the past by JC president Mark Chassin that the industry needs to get better creating and maintaining a true culture of process improvement. For example, an article by him and Jerod Loeb in Health Affairs centers on this topic. In ...
Source: Running a hospital - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Genex is for saleEmail this article to a colleague.
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Looks like the rumors are based in fact; case management/bill review vendor Genex is up for sale. The "official" news came yesterday (thanks to a good friend for the tip); "The Wayne, Pennsylvania-based company has EBITDA of USD 40m, the... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Workers Comp Source Type: blogs
Copperfield Research's CorVel hatchet jobEmail this article to a colleague.
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A couple days ago a shadowy equity "research" outfit that goes by the name Copperfield Research published what can only be described as a hatchet job, with CorVel the target. I'm no fan of CorVel - their business model makes... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 23, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Tags: Workers Comp Source Type: blogs
Let's move to real-time philanthropyEmail this article to a colleague.
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I want to present here a somewhat radical view of how large non-profit organizations like hospitals might more appropriately use the financial reserves they have accumulated through philanthropy. In short, I want to suggest that virtually all gifts received by a non-profit of this scale should be considered spendable, to be used -- and used up -- for the strategic priorities for the organization over a short period of time, say five to ten years.*I offer this thought not in any attempt to be critical of the current policies of hospitals, but in the hope of stimulating some discussion. If this approach were to b...
Source: Running a hospital - January 22, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Speaking personally: where to give voice to healthcare interests on the social webEmail this article to a colleague.
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The objective, therefore, is to promote our strategic objectives through the publication of the content that we wish to share by selecting the platform that we feel will show that material in the best possible light.
The following suggestions are made on the assumption that users have clearly defined the role that Social Media is playing within their integrated communications plan, have alighted upon appropriate qualitative and quantitative measures to evaluate their success, have the tools in place to undertake such appraisals, and are willing to continually refine the activities they undertake and implement such learning...
Source: Fox ePractice - January 22, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Andrew Spong, PhD Tags: Connecting the dots in healthcare social media conversation Delicious facebook Quora Scoop.it social web StumbleUpon twitter youtube Source Type: blogs
Samsung's Smart WindowEmail this article to a colleague.
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A really neat invention. Thanks to Bertalan Meskó, MD (@Berci on Twitter), who notes, "Such windows would look great in hospitals as well. (Source: Running a hospital)
Source: Running a hospital - January 22, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Thanks for nothingEmail this article to a colleague.
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I have been reading and listening to media reports about recent deals between Partners Healthcare System and insurers in Massachusetts and experiencing a case of cognitive dissonance. From the reports, you would think that PHS is reducing the rates it gets from the payers. Well, that just shows the power of PR spinmeisters. Let's start by recalling that PHS has used its market power for well over a decade to extract payments from insurers that are dramatically above those received by other hospitals and physicians. Those out-of-market rates were built into the contracts that were to extend a year or two i...
Source: Running a hospital - January 21, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
MCM's position on SOPA and PIPAEmail this article to a colleague.
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I don't like these bills, and neither should you. First, my perspective. I'm a content provider and a copyright holder. I don't want anyone else taking my intellectual property without permission and/or compensation. This isn't just about MCM; I've also... (Source: Managed Care Matters)
Source: Managed Care Matters - January 21, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: jpaduda at healthstrategyassoc.com Source Type: blogs
Carrying a lot of baggageEmail this article to a colleague.
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In contrast to the story below about treating airline priority customers well, let's turn to baggage handling. I recently traveled on American Airlines through Miami en route to Boston. The luggage from my first flight was to be shifted from that airplane to the Boston flight. I had used some mileage credit to get a first-class upgrade so my bags were tagged with a special red marker indicating "priority handling." According to AA, this would ensure special and expedited treatment: Immediately available system-wide, select American Airlines customers will experience Priority Baggage Delivery. ...
Source: Running a hospital - January 20, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Airline prioritiesEmail this article to a colleague.
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First impressions about service issues can sometimes be misleading, especially if you don't understand aspects of traffic flow. Here was my first impression, and then something I learned afterward.We start with this scene of a Delta airlines gate area. It happens to be at the Atlanta airport, but the same configuration is used elsewhere. (See the Memphis set-up below.) Note the sign indicating two lanes of traffic, "general boarding" and "Sky Priority." Note, too, the special carpet with "Sky Priority" printed on it. As you can see, the two lanes go to exactly the same door.Here's what happens...
Source: Running a hospital - January 20, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs
Dental and medical benefits should be integratedEmail this article to a colleague.
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I find it really strange that dental care is excluded form health insurance, including commercial and government programs. It’s increasingly untenable in my view. Why?
Neglect of dental issues due to lack of coverage causes higher medical expenses, for example as dental infections spread to other parts of the body
Hospital emergency rooms are seeing many dental cases (representing as much as 2.7% of ER volume) and are not well equipped to treat the problems, according to USA Today. In any case the expense is high
Even well-off people with medical coverage often don’t qualify for dental insurance –e.g.,...
Source: Health Business Blog - January 20, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Health plans Policy and politics Source Type: blogs
