David Johnson: Efforts to revitalize healthcare on Chicago’s South Side underscore a critical national challenge
The United States continues to struggle with daunting inner-city health and healthcare problems borne out of innate social inequities. Effective solutions are few and far between. One initiative on Chicago’s South Side, launched just before the COVID-19 pandemic, encapsulates the potential and perils of system restructuring. In that distant January of 2020, four Chicago safety-net…
Improving health outcomes while combating homelessness
Beth Sandor of Community Solutions discusses a pilot program in which health systems partnered with organizations in their communities fighting homelessness.
Theresa Mouton: CFOs need to be able to lead through chaos
As a 34-year healthcare finance veteran, Theresa Mouton, MBA, has seen her share of changes within the industry. Currently the Western Region CFO for Steward Health Care, Mouton oversees 17 hospitals across five states. In a career that has taken her from investor-owned health systems to not-for-profit hospitals and back again to the investor-owned side,…
Dennis Dahlen: Are states losing patience with the pace of healthcare value transformation?
The pace of state-based regulation and oversight of healthcare providers is accelerating — and it could be an indication that patience is growing thin with federal, payer and provider efforts to improve healthcare value. Across the nation, we’re seeing a growing number of states adopt healthcare affordability boards. It’s a trend that started to pick…
David Johnson: Right-sizing physician training? The case for surgical mechanics
American healthcare reputedly confronts a monumental physician shortage. A highly publicized 2021 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) forecasts that shortage to be as high as 180,000 physicians by 2034.a That’s out of a total population of roughly one million physicians. A breathless commentary on the AAMC report by the American Medical Association…
Using data analytics to address SDoH and contain costs
Finding a way to meaningfully address the adverse impacts of social determinants of health (SDoH) has long been a significant challenge for the nation’s hospitals and health systems. Now, leading healthcare organizations are finding new approaches to solving this problem through the innovative use of data and analytics, both internally and in collaboration with other…
The employer strikes back: The hollowing of the commercial health insurance market and its impact on payers and providers
Today, the commercial group health insurance market is hollowing out, primarily driven by affordability pressures that have been building for decades. Employers, unions, associations and other entities provided health insurance to nearly 180 million Americans in 2022, or 55% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, making commercial group health insurance a mainstay…
In response to a congressional RFI, provider advocates give input on ways to bolster rural healthcare
Hospital and physician groups were among the respondents to a request by a key congressional committee for information on improving rural healthcare. In an RFI issued in September, the House Ways and Means Committee sought policy solutions for augmenting access to — and the quality of — healthcare in relatively remote areas. “The committee will…
Amid positive signs financially, hospitals continue to grapple with high costs in labor and other areas
The latest financial metrics for the hospital sector reflect a period of increasing stability but also sustained challenges. August financial data from more than 1,300 hospitals, as reported by Syntellis Performance Solutions, showed improvements in key metrics. The month-over-month increase in median operating margin was 3.5 percentage points, helping the year-to-date margin rise to 1.4%…
The best care starts with the patient
Rami Karjian and Pippa Shulman from Medically Home discuss why higher payment and lower length of stay isn't always the best benchmark.