When Christopher Barton took over as chief of emergency medicine at San Francisco General Hospital this year, he became responsible for balance sheets, income statements, and a sprawling staff—all with no formal business training under his belt. The emergency room's patient load had also begun to swell—up nearly 20% in the past year, according to Dr. Barton, adding to his management headaches. So Dr. Barton decided to get some business school training, a move many physicians are making to cope with the ever-changing pace and paperwork of modern day healthcare. Nurses, private practice managers, and hospital administrators are also seeking guidance on how to analyze the slew of data now accessible to them, with the hope of improving the quality of care and lowering costs. Schools are responding with business management programs geared toward the medical community.
The Illinois Supreme Court Thursday did not rule as expected on whether the state's four-year-old medical malpractice reform survives. The next batch of Supreme Court opinions is expected in mid-January, the court spokesman said. The much-anticipated ruling, which could directly impact the constitutionality of damage caps for doctors and hospitals, is being watched closely by the healthcare industry and employers who see caps on damages as a way to tame rising healthcare costs. Should the high court uphold the law, it could provide momentum in Washington for federal malpractice reform.
When physicians at Santa Clara County's cash-strapped public hospital seek professional development, they often indulge in "luxurious accommodations" on tropical islands and bill taxpayers for large cars to bring spouses, children, and even parents along for conferences-turned-family-vacations, according to a new county audit. The audit, which analyzed a three-year period, blasts Valley Medical Center—Santa Clara County's hospital of last resort—for what it called "abusive and noncompliant" travel expenses at a time when the county is slashing budgets and cutting social services. Physicians traveled to Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Italy, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Spain, China, Aruba, Thailand, the West Indies, and the Bahamas, with costs averaging $3,085 per trip. Each year, county doctors spent $650,000 on educational travel. Continuing education units were pursued inside California just 8% of the time during the period analyzed.
Santa Claus is still coming to town. Or in this case, he's still scheduled to make his Christmas visit to The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Typically, business groups, church groups, organizations, and individuals make a point to visit the children this time of year. However, because of the seasonal flu, and especially the H1N1 virus, The Children's Hospital currently has a Level 2 visitation policy, said Debbie Parris, a nursing director at the hospital. So, visitation is restricted to those 12 years and older and two visitors per patient in a room at a time. But Santa is still scheduled to make his annual visit. "Probably the one thing that hasn't changed this year—we are assured that Santa is coming Christmas morning," said Whitney Moore, a child life specialist at Children's. "He's making his stop and he said he's taking good care of himself to stay well."
After weeks of shortages, swine flu vaccine is plentiful enough that nearly half the states now say everyone can get it, not just people in high-risk groups. But the good news comes with a challenge for health officials: how to keep persuading people to get vaccinated when swine flu infections are waning. Health authorities say that getting vaccinated could be a lifesaver if a new wave of illnesses materializes this winter.
Ten years ago, a national panel of health care experts released a landmark report on medical errors in the American healthcare system. Published by the Institute of Medicine, "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System" estimated that as many as 98,000 people died in hospitals each year as a result of preventable mistakes. Spurred on by this finding, healthcare leaders across the country began addressing errors believed to be a result of systemic flaws. But some healthcare safety experts have begun questioning the assumption underlying the report's conclusions: that only healthcare systems, and not individual clinicians, could be held accountable for medical mistakes.
The Secret Service has entered an investigation into the alleged theft of patient records from the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the local agent in charge indicated. The records were used to create bogus credit cards that were used to make nearly $3,000 in purchases at an Upper Darby Sears, according to authorities. A spokeswoman for the health system said that 18 medical records had been compromised, but that all the victims had been notified and had been offered help repairing their credit issues.
Alegent Health CEO Wayne Sensor's resignation was big news in the hospital world in 2009. In the time leading up to Sensor's resignation, medical staff at two of Alegent's largest hospitals took votes of no confidence against Sensor, who is considered a healthcare pioneer—from the drive to make healthcare prices transparent to the consumer to building a staff of employed physicians at the health system. Senior leadership editor Philip Betbeze highlighted the Sensor situation and questioned Alegent's board's decision to accept his resignation based on the physician employment question. He wondered if the move would put Alegent on the wrong side of history and questioned whether Alegent's board strategy will end up penny wise—and pound foolish.
While the healthcare debate kept health leaders' attention in 2009, many were not aware of a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plan to eliminate a series of five-digit CPT codes that specialist physicians, such as cardiologists, oncologists, and surgeons, use to bill for medical or surgical consults. This November article highlighted the issue and potential ramifications if the change became part of Medicare's physician pay schedule. Specialty providers said the change would have dire consequences for care far into the future, especially for rural communities where specialty doctors are in heavy demand.
One of the hottest topics in healthcare in 2009 was: How will health reform affect my business? In a July article, we looked at the possible winners and losers in healthcare reform. The almost certain winners predicted were: primary care physicians, health information technology, and comparative effectiveness. Possible winners: nurses, rural healthcare, and pharma. Possible losers: health plans, specialty physicians, and pharma. Almost certain losers: imaging, biologics, physician-owned specialty hospitals, durable medical equipment, home health agencies and providers of home healthcare, and skilled nursing homes.
Few topics can get physicians worked up like generational differences in practice styles. It's easy to fall back on dichotomic caricatures with this topic: Older physicians are hard-working professionals who think younger doctors aren't productive or committed enough to medicine and patients, and younger doctors are tech-savvy life balancers who view older doctors as burned-out luddites. Although they are overblown stereotypes, there are grains of truth in both of those perceptions. But the deeper reality is far more complex. The characteristics that define each generation of providers overlap and constantly evolve, so that the two are beginning to resemble each other more than they think.
With the annual Medicare price tag for physician radiology services more than doubling between 2000 and 2006, the federal government looked to cutting payments for advanced imaging as a way to help pay for healthcare reform. Federal lawmakers looked at two major ways to lower what Medicare pays imaging providers. Radiology groups opposed both strategies, but acknowledged that the high increases in federal payments have made them a target.
In hopes of getting healthcare reform back on track, President Barack Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress about a comprehensive health reform bill in September. The 45-minute speech was Obama's first in-depth national speech about healthcare reform after spending months on the sidelines as Congress worked on multiple reform proposals. So, after finally hearing directly from the president, what did health leaders think? Nine health leaders gave their thoughts.
Like other Americans, a growing number of physicians are using smartphones—mobile phones that combine online access to information with PDA functionality. In fact, a recent report noted that physicians who use smartphones increased by 64% over the past year. Smartphone users are constantly on the lookout for new applications that can make their lives easier and more enjoyable. Physicians are also finding that they are a way that can help their practices and patients. This article highlighted some of the hottest apps for physicians.
Twelve California hospitals received the latest fines for putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" of harm or death, including three that failed to remove sponges or towels from surgical patients, one where a psych tech repeatedly slapped an unconscious patient in the face in the belief he was "faking it," and another where staff failed to properly use restraints, resulting in a patient's critical fall. Poor training of medication use resulted in a heparin overdose that caused a brain hemorrhage in a patient at a sixth facility while at a seventh hospital, managers failed to properly staff the intensive care unit, and a patient whose condition was quickly deteriorating was not adequately treated. Some of the hospitals have been fined three times, and some for repeating similar violations.
As the campaign to inoculate America against the H1N1 virus started to ramp up, so did the controversy. Reports of hospitals and health systems mandating all employees receive H1N1 vaccines brought cries of civil rights infringements. With the H1N1 virus spreading across the country, the uproar left many nursing leaders scratching their heads. Considering the safety of our patients, why wouldn't nurses just get the shot? This article answers that question.
Social networking is changing the way hospitals and health systems communicate with patients, potential customers, and the healthcare system at large. In this column by senior marketing editor Gienna Shaw, she provides examples of how health leaders are using new media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. She also gives some examples as how not to use these Web sites, such as organizations going overboard with fun, but meaningless posts and others that don’t offer enough personality.
Social networking is changing the way hospitals and health systems communicate with patients, potential customers, and the healthcare system at large. In this column by senior marketing editor Gienna Shaw, she provides examples of how health leaders are using new media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. She also gives some examples as how not to use these Web sites, such as organizations going overboard with fun, but meaningless posts and others that don’t offer enough personality.
As the campaign to inoculate America against the H1N1 virus started to ramp up, so did the controversy. Reports of hospitals and health systems mandating all employees receive H1N1 vaccines brought cries of civil rights infringements. With the H1N1 virus spreading across the country, the uproar left many nursing leaders scratching their heads. Considering the safety of our patients, why wouldn't nurses just get the shot? This article answers that question.
