For medical professionals who climb on board helicopters hundreds of times a year, the dangerous job can mean dark, urgent flights through uncertain landscapes, emergency landings, and medical equipment bouncing because of choppy winds. But air medical transport also grants it's the rush of saving the lives of people who might not otherwise have been reached in time. That is what has kept Mary Jo Dunne, 53, working as a flight nurse for 23 years on more than 2,000 flights with the University of Chicago Aeromedical Network, even as she hears all too frequently of medical helicopter crashes like the one that killed four people in Aurora, IL.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, anticipating further deterioration of an employer-based health insurance system and more competition from out-of-state, needs to rein in administrative costs. The 18- to 24-month effort is intended to keep the state's largest health insurer competitive as employers become less willing to absorb hefty annual premium increases.
UnitedHealth, America's biggest health insurer by revenue, has announced earnings that met analyst forecasts and, for the first time, broke out its investment portfolio to reassure investors it was sufficiently conservative to weather market gyrations. Looking ahead, however, chief executive Stephen Hemsley acknowledged that UnitedHealth will face significant challenges keeping members.
Jacksonville, FL-based St. Vincent's HealthCare plans to eliminate 100 staffed positions due to reimbursement decreases and cost increases. The positions are being eliminated as part of an expense management plan in which officials of the health system hope to improve strategic growth with a major investment of capital and operating funds, officials said.
Just a quick note about the goings-on here in Chicago at HealthLeaders Media's Top Leadership Teams events as I wrap up a busy day at about 11 p.m. Today I helped kick off the event at 9 a.m. with a panel entitled "Lay Waste to Waste: How to cut the cost of doing business."
What struck me during the event was the open sharing of successful ideas among a large group of panelists and a roomful of senior leaders in healthcare.
As many of you know, healthcare administration makes up 30 cents of every dollar spent on care, in large part because healthcare has been slow to adapt to techniques that can successfully cut the cost of doing business. But that doesn't mean that there aren't many who can teach valuable lessons about providing value to patients, which was essentially the focus of my panel. Of course, it's impossible to distill 90 minutes of lessons into a short blog entry, but our experts from Gundersen Lutheran Health System, Geisinger Health System and Firelands Regional Medical Center kept the audience rapt with attention with strategies they've used to help cut the cost of doing business in healthcare. It's easy to moderate such a panel when essentially, all you have to do is push the start button. The essence of what was said boils down to this: cutting the cost of care is essential to being able to provide healthcare to the largest portion of people. I'll share more later in the magazine but the fact that these people truly believe that cutting costs and improving efficiency—not necessarily in that order—is the best way to provide better and less expensive care and I truly admire their dedication to their nonprofit mission.
Tomorrow we'll distribute the Top Leadership Teams awards, which will truly be inspirational, as those teams share their success stories with the audience.
Children's Hospital has won state approval to build a $483 million replacement hospital, making it the most expensive project ever approved by Alabama's Certificate of Need Review Board. Construction is expected to begin spring 2009 and to be completed in 2012. Hospital officials say the project is overdue and will replace outdated patient care areas that are almost 50 years old.