Best EDs Focus on Flow

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This article appears in the May 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. Among the greatest challenges in the emergency department is improving patient flow, and this comes with a sense of urgency amid deep concerns about patient safety due to overcrowding. In addition, the latest HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Report reveals that healthcare leaders expect worsening ED… Read more »

Bigger hospitals, mergers drive higher prices

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May 9, 2012 | By Alicia Caramenico Fierce Healthcare   Large hospital systems are using their size and market clout to boost prices, a trend that started long before the health reform law passed, according to a study in this month’s Health Affairs. It’s the “must-have” hospital systems and large physician groups–providers that health plans… Read more »

By Putting Patients First, Hospital Tries To Make Care More Personal

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John Rose/NPR   No one likes to go to the hospital. But some hospitals around the nation are trying to make their patients’ stays a little less unpleasant. They’re members of an organization called Planetree, which was founded by a patient named Angelica Thieriot, who had a not-so-good hospital experience back in the 1970s. “She… Read more »

For hospitals and insurers, new fervor to cut costs

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The New York Times, May 24, 2012   Giselle Fernandez is only 17 but she has had more than 50 operations since she was born with a rare genetic condition. She regularly sees a host of pediatric specialists, including an ophthalmologist, an endocrinologist and a neurologist at UCLA Health System. Her care has cost hundreds… Read more »

Legislation may enable states to offer universal healthcare

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By David Lazarus Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2012   Universal coverage, Medicarefor all, single payer — call it what you will. It’s clear that conservative forces are determined to prevent such a system from ever being introduced at the national level. So it’s up to the states.The catch is that to make universal coverage… Read more »