How hospitals can save 25% with better benefits design
by Kevin L. Shrake
Employee benefits is fast becoming one of the largest expense items for employers and this issue will be magnified as healthcare reform unfolds.
There are approximately 5,000 U.S. hospitals in and 1000 of them would fall into the category of rural and community hospitals. Typical staff counts in the smaller facilities range from 150-300 people. Large multi-hospital systems might have as many as 15-30,000 employees.
But there is strength in numbers. It is often difficult for smaller organizations to acquire cost-effective benefit rates, and even large organizations can benefit from being part of a l...
Source: hospital impact - February 1, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Creating optimal healing environments: Connectivity
by Scott Kashman
Connectivity is the key to our culture, as well as intentionally achieving our business objectives.
At my organization, it certainly supports our effort as an optimal healing environment (OHE), following the framework of the Samueli Institute.
The focus is on a person-centered approach. As individuals find deeper meaning and deeper purpose in their work, our patients and families benefit greatly. Frankly, we all do.
The key OHE elements include:
Developing healing intention - Ensure expectations and experience levels are clear
Experiencing personal wholeness - Ensure all aspects of the care an...
Source: hospital impact - February 1, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Patient empowerment: Next step in accountable care
by Kent Bottles
Recent articles highlight challenges with holding providers accountable for the care they deliver. One of the major thrusts of efforts to transform the American healthcare delivery system has been to become more patient-centered and to allow patients to provide feedback that matters.
Emblematic of this is the emphasis on patient involvement in the final rules for the Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations (ACO).
Echoing former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Director Don Berwick's plea on the behalf of patients ("Nothing about us without us"), the ACO final rules emphasize ...
Source: hospital impact - February 1, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
The power of hospital community buy-in
by Raymond Hino
Are there big changes on the horizon for your organization in 2013? As healthcare leaders we all know that to influence positive change we need to obtain buy-in from each of those constituency groups that will be affected.
Who does that include?
How about our employees, medical staff, volunteers, boards and, of course, the community that we serve?
Recently, I was talking to a former board member who remains very dedicated to our institution about the major changes it will be going through in the next 12 months. Among other things, our institution will be completing a major building project and insta...
Source: hospital impact - January 29, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Hospital leaders: New HIPAA rule will be a challenge
by Dan Bowman, FierceHealthIT
While the newly unveiled HIPAA omnibus rule, announced Thursday afternoon by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services represents a win for patient privacy protection, executing the new rules will present a multitude of challenges, according to several FierceHealthIT Editorial Advisory Board members.
Todd Richardson, vice president and CIO of Wausau, Wis.-based nonprofit health system Aspirus, Inc., told FierceHealthIT that providers and vendors that use and create electronic health record systems already walk a tight balance between complying with HIPAA and meeting the requirements...
Source: hospital impact - January 25, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Why it matters if states don't expand Medicaid
by Jonathan H. Burroughs
On June 28, 2012 Chief Justice Roberts surprised pundits by upholding the individual mandate that requires most individuals to pay a modest annual tax if they don't have health insurance by 2014.
On the other hand, states are not obligated to expand their Medicaid program to those with household incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).
Although Medicaid accounts for more than 20 percent of total state budgets, it also represents the largest single source of federal funding to the states. The federal government finances 50 percent to 83 percent of Medicaid costs, according t...
Source: hospital impact - January 25, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Quality trumps size in patient experience
by Jason A. Wolf
This week began with Inauguration Day. Regardless of political philosophy or preference, it is one of the most powerful examples of democracy at work with its symbolic representation of the freedom of choice. It also was marked by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, which has deep meaning for so many and reminds us all of the responsibilities we have for one another.
These powerful examples of choice and of caring also are rooted in the hearts of those in healthcare and guide the actions we take when addressing the healthcare experience for patients, families and peers.
In previous blog posts I have ad...
Source: hospital impact - January 25, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
How to take the pain out of healthcare change
by Mickey Lebowitz
According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and expecting there will be a different outcome. In the current healthcare environment, hospitals may be considered "insane" if they continue to do the same thing and don't "reform" (change for the better).
Not improving on patient outcomes and satisfaction could lead to financial hardships, if not organizational demise.
But change can be painful because it creates fear.
Studies using functional MRI scans suggest areas of the brain that are activated when one is fearful are similar to areas that are activat...
Source: hospital impact - January 25, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Time to make patient experience surveys matter
by Alicia Caramenico, FierceHealthcare
With reimbursement tied to patient satisfaction, hospitals increasingly are administering patient experience surveys to gauge how patients perceive their care and hospital visit.
But as FierceHealthcare reported earlier this week, some industry experts are questioning whether patient experience surveys accurately measure quality. Previous research that found no link between patient satisfaction and quality outcomes doesn't help clarify the issue.
The topic has generated some discussion in our LinkedIn group, where readers are encouraging the use of patient experience surveys as one...
Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Medical home's role in children's health still evolving
by Thomas Dahlborg
In a previous blog post I stressed that we must refocus the principles of patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) to ensure compassionate care is elevated in the hierarchy of priorities if we are to truly position children to achieve their optimal health.
Since then, two additional barriers to children's health have become all too familiar--bullying and adolescent substance abuse (and the link between the two).
For example, in the online December issue of Pediatrics, researchers from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University found that 64 percent of those surveyed report getting bu...
Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Your patients may depend on social media
by Nancy Cawley Jean
No, that headline is not a typo. Patients might not depend on social media for their health status or actual healthcare, but when it comes to choosing a hospital, chances are good that social media may come into play.
If you've read any of my past posts, you know I'm a strong advocate for hospitals using social media, for a myriad of reasons. Now, there are two more reasons, and hospitals need to pay attention to them.
A new study indicates that 41 percent of patients report that social media impacts their choice of hospital. Read that again and let it sink in. That's right--their choice of hospit...
Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
4 fixes that will boost your bottom line
by Kenneth H. Cohn
Happy New Year. Sometimes, the fuss in Washington causes temporary amnesia that healthcare, like politics, has a local focus. So this post contains the first four tips on ways to engage physicians where you work to improve clinical and financial outcomes and create a more satisfying practice environment:
1. Convene a panel of your top physicians to look at how improved collaboration can reduce expenses.
A surgeon once confessed to me, "I may ignore others' opinions, but I definitely listen to physicians who refer patients to me or to whom I refer patients for preoperative clearance and postoperative m...
Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
5 regulatory trends hospitals should watch in 2013
by Karen M. Cheung-Larivee, FierceHealthcare
There's no rest for the weary, and no one knows that more than the provider. The new year brought with it trepidation about regulatory changes. With full implementation of the 2010 health reform law coming, hospital leaders are looking at their budgets, strategic plans, workforce levels and goals for 2013.
Here are five of the regulatory trends hospitals will have to watch during the planning process this year:
1. Hospital payment cuts
It's not good news: Although physicians got a reprieve from falling off the "fiscal cliff," hospitals will bear the brunt of Medicare payment ...
Source: hospital impact - January 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Patient-centered care must-haves: Convenience, flexibility
by Jenn Riggle
With patient satisfaction now tied to reimbursement, hospitals are focusing on the little things that improve people's hospital stay. They're hiring consultants from Disney and Ritz-Carlton to teach them how to improve patient experience, address complaints and add a compassionate touch to serious medical care.
While these are important, they are only part of the equation. In today's multitasking world, people are trying to find ways to squeeze exercise and doctor's appointments into their already busy schedules. And with the rise of urgent care centers and clinics, people have more choices than ever about...
Source: hospital impact - January 10, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
Hospitals: Time to build your social media strategy
by Andrea J. Simon
We are in the midst of our third annual survey of how hospitals use social media.
To set the stage for what we are finding, we ask you: Does your hospital have an online strategy and use social media?
Almost half of the 140 hospitals sampled in 2012 still have no real Facebook presence--less than 5000 "likes." Almost 11 percent, or 15 of the sample, had well over 10,000 Facebook fans--an increase from 8 hospitals a year earlier.
Some are growing fan clubs into the thousands while others are wondering why they should bother. Children's hospitals are clearly leaders in the social media arena, as are...
Source: hospital impact - January 8, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs
