This article appears in the May 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. It seems like each week brings yet another announcement about some combination of physicians, hospitals, and even health plans that are forming collaborations or partnerships, and calling them accountable care organizations. The ACO moniker carries a lot of weight these days. It signals that… Read more »
Posts Tagged: hospitals
Hospital malpractice defense tactic unfair, critics say
By Karen M. Cheung Fierce Healthcare The recent malpractice case at UPMC Presbyterian highlights a common legal tactic that protects physicians under the corporate shield of the health organization–remove the physicians’ names from the case, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The family of Samuel Sweet, a patient who died in 2009 while being treated at… Read more »
4 Keys to Engage Patients and Operate in an Outcomes-Based Reimbursement Environment
Written by Benjamin Littenberg, MD, CMO, and James Rose, MBA, Senior Vice President, Patient Engagement Systems May 11, 2012 Emerging models such as accountable care organizations will require better care coordination among providers, hospitals and their patients. Furthermore, Medicare, Medicaid, private and self-insured payors will continue to pay hospitals and physician practices based on… Read more »
Readmissions Linked to Beds, Income More Than Quality
Supply and demand have more to do with readmission rates over illness severity and care quality, according to new research presented at the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care & Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions. Differences in regional hospitals for heart failure, in fact, have more to do with the number of hospital beds (availability of… Read more »
Doc-Nurse Relationships: A Sore Subject in Sore Need of a Solution
By Alicia Caramenico Fierce Healthcare In a recent Hospital Impact blog post, Jonathan H. Burroughs recalled an instance early in his medical career when he disrespected an inexperienced nurse and drove her to tears. “In my most caustic and superior tone I told her so that everyone could hear, ‘If you don’t know what epinephrine… Read more »
Transform Your Employees into Passionate Advocates
By Rob Markey Harvard Business Review Employee happiness is becoming a hot topic among CEOs and in boardrooms, and it’s about time. The current issue of Harvard Business Review, which includes a series of articles focused on employee happiness, is just one more sign of the growing recognition that happy, engaged employees are more productive… Read more »
3 reimbursement changes for hospital performance
Hospitals are bracing themselves for some significant reimbursement changes under health reform that could hit their pocketbooks. The American Hospital Association (AHA) outlined top issues in its 2012 advocacy papers, including how hospitals will be measured for performance this year and beyond. Value-based purchasing (VBP) – October 2012 Medicare will launch the hospital VBP program,… Read more »
Physicians, Hospital Executives Get Collaborative
This article appears in the April 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. Physician relationships with executive leadership have always been important at hospitals and health systems, but there is a history of distrust on both sides, to put it mildly. Executives often view physicians as a huge impediment to many important initiatives within the hospital, from… Read more »
Prices for Doctor Services Lag Behind Inflation
Physicians have long felt that the cost of running a practice is growing more quickly than payment received per service. New government data indicate that this is more than a feeling. The Consumer Price Index for all items went up 0.3% in March and 2.7% in the previous 12 months, according to Bureau of Labor… Read more »
Aviation Is an Inspiration for Improving Patient Safety
Searching for ways to reduce medical errors and keep patients safe? Look up. That’s the idea of some patient-safety experts, who today will discuss the formation of an independent patient-safety agency modeled on the National Transportation Safety Board, and other strategies to reduce errors at a summit in Washington. Many of the safety and error-prevention… Read more »