Mercy’s Journey Toward Patient-Centered Medical Homes, Population Health

Posted

Written by Kenneth Bertka, MD, Vice President of Physician Clinical Integration, Mercy | October 09, 2012 Two years ago, Mercy began its journey toward patient-centered medical homes by enrolling two of our physician offices in a Catholic Health Partners pilot to explore the development process of PCMHs. The pilot had positive results, so we decided to… Read more »

5 Steps for Hospitals Reviewing Executive Benefits

Posted

Written by Bob Herman | October 09, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review When hospitals and health systems need to re-evaluate their expenses, benefits programs are usually among the first areas to succumb to the chopping block, but providers should look closely at all benefits programs before making any cuts, according to a whitepaper from SullivanCotter and… Read more »

The Emergency Department is Overflowing With Opportunity

Posted

Written by Steve Whitehurst, Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, BerylHealth | October 02, 2012 In a recent study it was concluded that the U.S. healthcare system should employ simple solutions that will improve patient care and save costs due to poorly managed care transitions, which are currently contributing to high spending. As we begin to assess… Read more »

Behind The Uninsured Numbers, A Diminishing Sense Of Urgency

Posted

By Jeff Goldsmith, Health Affairs Blog After a summer of disappointing economic news, the recent Census report on the uninsured was a rare bit of sunshine.  The number of uninsured Americans declined by about 3 percent, or 1.34 million, to 48.6 million in 2011.  This was the largest one-year numerical decline in twelve years.  There… Read more »

NCQA Offers ACO Accreditation Review

Posted

Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media, September 24, 2012   Provider groups that claim to be accountable care organizations now have a way to prove it through an accreditation program offered by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. “Since the idea of ACOs became something that people got excited about in the last couple of years,… Read more »

Defined Contribution Pension Plans at Hospitals Reach Record High

Posted

Written by Bob Herman | September 25, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review Roughly 73 percent of employees who work at hospitals and health systems participate in a 403(b) defined contribution plan — the highest level of plan participation at healthcare organizations in the past 10 years, according to a study from the American Hospital Association and… Read more »

Consumer reporting system could come soon

Posted

September 24, 2012 | By Karen Cheung-Larivee, Fierce Healthcare     Under a proposed federal reporting system, consumers could start reporting medical mistakes about hospitals, physicians, pharmacists and other providers. If the White House administration approves the pilot project, health officials could start collecting data as early as May 2013, The New York Times reported…. Read more »

Management Tool: Nine-Boxes for Succession Planning

Posted

Written by Molly Gamble | September 10, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review A nine-box is a simplistic tool that can help hospital managers and executives organize employees’ performance and potential and also gain ground in their succession planning. The nine-box functions as a graph of sorts, based on its X and Y axes, and helps determine… Read more »

Ernst & Young: 7 Main Areas of Collaboration for Hospitals

Posted

Written by Bob Herman | September 12, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review Hospitals and health systems are facing new collaboration models as they aim to convert into more patient-centric organizations, according to a report from Ernst & Young. Financial pressures, quality of care measures and new delivery models are spurring the change in healthcare, and Ernst… Read more »

Center for Public Integrity: Billing Abuse, Upcoding on the Rise

Posted

Written by Heather Linder | September 17, 2012 , Becker’s Hospital Review An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found medical billing abuse and upcoding may be on the rise since medical professionals have billed an additional $11 billion over the last decade, according to The Washington Post. The investigation looked at 362 million claims… Read more »