MO Hospitals Review Highlights Value of Disaster Preparedness

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John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media, May 21, 2012   Tuesday, May 22 marks the one year anniversary of the devastating tornado that killed 161 people in Joplin, MO and hobbled the city’s healthcare delivery infrastructure. In seconds, an EF5 tornado packing winds in excess of 200 mph destroyed the 367-bed St. John’s Mercy Regional Medical… Read more »

Mapping Out Revenue-Cycle Solutions

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This article appears in the May 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine. The payer and provider communities are still dealing with HIPAA 5010, and trying to shift attention to ICD-10 is tough,” says Craig Collins, division chair for revenue cycle and administrative lead of the ICD-10 transition at the Rochester, Minn.–based Mayo Clinic. “We put together… Read more »

Hospital malpractice defense tactic unfair, critics say

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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

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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

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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 »

Busy Hospitals Discharge Patients Too Soon, See Higher Readmissions

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Patients that are discharged during the busiest times for hospitals are 50 percent more likely to come back in within three days, according to research published in Health Care Management Science. Two new studies from the University of Maryland suggest that that revenue from surgery is driving patients going home too early. They looked at… Read more »

Doc-Nurse Relationships: A Sore Subject in Sore Need of a Solution

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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

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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

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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

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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 »