National Hospital Survey Shares Insight into CMS’s Price Transparency Requirement
Hospitals expressed uncertainty about the usefulness of information supplied in response to CMS’s IPPS transparency requirements, but also recognize that the rule amplifies healthcare industry efforts to provide meaningful price estimates for healthcare services.
Aligning Executive Compensation to Strategic Priorities
As hospital boards and executives embark on transformational strategies like clinical integration and population health management, finance leaders are key in helping to set performance targets that are appropriate relative to industry-wide statistics as well as past performance.
Healthcare Predictions Focus on Innovative Corporate Structures and Alternative Financing
An alternative corporate structure called a “benefit corporation” is at the center of one of 10 predictions issued by BDO. Two others one related to telemedicine and the other related to sources of alternative capital pertain to hospital finance.
An ‘Outside View’ Helps Achieve Return on Analytics
An “outside view” can counter biases and organizational pressures that can skew internal decision-making processes. It also provides a framework for target setting that helps define realistic expected returns.
No-Divert Policy, Strategic Growth Help Erlanger Increase Revenue by $300 Million
A strategic plan that focused on growth and expanding specialty services helped Erlanger Health System improve its balance sheet while maintaining high-quality performance. A pay-for-performance program also increased nurse productivity.
Annual Hospital Costs for Opioid Overdose Patients Approaches $2 Billion
The average cost for an overdose patient who was treated and released totaled $504, but the average cost rose to $11,731 for those that were treated and admitted to a hospital.
Evaluating Cost-of-Care Progress
Although more time and evidence are needed to prove the efficacy of population-based VBP models, there are other models that may be more appropriate for different populations.
The Hospital’s New Agenda: Pharmacy Cost Savings
Pharmacists who have defined roles focused on effective and efficient use of medications in hospitals are the best-equipped leaders to control rising and unsustainable drug costs. For example, one health system realized a $6 million cost savings through a combination of surveillance technology and empowered, motivated pharmacy leaders.
When Indirect EHR Communication Drives Up Medical Costs
Indirect communication among primary care team members using EHRs is associated with increased hospital visits and higher medical costs for their patients with diabetes, according to one study. Researchers found that medical costs rose by $223 per patient with diabetes in a six-month period for every increase in one percentage point in indirect communication.
Community Paramedicine Saves Organization $6M in 1 Year
By training paramedics to treat patients at home under a physician’s supervision, Commonwealth Care Alliance is reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations.