June 2016 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
On the Cover
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150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know Becker's Hospital Review is pleased to release the 2016 edition of its "150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know" list. Click here to continue >> |
7th Annual Meeting Recap
How Geisinger’s ‘Crazy’ Idea of Refunds Turned Into a Smart Business Strategy
If you had the chance to request and receive $100 or $2,000, what’s stopping you from seeking the latter? Click here to continue >>
A Lesson From the Past to Predict the Future: How Joel Allison Channels Abe Lincoln to Affect Change
Healthcare is constantly discussed as being in the midst of great change. Click here to continue >>
Why Mayo Clinic is Picking Up the Check for Physicians to Dine Together
Although an exceptional healthcare institution, Mayo Clinic struggles with an all too familiar and uncomfortable problem: “We have an epidemic of burnout in our ranks,” President and CEO John Noseworthy, MD, said at the Becker’s Hospital Review 7th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Click here to continue >>
Bundled Payments, Regulation and Consolidation: 5 Health System Leaders Weigh In
At the helm of their organizations, hospital and health system CEOs are charged with setting the strategic direction, inspiring innovation and making practical business decisions. Click here to continue >>
5 Thoughts on Navigating Healthcare’s Future Landscape From Michael Dowling, Nancy Howell Agee, Barry Arbuckle, Ken Kaufman and Howard Dean
More and more health systems are expanding into new and nontraditional business segments to remain competitive in today’s healthcare market, whether that involves launching a health plan or striking partnerships with other organizations. Click here to continue >>
Chris Van Gorder Runs a $3B Health System — and He’ll Never Miss Your Email
“It’s all about me,” San Diego- based Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder said at Becker’s Hospital Review 7th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Click here to continue >>
Finance
These 10 Hospitals Have the Biggest Surpluses — and They’re Mostly Nonprofit
A small percentage of U.S. hospitals earned large profits from patient care services in 2013, and seven of the 10 most profitable were nonprofit hospitals, according to research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Washington and Lee University. Click here to continue >>
CHS Sees Profit Plummet, Plans to Sell 10 More Hospitals to Drive Down Debt
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems’ saw earnings drop significantly in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016. Click here to continue >>
Moody’s Preliminary Numbers Show Nonprofit Healthcare Profitability Margins at Multi-Year High
The nonprofit hospital annual median revenue growth rate increased to 7.4 percent in fiscal year 2015, surpassing the median expense growth rate for the second consecutive year, according to preliminary FY 2015 nonprofit and public hospital medians from Moody’s Investors Service. Click here to continue >>
Weak Flu Season, Lawsuits Take Toll on LifePoint’s Bottom Line
A weak flu season and expenses tied to legal settlements caused Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health’s profit to fall 44.5 percent to $21.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016. Click here to continue >>
Tenet Posts Unexpected $59M Loss in Q1
Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare reported a net loss of $59 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, down from a net profit of $47 million in the same period a year prior. Click here to continue >>
No 2 Prices the Same: 13 Findings on Healthcare Price Variation Across the U.S.
Commercially insured Americans in some states pay more than twice what their counterparts in other states pay for healthcare, according to a study from the Health Care Cost Institute. Click here to continue >>
UHS Sees Profit Swell as Admissions Rise in Q1
King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services recorded net income of $190.8 million in the first quarter of 2016, up from $174.3 million in the same period the year prior. Click here to continue >>
Partners HealthCare’s Math Errors Could Cause 2,000 Hospital Layoffs Statewide
Math errors at 19-bed Nantucket (Mass.) Cottage Hospital, owned by Boston-based Partners HealthCare, may cause hospitals across the state to see steep declines in their Medicare payments, according to the Boston Globe. Click here to continue >>
A State-by-State Breakdown of 71 Rural Hospital Closures
More than 70 rural hospitals have closed since 2010 — and many more may be headed down the same path. Click here to continue >>
CMS’ 2017 IPPS Proposed Rule: 10 Points to Know
CMS has released its fiscal year 2017 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule, which does away with the two-midnight rule’s inpatient pay cuts. Click here to continue >>
In the Midwest, Health Systems Go Big or Go Home: The New Reality of System Dominance
Mergers and acquisitions play a critical role as hospitals focus on providing coordinated, cost effective care. Hospital consolidation is occurring in markets across the nation, particularly those in the Midwest. Click here to continue >>
John Stossel: ‘My Hospital’s Customer Service Stinks’
Sharing his diagnosis of lung cancer, consumer news reporter and TV personality John Stossel had another piece of news out of a major academic medical center:“I have to say, the hospital’s customer service stinks.” Click here to continue >>
150 Hospital Benchmarks
Hospitals across the nation are competing in a number of areas, including quality and price, and many use benchmarking as a way to determine the areas most in need of improvement. Click here to continue >>
Beating the Self-Pay Problem: How 3 Hospitals Developed Patient Loan Programs
Hospitals and health systems are looking for creative ways to tackle a thorny and growing problem: how to collect self- pay accounts associated with a growing number of high-
deductible health plans. Click here to continue >>
ASC Revenue Cycle: By the Numbers
When Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced a joint venture in March 2015 with United Surgical Partners International, it created the largest single ASC operator in the U.S. What's more, with 250-plus outpatient surgical facilities and 20 imaging centers, once fully integrated, the combined entity — and its patients — will likely benefit from its unprecedented scale, business relationships and terabytes of new data. Click here to continue >>
Executive Briefing
Rethinking Ambulatory Strategy Health systems have been developing their ambulatory platforms over the last several decades as technology and consumer demand has shifted from the inpatient to outpatient setting. Click here to continue >>
Care Delivery
Medical Errors — No. 3 Cause of Death in the US, Study Unveils
The CDC lists chronic respiratory diseases as the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease and cancer, but researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins beg to differ. Click here to continue >>
ACOs Flourish or Fail in These 27 States
As of the end of January, the number of active accountable care organizations across the nation increased by 94 over the past year to 838, according to a recent report by Leavitt Partners and the Accountable Care Learning Collaborative published in Health Affairs. Click here to continue >>
SSM Health to Operate 27 Retail Clinics in St. Louis Walgreens
St. Louis-based SSM Health has signed an agreement with Walgreens to extend the organizations’ partnership. Click here to continue >>
These 7 Surgical Procedures Account for Most Complications, Deaths and Costs
Just seven procedures account for roughly 80 percent of all admissions, deaths, complications and costs attributable to emergency general surgery across the nation, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery. Click here to continue >>
‘A’ Grades Up, ‘F’ Grades Down in Leapfrog Hospital Safety Scores: 5 Things to Know
The Leapfrog Group released its spring 2016 Hospital Safety Score update Monday, assigning A through F letter grades to 2,571 hospitals in the U.S. Here are five things to know about the spring update to Leapfrog’s safety scores. Click here to continue >>
Stanford Embeds Clinic in Luxury Apartment Building
Stanford (Calif.) Health Care teamed up with private real estate firm Irvine Company to open the San Francisco Bay Area’s first express care clinic in an apartment community. Click here to continue >>
Medical School Enrollment Up 25%
New data shows U.S. medical school enrollment has grown by a quarter since 2002, adding more than 4,100 new students into the fold, according to a report released in May by Association of American Medical Colleges. Click here to continue >>
34% of American Adults Did Not See, Talk to a Physician in 2014
In 2014, 34 percent of Americans age 18-64 didn’t visit — or even speak with — a primary care physician, according to the CDC. Click here to continue >>
Wake Forest Baptist Acquires 300-Physician Group
Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center completed its acquisition of Cornerstone Health Care, a physician-owned, 275-plus-provider, multispecialty practice based in High Point, N.C. Click here to continue >>
The Most Common Surgery in the World is Often Unnecessary — and This Physician is Out to Fix That
The most common operation in the U.S. is the Cesearean section, and the single biggest variable that influences a woman's chance of having a C-section is the hospital she chooses to deliver her baby. Click here to continue >>
Executive Briefing
Healthcare's Second Curve: Is Your Clinical Documentation Ready?
Healthcare and economics have always been entwined. Click here to continue >>
Health IT
A ‘Simpler’ Version of Meaningful Use: 8 Things to Know About HHS’ Proposed MACRA Rule
Three months after CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt hinted at the end of the meaningful use program, HHS released proposed rules Wednesday outlining how incentives will continue under what officials describe as a more simple framework. Click here to continue >>
What’s in Mayo Clinic’s Epic Implementation Name?
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has given its Epic implementation project a nickname, one that reflects the health system’s history of innovation and advancement. Click here to continue >>
7 Things to Know About Whaling, the Emerging Cybersecurity Threat
In addition to phishing schemes, ransomware and other cybersecurity scams, whaling is emerging as a growing cybersecurity threat. Click here to continue >>
Cerner Quarterly Revenue Grows 14%, Profit Up 36%
Though Cerner reported an increase in revenue in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015, revenue in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015, revenue fell short of the company’s guidance range. Click here to continue >>
EHR Replacements Causing More Harm Than Good, Survey Finds: 10 Key Findings
Regret and frustration appear to be common feelings among hospitals and health systems that switched EHR systems in the past three years. Click here to continue >>
athenahealth Reports 24% Revenue Growth in Q1
For the first quarter of 2016, Watertown, Mass.- based athenahealth grew its revenue over the previous year’s quarter and also reduced its total net loss for the quarter. Click here to continue >>
Shared Credentials in Epic v. Tata Case: ‘Every CIO and CISO’s Nightmare’
A Wisconsin jury ruled in favor of Verona, Wis.-based Epic in April in a lawsuit alleging Mumbai, India-based Tata Consultancy services stole trade secrets and confidential information to support its competing healthcare software product. Click here to continue >>
McKesson Revenue Climbs 4%, Profit Falls 2% in Q4
For McKesson’s fourth quarter of 2016, ended March 31, the health IT company reported a slight increase in revenue from the same quarter the previous year, but gross profit minimally decreased. Click here to continue >>
Allscripts Achieves Record Q1 Bookings, Posts Revenue Increase
For the first quarter of 2016, health IT company Allscripts reported $252 million in bookings, a record level for a year’s first quarter for the company, and a 7 percent increase over last year’s $236 million. Click here to continue >>
Not-So-Sensitive Data: The Case for Unprotected Health Information
When the U.S. government rallies against an enemy, it often turns to its citizens for help in some way. Click here to continue >>
Loyalty Rankings: Epic, MEDITECH Clients Feel ‘Trapped’; Cerner, athenahealth Clients ‘Most Loyal’
Epic and MEDITECH clients appear less satisfied with their vendor relationships than Cerner clients do, according to the 2016 Black Book Inpatient EHR Surveys. Loyalty Rankings: Epic, MEDITECH Clients Feel ‘Trapped’; Cerner, athenahealth Clients ‘Most Loyal’
Thought Leadership
Beyond MU: The Value of Patient Portal Adoption
The patient portal is alive and well. Click here to continue >>
Michael Dowling: 4 Lessons I Learned Overseeing the Launch of a Health Plan
Under the leadership of Michael J. Dowling, in 2013 Great Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health launched its own health plan. Click here to continue >>
Don’t be the Borg: Listening is the First Step for Healthcare Leaders Involved in Changing an Organization’s Culture
Humans are a tribal species. Click here to continue >>
Ask Chuck: This CEO's Health System Merged 2 Years Ago — But He Still Hears 'Us v. Them' Comments From Staff
Dear Chuck: Nearly three years ago, my health system merged with another system in our market. Click here to continue >>
The Corner Office: MemorialCare Health System Long Beach CEO John Bishop on the Unparalleled Value of Trust
In June 2015, John Bishop made the leap from CFO of three Fountain Valley, Calif.-based MemorialCare Health System hospitals to CEO. Click here to continue >>