HealthLeaders Media Community and Rural Hospital Weekly

HealthLeaders Media Community and Rural Hospital Weekly - January 20, 2010


Can Art—And Artie Shaw—Reduce Health Costs and Improve Patient Satisfaction? Cheryl Clark, Editor, Community Hospitals Doctors and hospitals are increasingly realizing that exposure to music and art isn't just a cosmetically pleasing, cute trinket in a healthcare setting. It can actually improve patient satisfaction and reduce costs, which are both very high attention getters for the C-suite and the boardroom, experts say. [Read More]
		January 20, 2010

Editor's Picks
Senate Bill Would Save Safety Net Hospitals Billions in Inpatient Pharmacy Costs With special implications for critical access hospitals with 25 or fewer beds, a provision in the Senate health reform bill would allow critical access hospitals to pay 25% less for pharmaceutical products. The program, called "340B," has been limited to safety net hospitals and outpatient care. [Read More] Pilot Projects Can Show Promise, But Often Come up Short Demonstration projects, and there are tons of them proposed in health reform legislation, sound good. But making sure that those which look beneficial can translate their positive scores to the real world has been challenging. Our new senior editor, Joe Cantlupe, explores the demonstration project pitfalls in his first column. [Read More] Recession Could Be Hurting Medication Safety, Says Survey The recession has taken its toll on patient safety, according to this survey from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Lower patient census has been absorbed through reductions in staff, fewer hours for the medication safety officer, and delayed transition to error prevention technologies. [Read More] Hospital Growth at Your Own Risk My colleague Philip Betbeze explores the growth trajectory for hospitals, and it isn't necessarily in inpatient care. Health reform legislation is about improving access, but not about bending the cost-curve just yet, but that may come soon enough. His interview with Dennis Vonderfecht, president and CEO of Mountain States Health Alliance, revealed some cautions. [Read More]

Leaders Forum
The Top 10 Mistakes in Setting Goals For years healthcare leaders have been evaluated by means of a "Does Not Meet/Meets/Exceeds" scale. But a far more fair method is the use of a clear, objective, and weighted evaluation based on specific goal achievement, says contributor Bill Bielenda. However, initial implementation of this leader evaluation system can be challenging for some organizations. Here, Bielenda provides the top 10 most common mistakes made during the first year of rollout and how they can be handled. [Read More]

This Week's Headlines
Many appendectomies may not be needed, study finds USA Today? January 19, 2010 Ankles gain as candidates for joint replacement New York Times ? January 19, 2010 Catching deadly drug mistakes Wall Street Journal ? January 19, 2010 Maryland hospital's patients learn they might have unneeded stents Baltimore Sun ? January 18, 2010
Webcasts/Audio Conferences
Marketing Oncology: Service Line Strategies for Marketers (January 25) Joint Replacement Service Lines: Alignment and Business Strategies for a Changing Environment (January 22) Women's Health: Building a More Profitable Service Line With Existing Assets (On Demand)
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From HealthLeaders Magazine

Five Strategies that Prove Healthcare is Still a Growth Industry

Here is a review of growth opportunities that will increase revenue, decrease costs, or enhance services in the areas of leadership, finance, physicians, technology, health plans, quality, and outcomes. [Read More]

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Service Line Management

The Sports Center

Famous athletes and big sports programs may be the public face of sports medicine, but at its core are local communities and, increasingly, the unconventional athlete. [Read More]



	Audio Feature Improve Patient Safety With Simulation Training: Nurse Educator Mary Holtschneider, RN, BC, BSN, MPA, NREMT-P, speaks about the surprisingly affordable ways to utilize simulation training and how it can improve patient safety. [Listen Now]