The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants hospitals to curb its patient readmissions starting this fall, or pay the price, Kaiser Health News reported. According to KHN, CMS will begin recouping about $280 million in payments from about 2,200 hospitals beginning in October. Although the program is focusing on reducing nationwide readmissions, data analyzed… Read more »
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Succession planning lacking in healthcare
August 7, 2012 | By Karen M. Cheung, Fierce Healthcare If a hospital CEO suddenly left, many healthcare organizations would be out of luck. According to a survey from search firm Witt/Kieffer, less than 40 percent of healthcare CEOs have worked with their board to develop a formal succession plan, and only one-third have mentored… Read more »
ICD-10 or ICD-11? The Dilemma Behind Both Coding Systems
When it comes to ICD-10 and ICD-11, there are generally two camps. There are those that believe ICD-10 is a necessary coding step to take, and all hospitals and providers should make the steady progress toward its adoption. There are also those that believe ICD-10 should be skipped for ICD-11, which the rest of the… Read more »
5 Key Points on What Hospital CFOs Can Learn From Corporate CFOs
Hospital and healthcare CFOs are going through some of the most turbulent financial times the sector has seen in a long time, but looking to successful corporate CFOs in other industries could help those who need a little guidance. The Wall Street Journal recently compiled its list of “Best CFOs” using quantitative and qualitative measures,… Read more »
3 Mistakes Hospitals Make With Their Real Estate Management
Written by Bob Herman | August 03, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review When the hospital C-suite talks about the organization’s largest expense items, labor and supplies usually dominate the conversation — and rightfully so. People and supplies usually represent the highest expenditures. However, a third area, real estate and overall facilities management, is not far behind… Read more »
8 Tips to Improve Your Hospital’s Operating Margin
Written by Bob Herman | August 01, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review When Mike Tretina arrived at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa, in 2009 as CFO, the hospital was running on an operating margin of 1.5 percent. All things considered, a 1.5 percent operating margin at a non-profit hospital at the height of a… Read more »
5 New Questions Hospitals Should Address in Ambulatory Planning
Written by Thomas Dixon, Jason Lineen and John McHugh, Navigant’s Health System Strategy Practice | July 25, 2012 Historically, hospital and health system leaders considered inpatient care provision their core mission. Resources (e.g., time, capital) and strategies were accordingly focused on advancing inpatient services. Outpatient strategies often served to advance and defend inpatient missions by aiming… Read more »
Building the Best Physician Team
Joe Cantlupe, for HealthLeaders Media, July 24, 2012 This article appears in the July 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. Today, many hospital organizations are teeming with teams, forming physician groups to make decisions about bringing in new doctors, provide clinical care, and make recommendations about administrative planning: In Maryland, a longtime CMO retires and… Read more »
4 ways to educate patients about the Affordable Care Act
July 23, 2012 | By Alicia Caramenico, Fierce Healthcare With much of the reform law upheld, hospital executives and other industry leaders need to help patients get a clue about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to improve outcomes and costs. Not sure how to inform patients about health reform? Here are four… Read more »
5 Tips for Taking on Risk in New Payment Models
Source: Becker’s Hospital Review It’s happening in different ways and different places around the country, but, broadly speaking, healthcare payors are starting to move away from traditional fee-for-service payment models. Providers, in turn, may be taking on a certain amount of risk in payment models that rely more heavily on capitated payments. Most accountable care… Read more »