HealthLeadersMedia.com - Marketing News & Analysis

What to do with an empty hospital?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Kaleida Health is offering $1 million to whoever can do some major medicine on the soon-to-be-vacant Millard Fillmore Hospital. The hospital system announced Thursday that it will award the prize to the developer or design team that submits a winning proposal for redevelopment of the hospital at Gates Circle, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city. The developer would not receive the prize until it has completed purchase of the property. By dangling the money, Kaleida hopes to generate interest in the project. But this won't exactly be like winning the lottery.

Marketing Health Coach Services

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:27:00 GMT

A growing number of healthcare organizations are employing health coaches for patients, particularly those with chronic conditions. This trend can put patients at ease, increase the continuity of care, improve outcomes, and encourage consumer loyalty.

Moving a hospital: It's not brain surgery, but it is complex

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:53:00 GMT

After years of planning and construction, Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet, IL will begin a new chapter in its 120-year history when it officially opens its new New Lenox home at 7 a.m. Feb. 26. But how it is moving those 3.5 miles east from Joliet to 1900 Silver Cross Blvd. is a story in itself. The hospital will be moving more than 100 years of memories.

Hospitals mine patient records in search of customers

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:38:00 GMT

Provena St. Joseph Medical Center is one of a growing number of hospitals using their patients' health and financial records to help pitch their most lucrative services, such as cancer, heart and orthopedic care. Hospitals say they are promoting needed services, such as cancer screenings and cholesterol tests, but they often use the data to target patients with private health insurance, which typically pay higher rates than government coverage.

Bone marrow registry, healthcare company to pay $770,000 for using models to recruit donors

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:45:00 GMT

A bone marrow registry and medical laboratory company that used fashion models wearing high heels and short skirts to recruit potential donors will pay the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire $770,000 for engaging in an improper marketing practice, officials in both states said Thursday. The Caitlin Raymond International Registry and UMass Memorial Health Ventures Inc. paid models to help recruit potential registrants during donor drives at malls, festivals and sporting ventures, including Gillette Stadium and the Mall of New Hampshire. The practice drew sharp criticism from officials in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, prompting an apology and a promise to stop using models from UMass Memorial Health Care Inc. in December 2010.

Poudre Valley Health, University Hospital join forces

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:03:00 GMT

The University of Colorado Hospital and the Poudre Valley Health System said Tuesday they are joining forces to form a health care system called University of Colorado Health. With annual net revenue of $1.5 billion, the venture will be one of the region's largest locally-owned health systems with nearly 10,000 employees.

Johns Hopkins unveils new hospital

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:13:00 GMT

At the new $1.1 billion Johns Hopkins Hospital there will be Xboxes and a basketball court for kids, sleeper-sofas for families, single rooms for all patients, an improved dining menu and extensive soundproofing. Health care is a dominant industry in Maryland, responsible for about 11 percent of all jobs in the state, and it is growing, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Hopkins joins Mercy Medical Center, the University of Maryland Medical Center and other area hospitals in replacing buildings and adding the most modern equipment and amenities to lure patients, keep doctors and expand business.

AK healthcare industry booming

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:57:00 GMT

The health care industry is booming in Alaska, and growth will continue. Health care providers pay a $1.53 billion annual statewide payroll with nearly $1 billion of that in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna regions of Southcentral Alaska. Jobs in health care totaled 31,800 in 2010, up 46 percent in 10 years. The growth rate is five times the rate of the state's overall population, and three times that of all other sectors of the economy.

U of MD moves ahead with county healthcare overhaul

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:47:00 GMT

University of Maryland officials soon will begin working to help Prince George's County overhaul its healthcare system. The university will conduct a survey of county residents in late January and will question residents on their state of health, access to primary care, and general attitude toward the quality of health care facilities in Prince George's County. Feedback will help the county and university officials as they make plans to build a new $600 million regional medical center in the county.

Jurors side with Garth Brooks in hospital naming-rights lawsuit

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:44:00 GMT

A jury has awarded Garth Brooks $1 million in a civil dispute involving the country music entertainer and a naming-rights' promise he said was made by Integris Rural Health Inc., the largest health-care system in Oklahoma. In awarding the fraud claim, the jury of nine women and three men found that Integris acted in "reckless disregard" and "intentionally with malice toward others."

Highmark to spend $500M on care network

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:49:00 GMT

Health insurance giant Highmark Inc. will spend up to $500 million to develop a new network of doctors, community hospitals and outpatient locations in Western Pennsylvania in addition to the $475 million it has promised to prop up West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Tribune-Review has learned. The network will include medical malls, ambulatory care centers, a health information exchange, partnerships with community hospitals and primary and specialty care centers, officials with the insurer said.

US health breach tally hits 19M

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:33:00 GMT

With the tardy addition of the Sutter Health breach, the U.S. tally of major healthcare information breaches now includes 385 incidents affecting more than 19 million individuals since September 2009. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights recently added the Sutter Health breach, which occurred in October, to its official tally of breaches affecting 500 or more individuals. It adds incidents once it confirms the details.

In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system pares religious ties

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:23:00 GMT

Catholic Healthcare West, one of the nation's largest hospital systems, is ending its governing board's affiliation with the Catholic Church and changing its name, two steps intended to help the system expand throughout the states in which it operates—California, Arizona and Nevada—and beyond. The changes underscore the unique challenges facing Catholic hospitals in the marketplace, where there are tremendous financial pressures for hospitals to merge or form formal alliances with other health care providers in order to survive and thrive.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center plan sickens neighbors

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:07:00 GMT

A hulking, 261-foot-tall outpatient surgery center planned for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center would free up the hospital's main building for critical procedures by creating new space for less intensive surgeries, the hospital claims. Sloan-Kettering estimates the extension will help an estimated 60 patients a day. But residents in the co-op next door at 440 East 62nd St. are saying the boxy 172,000-square-foot facility would be so close to them it would block daylight.

MD hospitals shopping locally for food

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:04:00 GMT

Maryland hospitals are buying more food locally, according to a new analysis. Forty hospitals in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia are now purchasing locally grown fruits and vegetables regularly during the growing season and nine are consistently purchasing meat or poultry produced by local farmers who use sustainable agricultural practices, according to Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment.

FL tries to get tough on lawbreaking medical practitioners

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:44:00 GMT

Florida regulators are kicking out more medical practitioners who break the rules—from pill-mill doctors to health-care fraudsters to those having sex with patients. This follows long-time criticism that Florida is too easy on doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other professionals. The state's first-year health secretary, Dr. H. Frank Farmer Jr., said he has made it a top priority to yank the licenses of those who commit crimes and other serious violations.

Hospitals hike ad spending to gain market share

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:41:00 GMT

After pulling back spending in recent years, some Connecticut hospitals are significantly increasing their advertising budgets as they try to compete for market share amid a changing and increasingly competitive health care environment. Connecticut's 30 acute care hospitals pumped nearly $30 million into advertising spending in fiscal year 2010, an 18 percent increase from a year earlier, a Hartford Business Journal analysis of industry financial data has found.

Chefs, butlers, marble baths: hospitals vie for the affluent

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:37:00 GMT

Many American hospitals offer a V.I.P. amenities floor with a dedicated chef and lavish services, from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, which promises "the ultimate in pampering" in its $3,784 maternity suites. The rise of medical tourism to glittering hospitals in places like Singapore and Thailand has turned coddling and elegance into marketing necessities, designers say.

MVP Health Care schedules information meetings for Kodak workers, retirees

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:03:00 GMT

Healthcare insurance coverage for Eastman Kodak employees and retirees has not been affected by the company's bankruptcy filing—but MVP Health Care, which provides that coverage, has nonetheless been bombarded with phone calls today. Consequently, the company has scheduled a series of information meetings in the first week of February to allay concerns and explain options for the future. Many inquiries have been from retirees who are concerned about the possibility that coverage could change or disappear as Kodak moves through bankruptcy court, said MVP spokesman Gary Hughes.

Healthcare consumer confidence improves again in December

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:57:00 GMT

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare improved for the second straight month, according to a consumer sentiment index produced by Thomson Reuters. Respondents reported positive news when asked if they had experienced a reduction in or loss of insurance coverage in December. Overall, the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index moved upward one point from 98 to 99. "It's extremely encouraging to see high levels of across-the-board optimism from healthcare consumers in this month's report," said Gary Pickens, chief research officer at the Thomson Reuters Center for Healthcare Analytics.