HealthLeaders Media Community and Rural Hospital Weekly - June 18, 2008 View as a Webpage | Subscribe for Free

Who's Your Mentor?
Carrie Vaughan, Editor, Community Hospitals
Nurses aren't trained to be managers. They're trained to be clinicians. So how can your hospital ensure that it is providing the additional training and leadership development needed to create the next generation of chief nursing officers? [Read More]
     
 
June 18, 2008
 
Editor's Picks
Before you call 911
If you had an unruly patient in your emergency room, what would you do? If you answered call the police, you may want to check out this story. A small hospital in Minnesota called the police after a disturbed patient was becoming violent, which resulted in the patient being tasered and medicated before being transferred to a psychiatric unit at another hospital. Now the hospital is being cited by federal and state health officials for violating the patient's rights to receive care in a safe setting. [Read More]
Long drive for healthcare
This story highlights a problem that many small or rural communities face. Chincoteague Island, VA, residents either have to drive an hour to the north or south for hospital care, yet the community doesn’t have the population base to support a hospital. What options are left? What about a freestanding emergency department? [Read More]
Rural hospitals bleeding red ink in Pennsylvania
While the financial health of Pennsylvania's hospitals is improving on average—hospitals earned $4.82 on every $100 they received for patient care in fiscal year 2007 (up 83 cents from the previous year)—the state's small rural hospitals are still losing money. According to a report by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, 42 hospitals lost money last year, the majority of which were small rural facilities. [Read More]
Med students shadow rural doctors
Here is another example of how medical schools are trying to entice physicians to practice in rural communities. About 15 third-year medical students from Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, CA, will spend one year in North Coast clinics providing care to rural communities. Local providers hope that after spending time in Humboldt and Del Norte counties some of the doctors will return to practice there. [Read More]
A health makeover for an entire Minnesota town?
Hospitals all have some sort of program to improve the health of their community, but I doubt any are as ambitious as Allina Hospitals and Clinics' new Center for Healthcare Innovation initiative, which strives to eliminate heart attacks throughout an entire community in New Ulm, MN. The initiative will also try to improve the health of residents living in the neighborhoods where Allina is based. [Read More]
 
Leaders Forum
Using Credit Scoring To Manage Hospital Bad Debt
Many hospitals have had stable performance over the past 20 years. But infrastructure demands and changes in reimbursement dynamics will create huge financial challenges over the next decade. HealthLeaders Media contributor Brian Klepper writes that using strategies such as credit scoring to try to reduce the amount of bad debt hospitals must deal with is essential in today's environment. [Read More]
 
This Week's Headlines
Florida hospital keeps up quest to do open heart surgery
St. Petersburg Times – June 10, 2008
Healthcare sector is poised to keep expanding, but so are its costs
Washington Post – June 13, 2008
Houston Hiring Tele-Nurses To Help 911 Dispatchers
Christine Pye, for Texas Healthflash – June 10, 2008
Northwestern Indiana sees need for trauma center
AP/Chicago Tribune – June 16, 2008
Rural healthcare means teamwork
The Citizen – June 18, 2008
Texas cities, schools consider opening employee clinics
Dallas Morning News – June 16, 2008
Boca Raton (FL) hospital still struggling, expects another loss
South Florida Sun-Sentinel – June 10, 2008
HHS announces 12 communities selected to advance use of EHRs
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services – June 10, 2008
 
 
From HealthLeaders Magazine
Weaning Your Hospital Off of Medicare
  How can your hospital maintain its level of service and its margin? It's time to get creative. [Read More]