Healthcare Finance News | Quality and Safety

According to two recent studies conducted by several researchers at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, there is a correlation between hospital readmission rates and how full the hospital was at the time of discharge. This suggests that many patients went home earlier than they should have.

Research finds readmission rates linked to availability of care, socioeconomics

May 17, 2012 |

According to research that was presented last week at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2012, the differences in regional readmission rates for heart failure are more closely connected with the availability of care and socioeconomics rather than with hospital performance or a patient's degree of illness.

AMA offers online tool for physicians to assess driving ability of older patients

May 15, 2012 |

Rene Letourneau

The American Medical Association (AMA) launched a free Web-based educational course this week to help physicians address the driving safety of their older patients.

R.I. hospitals contributed $6.3B to state's economy in 2010

May 15, 2012 |

According to a new report released by the Hospital Association of Rhode Island (HARI), Rhode Island hospitals contributed more than $6.3 billion to the state's economy in 2010.

Omnicare settles federal case for $50M

May 15, 2012 |

Stephanie Bouchard

Long-term care pharmacy provider, Omnicare, has reached a settlement with the Justice Department that is the largest controlled substance settlement in history, said the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Maine company offers innovative wellness program to employees

May 14, 2012 |

Two companies in Maine have recently teamed up to provide an innovative and affordable healthcare plan to employees. The plan not only pays claims but also rewards those in good health with cash incentives.

Healthcare leaders report concerns about overcrowded EDs

May 14, 2012 |

According to a HealthLeaders Media report released last week, nearly half (46 percent) of healthcare leaders around the country have emergency departments that are overcrowded. Furthermore, 51 percent of those respondents also said that they are very concerned that the overcrowding issue will jeopardize patient safety.

Case Study: Sentara Healthcare Completes an Award-Winning EHR with Enterprise Content Management

April 29, 2011 |

Providers today recognize that even the most powerful EMRs can't handle the content that exists outside of the patient record. Unstructured, ancillary documents and content related to patient care – paper, forms, faxes, graphics, photos and other clinical images – is often disconnected from electronic records. For Sentara Healthcare, access to accurate, timely and complete patient information is instrumental to increasing quality and service of care, and enterprise content management (ECM) is a vital part of that enterprise EHR strategy.

Value Analysis - A Best Practice Approach to Elevated Performance

April 4, 2012 |

Careful consideration of the financial and clinical impact of the medical technologies used has become a strategic imperative. While most healthcare organizations recognize the importance of a committed, multidisciplinary team to drive these critical decisions, many of their Value Analysis teams often still struggle to achieve maximum results. Join this exciting and informative webinar to help you leverage tools and information to improve alignment and optimize your value analysis initiatives.

Disrupting Hospital Based Care: The Innovation Race to Establish 21st Century Care Models

March 2, 2012 |

Intel and Healthcare IT News invite you to an exclusive executive webcast featuring internationally renowned speakers, Jason Hwang, MD co-founder and Executive Director of Healthcare at Innosight Institute, a non-profit social innovation think tank based in Watertown, Massachusetts and Eric Dishman, Intel Fellow and Global Director of Health Innovation and Policy for Intel Corporation.

Old data learns new tricks: Managing patient security and privacy on a new data sharing playground

January 5, 2012 |

Data is quickly becoming one of the health industry’s most treasured commodities. Yet, health organizations are acutely aware that sensitive data can be easily compromised. As a converging industry moves quickly to leverage new electronic data, PwC found that the challenges are complex, but manageable.

Enabling Collaborative Healthcare Delivery: Care Coordination Strategies with 21st Century Technology

October 13, 2011 |

This paper, based on a roundtable session featuring John Mattison of Kaiser Permanente, identifies the building blocks of care coordination and the innovative technologies being deployed to support continuity of care by visionary health systems and the healthcare IT vendor community.

Where Information and Care Meet: Secure Mobile Healthcare Solutions that Drive Care Coordination

October 13, 2011 |

This paper, based on a roundtable session featuring Liz Johnson of Tenet Healthcare Corp., examines how leading hospitals and health systems in the country are implementing mobile point of care, sharing best practices and lessons learned, to deliver real-time, high-quality care anywhere.

The Healthcare IT Innovation Imperative: Harnessing the Power of Technology for 21st Century Care Models

October 13, 2011 |

This paper, based on a roundtable session moderated by Eric Dishman, highlights how the private and public sectors in the U.S. and Europe are unleashing the power of data in innovative ways to improve the quality of care while making the system more efficient and cost-effective.

Simplifying Medicare Cost Reporting through the use of Report Analytics

September 2, 2011 |

The purpose of the Web seminar is to discover how Bon Secours Charity Health System is using Monarch technology to simplify the process for developing the annual Medicare Cost Report. A specific focus will be how to prepare exhibit 11 (worksheet A.).

How Organizations Measure and Improve Workforce Wellness

June 28, 2011 |

Join healthcare experts as they discuss findings from the Thomson Reuters Workforce Wellness Index, which measures the healthcare cost impact of behavioral risk factors in employed populations.

Guidebook: Kronos Workforce Analytics for Healthcare

June 23, 2011 |

Health care staffing managers need to rapidly identify factors that impact payroll and take steps to improve them. Learn how you can get greater visibility, increased productivity, managed labor costs, and improved patient care.

Learn How a Groundbreaking Pharmacy Collaboration Saves More Than Money

October 5, 2010 |

Learn how organizations involved in pharmacy collaboration were able to not only dramatically reduce their pharmacy costs but also improve the quality of care for their patients.

Floyd Memorial Case Study: Just Being Good was Never Good Enough

October 5, 2010 |

Learn how Floyd Memorial was able to live up to their goals: Deliver safe, quality, cost-effective care; reduce non-salary costs; and instill a culture of saving and quality throughout the 1,700 employee health care system.

The big payoff from wellness and prevention

May 14, 2012 |

David Williams

The belief that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is so well ingrained that it makes it easy to think we can solve our healthcare cost crisis the easy way, by increasing spending in one area to bring down costs in another.

The cure for doctor burnout? Enthusiastic med school applicants

May 7, 2012 |

David Williams

Once upon a time going into medicine was one of the most sought after career paths, and for good reason. High income, lots of autonomy, little accountability, and plenty of respect were a lot to add to the opportunity to help people.

Rethinking the hospital's operating room

May 4, 2012 |

An operating room (OR) that has medical imaging, catheter-based interventions and surgery may sound far fetched as these disciplines have traditionally been in separate spaces, but as hospitals are discovering new and more efficient methods and technologies of delivering patient care, they are bringing these processes together.

Lean helps drive hospital quality and efficiency

April 26, 2012 |

How can hospitals promote efficiency and high-quality results? Look at a Lean approach when designing a new hospital or redesigning an existing one.

Two new programs to help curb hospital readmissions

March 28, 2012 |

With Medicare spending an estimated $12 billion on avoidable readmissions, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, two new programs are being introduced to help curb these costly, unneeded expenditures while improving patients’ quality of care.

P4P and HCAHPS

March 26, 2012 |

David Harlow

Financial incentives are often a reasonable way to evoke desired behavior change.

Show Me the Money

March 14, 2012 |

Carlos Nunez

A curious thing is happening. As the healthcare conversation moved front and center over the last several years, a correlation developed linking cost and quality.

The future of physician-owned hospitals

March 14, 2012 |

At a time when delivering high quality healthcare is a top priority for every hospital executive, physician-owned hospitals are having much difficulty gaining traction for future expansion and development in light of healthcare reform.

Urge Congress to help fix the drug shortage problem

March 2, 2012 |

Kester Freeman

I am always pleased when I see healthcare leaders speaking up about needed changes.

A medical facility fitting for healthcare reform: Free standing ED

February 29, 2012 |

What’s a progressively growing medical facility that stands to benefit health system and hospital executives, especially in response to healthcare reform? A satellite emergency department (ED).

CMS reschedules Hospital VBP call for Feb. 28

February 27, 2012 |

Richard Pizzi

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to hold its reschedule National Provider Call on Tuesday, Feb. 28 to discuss its Dry Run of the Fiscal Year 2013 Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program.

Time to call ACOs Parsimonious Care Organizations?

February 17, 2012 |

David Williams

The term “parsimonious” has generated a lot of pushback. That’s not unexpected, because policymakers, the health care industry and consumers continue to studiously avoid serious discussions of cost.

Joint Commission Resources awarded funds to improve hospital care and patient safety

December 16, 2011 |

Joint Commission Resources (JCR) is one of 26 leading health care organizations that will work with hospitals to make health care safer and less costly by targeting and reducing the millions of preventable injuries and complications from health care-associated conditions.

Methodist Healthcare and The West Clinic form partnership

October 28, 2011 |

Methodist Healthcare and The West Clinic have entered into a partnership, effective January 1, 2012, to transform cancer care in the Mid-South area.

DST Health Solutions' Integrated Care Management Suite improves care quality

October 25, 2011 |

DST Health Solutions, LLC, today announced that San Francisco-based Chinese Community Health Plan (CCHP) has implemented its PowerMHC® core claims administration platform and Integrated Care Management (ICM) Suite to help meet new market requirements and enhance data integration. In addition, DST Health Solutions helped to implement a nurse assist line service for CCHP, which supports more than 31,000 commercial, Medicare and TPA members with health plan services.

Healthcare Finance Group, LLC Provides a $27M revolving credit facility to JFK Medical Center

October 18, 2011 |

Healthcare Finance Group, LLC ("HFG") today announced that it has provided a $27 million revolving line of credit to The Community Hospital Group, Inc. t/a JFK Medical Center.

Cardinal Health Foundation invites healthcare providers to apply for grants to improve patient safety, efficiency

October 13, 2011 |

The Cardinal Health Foundation today announced that, for the fifth consecutive year, it will award more than $1 million in grant funding to help U.S. hospitals, health systems, community health clinics and other non-profit healthcare institutions improve the efficiency and quality of patient care.

Health Net receives full URAC accreditation for disease management

October 10, 2011 |

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, part of the Government Contracts segment of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), announced today it has been awarded full accreditation for disease management from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. URAC accreditation establishes and measures key industry standards for health care management and improvement, as well as consumer protection.

Healthcare experts join Lockton in Philadelphia

September 16, 2011 |

Lockton, the world's largest privately held insurance broker, has added three experts in risk management for hospitals and healthcare organizations to its Philadelphia office. This is part of Lockton's strategy to expand its healthcare risk management services.

RF Surgical Systems, Inc. secures $12M in funding to fuel growth

September 13, 2011 |

RF Surgical Systems, Inc., the market leader in the prevention and detection of retained surgical items (RSI), today announced the closing of a $12 million round of fundraising led by new investor Split Rock Partners, a venture capital firm focused on emerging healthcare, software and Internet services companies. Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Stanford University and two of the company founders also participated in the round.

Novation announces new pharmaceutical waste services offered under its NOVAPLUS label

August 24, 2011 |

Novation, the leading health care contracting supply company, is launching its new pharmaceutical waste services agreement, offered under the NOVAPLUS label.

Accountable Delivery System Institute Adds Program for Hospital Executives

August 23, 2011 |

The Accountable Delivery System Institute (ADSI) today announced a new educational program for hospitals seeking to implement more accountable models of care, taught by the executives who built and operate one of the nation’s first successful accountable health care delivery systems.

St. Mark's Medical Center leads hospitals in EPA’s 2011 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition

August 17, 2011 |

The ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings has just passed its midpoint, and the competition is fierce to become the “biggest loser.” In this case, the belt being tightened is energy consumption, with 245 buildings in 33 states (plus DC), representing 12 different categories, competing to reduce consumption the most.

New York Hospital Queens Goes Greener

August 11, 2011 |