HealthLeadersMedia.com - Roundtables

Reform Readiness

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:02:00 GMT

Healthcare reform has become such an overused term that healthcare leaders are almost numbed by it. It encompasses so many changes—from the way healthcare is paid for to how it's accessed—that it calls into question almost everything leaders think they know about how to best run a hospital, health system, or physician group practice. The term also references a multiyear change, so leaders are doing the best they can to break down strategies necessary to survive and thrive under new rules into more easily digestible steps. In October, we held a roundtable with some of the industry's top strategists to discuss findings in the latest HealthLeaders Media survey on reform readiness and to come up with several sharable insights into how to frame and enact many of the strategies that will ensure survival in the turbulent environment to come.

Mergers & Acquisitions: Ingredients for a Successful Union

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:02:00 GMT

With a growing number of mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures among healthcare organizations, leaders must recognize the effect of these agreements beyond financial support and growth opportunity. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts to discuss how to evaluate joint ventures and partnerships. The insights our panelists share include understanding partnership options, performing a thorough due diligence process, and dealing with the breadth of the cultural changes. Following are highlights from that conversation.

The Cost Containment Struggle

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:02:00 GMT

With reliable predictions that reimbursements will decline steadily in coming years, hospitals and health systems are working to eliminate waste and excess cost in order to position themselves to be competitive long term. In August 2011, HealthLeaders Media conducted a detailed survey among senior leaders at these institutions in an attempt to better understand their motivations, their pressure points, and, most important, their strategies for gaining control of their organization's cost structure. In September, we held a roundtable with several key executives to discuss the findings in an effort to identify strategies that yield the best results in this time of rapid change.

The New Rules of Revenue Cycle: Adapting in an Era of Change

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:02:00 GMT

The way Americans pay for healthcare services is changing—and so are their interactions with providers. Healthcare organizations will be taking on new or expanded roles as benefits educators and administrators, financial counselors, creditors, and collectors. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts to discuss how healthcare reform, insurance industry trends, consumerism, changes to reimbursement, and emerging care models will affect revenue-cycle management. The solutions they propose range from better use of data and technology to building better relationships with patients—especially when it comes time for them to pay the bill. Following are highlights from that conversation.

A Methodical Approach to Deepening Your Leadership Team’s Bench Strength

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:02:00 GMT

Most hospitals and health systems think they have figured out succession planning. They might have an executive who's planning on retiring in a couple of years, and they've groomed someone internally to take over. But planning for what you know will happen overlooks the most probable threat to the continuity of a leadership team—the unplanned departures. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts to discuss this important issue. Following are highlights.

Integrating Acquired Physician Practices: Independence vs. Autonomy

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 05:02:00 GMT

Hospital and health system management teams and physicians are struggling with the change management necessary to integrate formerly independent practices into their new homes as part of the hospital and health system hierarchy. Many such hospitals and health systems are working to change their management reporting structure to address physicians' demands for a level of autonomy, and balancing that desire with the health system's need to ensure quality and patient satisfaction goals. It's a difficult transition, and the future viability of the overall organization hangs in the balance.

Roundtable: Preparing for Patient Demand Under Reform: Does Your ED Need an Overhaul?

Fri, 13 May 2011 05:02:00 GMT

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is bringing significant change to the healthcare industry, and with that change come increased stresses. Perhaps the law's earliest impact will be felt in the emergency department, as thousands of people who were formerly uninsured seek care there due to a general shortage of primary care physicians. With many EDs already running at capacity, how does a hospital leader create new systems and expand capacity to meet increasing patient demand, as well as the increasing demands of care coordination? Learn from some of the industry's leaders in this condensed version of a recent conversation moderated by HealthLeaders Media.

Roundtable: Listening to Your Data: Making Analytics Work for You

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:02:00 GMT

Evidence isn't just for medicine; it's for the business side of the hospital or health system, as well. Data can be a competitive advantage, but as important as the data themselves are the conclusions that can be drawn to aid in developing the strategic plan. After all, how can senior leaders develop an effective strategic plan if the data aren't all in the same place? Learn from some of the industry's leaders in this conversation moderated by HealthLeaders Media.

Roundtable: The New Breed of Physician Practice Administrator

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 05:02:00 GMT

New faces are showing up in the role of physician practice manager—and they?re highly sought after. In this new era of consolidation in healthcare, healthcare organizations, especially those with hospitals as their core business, are buying up physician practices again, but they need a new type of sophisticated leader to manage them. Their skill sets must broaden, because not only are they expected to manage the practice and keep the billing and collections side of the business thriving, but they must be skilled at negotiations, contracting, and integrating the physician office into the processes and technology of the hospital.

Roundtable: Hospitals and Physicians: Partners in Accountable Care

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 05:02:00 GMT

As health systems across the nation investigate developing Accountable Care Organizations in their respective communities, healthcare veterans can't help but feel as though the details of these complex strategies are all too familiar. After all, the goals of aligning hospital and physician incentives are nothing new. But in a future that is sure to reward integration, coordination, and value, the motivation to build the right alignment model is one thing that is new and improved.

Hospital Medicine: The Hub of the Healthcare Continuum

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 05:02:00 GMT

While the hospitalist model has been around a while, healthcare leaders continue to refine the structure and the staffing of their programs. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts for a high-level discussion about what hospitals need to consider when creating or revising a hospital medicine program.

Building the Digital Hospital of the Future

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:02:00 GMT

The healthcare industry is moving toward a system where information can be secure, reliable, and easily accessed. The goal is to give caregivers the ability to concentrate on caring for the patient, rather than wasting time with burdensome technology and inefficient care delivery processes. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts for a high-level discussion regarding what moves hospitals should be making now to prepare for a digital, interoperable healthcare system.

Making Patient Experience Initiatives Stick

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:02:00 GMT

A patient experience initiative can fail for many reasons. For starters, you can treat it like just another initiative—a fad that will inevitably fade from favor with the next change in the weather—or the C-suite. It can die from simple neglect—a lack of time, money, and attention—even if everybody understands and agrees how important it is. On the other hand, there are plenty of ways to make patient experience more than just another initiative, to weave it into the very fabric of your organization's culture, and ultimately to reap the rewards of a healthier bottom line and a reputation that people will talk about with anyone who will listen. HealthLeaders recently convened a panel of experts who shared their best tactics not only for making patient experience a priority, but also for maintaining the momentum.

Maximizing Quality from IT

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:02:00 GMT

The promise of healthcare IT lies in the gulf—the one between what computers can do with speed and precision versus what healthcare can do to properly structure the data. In the end, the idea is that the precision and speed of IT will enable doctors and nurses to make better decisions with robust, real-time data delivered to them by precisely the right tool in the right space. While the government and other players are adding pressure to bridge the gulf, fundamental issues remain. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of IT experts to address these questions.

Challenges and Opportunities Facing Community Hospitals

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:02:00 GMT

Many community hospitals experiencing financial difficulties or capital deficiency see only a few unappealing options for securing their future: selling outright, merging with a large chain or nonprofit system, or continuing to struggle as they fall further and further behind the competition. HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts for a high-level discussion on a third choice for such hospitals: Union with a well-capitalized partner that allows the hospital to retain significant operational control.

The Bottom Line of Health Policy

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 05:02:00 GMT

The healthcare industry has suffered huge financial losses in the past year due to the recession and a confluence of other factors. According to some reports, as many as 50% of the nation's hospitals will show losses in 2009. Amidst all of this, leaders in Washington are drafting legislation that may change the entire healthcare infrastructure. HealthLeaders recently met with industry leaders to discuss key legislation and conversations they are following that will have a direct financial impact on hospitals.

Leadership Recruiting and Development 2009

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:02:00 GMT

Finding the right leaders to guide an organization to the other side of this recession is extremely challenging. With half of all hospitals losing money, the housing crisis, layoffs, and a massive scale-back of services, recruitment efforts have been severely hampered. That?s not exactly the environment that a new leader wants to walk into right now. What strategies can organizations use to get the right talent in the door? How can organizations develop internal leaders? What role do interim executives play in the current market? HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts to seek answers to those questions and many more.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: What Hospitals Need to Do Now

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:02:00 GMT

Few industries depend on legislation and regulation as much as healthcare does. That's why the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is so important for healthcare organizations of all sizes, from the smallest physician practice to the largest and most complex academic medical center. Why? Because they all stand to gain unprecedented reimbursement increases in return for meaningful use of information technology in their treatment of patients. Second, they all stand to be penalized if they don't comply with the technological specifications outlined in the act. How many healthcare organizations are currently ready to live with its provisions? What remediation do the vast majority of organizations need in order to be eligible for the rewards and disqualified from the penalties? HealthLeaders Media recently convened a panel of experts to seek answers to those questions and many more.

The State of the Healthcare IT Infrastructure

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:02:00 GMT

For any industry to deliver on its business promise it needs an infrastructure that supports quality and allows for growth. The healthcare industry is facing a convergence of pressures to use information technology to improve the quality of care and reduce cost. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act calls for $19.2 billion in funding to at first promote and, subsequently, mandate the use of electronic health records. But the government is hardly the only healthcare stakeholder to question the value provided by the patchwork nature of the nation's healthcare IT. Only a fraction of the nation's hospitals are using point-of-care technologies like computerized physician order entry or medication bar coding. Those that do use such point-of-care systems do so in isolation, their data walled behind proprietary software from EMR vendors. Are the tools of healthcare technology an adequate foundation for the performance demands that are no longer far away? HealthLeaders convened a panel of experts to ask for their insight on whether the industry can build on what exists, or whether a new, more innovative healthcare IT infrastructure that improves data at the point of care is required.

The Talent Life Cycle: How to recruit, develop, retain, and engage

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:21:00 GMT

Recruitment and retention of employees is an ever-growing challenge for senior leaders as work force shortages mount in multiple departments of the hospital. Healthcare organizations must adopt an approach to hiring that covers much more than getting employees in the front door. They must look at the entire talent life cycle, from recruitment to development to long-term engagement—and, sometimes, separation. HealthLeaders convened a roundtable panel of experts to discuss strategies for dealing with this complex problem, as well as how hospitals can re-create themselves as workplaces of the future.