What if Medicare Were the Only Payer?
Viewed in a vacuum, no other program in the U.S. healthcare system has been as influential during the past 50 years than Medicare. Click to continue »
Building Brands and Networks: What Clinical Affiliations Mean for Providers and the Healthcare Industry
Above all, Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic aims to advance integrated and team-delivered care, according to David Hayes, MD, medical director of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Click to continue »
“My Best Investment”: 9 Hospital Executives Reflect
Major investments by hospitals and health systems, once concentrated in new facilities and construction projects, increasingly include mergers and acquisitions of other providers, including physicians; the implementation of new IT systems and investments in major projects and initiatives, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service. Click to continue »
Our Congratulations to the Recipients of the 2014 Becker’s Healthcare Leadership Awards
Becker’s Healthcare is pleased to announce the 25 recipients of the Becker’s Healthcare 2014 Leadership Awards. Click to continue »
Hospitals Feeling the Squeeze: 4 CFOs on Today’s Most Pressing Financial Issues
Last year, Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Fitch Ratings released almost identical reports saying 2014 would be a very challenging year, financially, for hospitals and health systems. Click to continue »
CMS Data: 25% of Physicians Account for Most Medicare Spending
This past spring, CMS gave the public unprecedented access to Medicare physician payment data. Click to continue »
The Costs of 10 Top Medicare Readmission Conditions
Readmissions added $41.3 billion in hospital costs in 2011, and 58 percent of those costs stemmed from Medicare patients. Click to continue »
Moody’s: Nonprofit Hospital Expenses Still Growing Faster Than Revenues
For the second straight year, expenses at nonprofit hospitals and health systems are growing faster than revenues, a trend that is negatively impacting margins and cash flows, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service. Click to continue »
4 Key Recommendations for Improving Healthcare Price Transparency
A task force led by the Healthcare Financial Management Association has developed guiding principles for improving healthcare price transparency. Click to continue »
OIG: Medicare Should Reduce HOPD Surgery Payments to ASC Rates
If Medicare lowered its reimbursement rates to hospital outpatient departments to what it pays ambulatory surgery centers, the program and beneficiaries could save tens of billions of dollars, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General. Click to continue »
The Truth Behind Variation in Episode Payments
Variation in healthcare spending across the country and, in some cases, within the same markets, has been the subject of debate for decades. Click to continue »
AHA: Changes Need to Be Made to Medicare ACO Programs
This past spring, the American Hospital Association submitted comments to CMS suggesting changes to be made to the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model and the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Click to continue »
Study: Majority of Patients Veer Outside of ACO Networks for Specialty Care
A study recently published in JAMA Internal Care found the majority of beneficiaries assigned to an accountable care organization went outside of their assigned ACO for specialty care. Click to continue »
Total Number of ACOs Tops 520
New research estimates 522 total accountable care organizations are serving 15 to 17 percent of the U.S. population. Click to continue »
Fewer Hospitals Acquiring Physician Groups
In 2011, hospitals and health systems accounted for more than half of all physician practice acquisition deals — but by 2013 they only accounted for 14 percent, according to new analysis by PwC. Click to continue »
Dr. Toby Cosgrove: The Concepts Behind Cleveland Clinic’s Success
The term “crisis” in Chinese is comprised of two characters. When read separately, they mean “risk” and “opportunity.” Click to continue »
7 Tips on Avoiding, Resolving Hospital-Physician Conflicts
Hospitals and physicians are grappling with major changes to their industry, as both parties strive to improve quality and outcomes and reduce costs while dealing with changing payment structures. Click to continue »
Does CEO Tenure Affect the Value of Hospitals?
According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, national healthcare CEO turnover is at its highest rate in more than 30 years, hitting 20 percent in 2013. Click to continue »
Why Some Health Systems Aren’t “Systems” at All: Q&A With Dr. John Toussaint, CEO of ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value
John Toussaint, MD, CEO, led Appleton, Wis.-based ThedaCare for eight years before becoming CEO of the ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value, a resource hub dedicated to performance improvement, transparency and payment reform. Click to continue »
8 Keys to Successful Health System Strategic Planning
Without proper strategic planning, any company will make itself susceptible to large risks. Click to continue »
6 Remarkable Quotes From Medical School Commencement Speeches
Whether you’re about to put on a white coat for the first time or have worked in healthcare for 50 years, the following excerpts pack an inspirational punch and remind people why they chose medicine and healthcare. Click to continue »
9 Things for Hospital Boards to Consider in Transactions
Hospital boards sit in a precarious situation today: Sit idle during the waves of healthcare reform, or move aggressively to look at partnerships with other institutions. Click to continue »
20 Statistics on Hospital Transactions by Bed Count
In 2013, the median size of a hospital involved in a transaction was 154 beds, essentially the same as the median of 158 beds in 2012. Click to continue »
FTC Blocks the ProMedica-St. Luke’s Merger: 5 Things to Know
In April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit issued a major decision within the hospital sector, as it backed the Federal Trade Commission and ordered Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica to unwind its acquisition of St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee, Ohio. Click to continue »
UPMC Sells Irish Hospital
Pittsburgh-based UPMC has agreed to sell its hospital in Dublin, Ireland, to billionaire Denis O’Brien, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report. Click to continue »
Maximize the Value of Population Management Programs With Advanced Analytics
Providers can use advanced analytics to gain the knowledge they need to improve, manage and succeed in today’s dynamic, value-based healthcare market. Click to continue »
12 IT Positions With the Largest, Fastest-Growing Salaries
According to the 2013 HIMSS Analytics Database, the average hospital’s IT department employs an average of 39 full-time equivalents. Click to continue »
10 Things to Know About Epic
Epic Systems is a large, privately held health IT company best known for its electronic health record system. Click to continue »
MU Attestation Not Associated With Care Quality, According to Brigham and Women’s Hospital Study
Meeting meaningful use criteria was not correlated with performance on clinical quality measures in a study conducted at clinics affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Click to continue »
3 Insights From the First Industrywide Cyberattack Drill
On April 1, the Health Information Trust Alliance led HHS and several healthcare industry stakeholders in the first of a series of simulated cyberattacks to gauge the industry’s response and threat preparedness against online threats. Click to continue »
Kaiser, Legacy Health, Others Join OpenNotes Initiative
As a part of the OpenNotes initiative, nine prominent health systems and physician practices in the northwestern U.S. have collaborated to provide patients access to the physician notes included in their electronic medical records. Click to continue »
32% of CEOs Don’t Think Their C-Suite is Built to Achieve Strategic Goals
Nearly one-third of health system and hospital executives do not feel their current senior management team has members with the experience, skill sets and talent needed to achieve strategic priorities. Click to continue »
In Hospitals, “Management by Walking Around” Can Do More Harm Than Good
“Management by walking around,” in which senior leaders visit hospital front-lines to solicit ideas for improvement, can have a negative affect on staff if leaders don’t act quickly on the problems they see, according to a study from Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Business School. Click to continue »
Notes on Leadership: 15 Insights from Hospital & Health System CEOs
Here are quotes on leadership from 15 hospital and health system presidents and CEOs throughout the country. Click to continue »
Improving Patient Collections at Children’s Hospital Oakland
Over its 100-year history, Children’s Hospital Oakland has developed a sterling reputation for patient care. Click to continue »
10 Things to Know About HCA
Hospital Corporation of America is one of the largest for-profit healthcare providers in the world, and it plays an especially large role in the United States. Click to continue »
10 Things to Know About UPMC
UPMC has positioned itself not only as a hospital system, but an integrated health system with a sharp business acumen, competitive modus operandi and an explicit eagerness to diversify its revenue. Click to continue »
10 Things to Know About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit, worldwide leader in medical care and research. Here are 10 key things to know about Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic. Click to continue »
10 Things to Know About the American Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association represents nearly 48,000 members — comprised of 5,000 hospitals and other healthcare organizations and 43,000 individuals — to help ensure their perspectives and interests are represented on a national level in policy development, debates and judicial matters. Click to continue »
3 Essential Steps for Hospitals to Turn Around Their Surgery Centers
Hospitals and health systems have been responding to the trends of slowing inpatient admissions and rising outpatient volumes through many different ways: acquiring physician practices, developing urgent care clinics and installing community health centers are but a few examples. Click to continue »
5 Surgery Center Joint Venture Models
Here are brief descriptions of five different functional models. Click to continue »
For a Look at the Future, Look to the Caymans
Those in the industry who are resisting the movement to the delivery of high-value, lower-cost services through clinically integrated systems of care ought to read a recent article in Forbes by Robert Pearl, MD, CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. Click to continue »
Is Your Hospital a Great Workplace? To Get the Answer, Look in the Middle
Definitions of a “great workplace” can vary depending on who you ask. Click to continue »
You Only Need to Do 4 Things to Be a Great Leader, Study Finds
Inclusive leadership is used to describe leaders who make employees feel included in and aligned with their organization, its vision and goals. Click to continue »
The Corner Office: Alan Channing of Sinai Health System and His Favorite Audacious Notion
After leading Chicago-based Sinai Health System for 10 years, President and CEO Alan Channing will retire July 1. Click to continue »
Hospital & Health System Executive Moves
Hospital & Health System Transactions
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
