News Article Archive

Hospitals engineer new efficiency models to meet reform challenges
 Health care executives across the country have been delivering a similar and sobering message to staff ever since the Affordable Care Act passed. Hospitals and health systems will face declining revenues as the federal government and private payers reduce reimbursement for all services to levels that roughly equate to those now paid by Medicare and Medicaid.

Post-discharge clinics try to cut hospital readmissions by helping patients
 For patients, the transition from hospital to home is a critical time. Discharged with follow-up instructions and often a fistful of medications, many need medical guidance. But too often a smooth handoff to a primary-care physician doesn't happen, and small recovery glitches become larger ones.

The Cornerstones of Successful Medical Group Acquisitions
 The current wave of hospitals acquiring medical groups reminds many in health care of a similar trend in the 1990s. But unlike the acquisitions of the 1990s, this recent round of acquisitions is driven primarily by health care reform initiatives and the economic pressures facing private practices.

ECRI Unveils Top 10 Health Technology Hazards
 ECRI's annual report ranks hazards by the harmful impact they could have on patients, how often the hazards occur, how widespread the hazards appear to be, and whether or not the hazards are considered "high-profile" problems that have been covered in the news media, or that providers are pressured to correct.

Test for hospital budgets: Are the patients pleased?
 Winning praise from patients has become a pressing - and often elusive - obsession for hospitals nationwide. In the coming months, Medicare will start taking patient satisfaction into account when reimbursing hospitals.

Visits to Emergency Departments Rose by 13 million in One Year - the Largest Increase Ever
 Visits to emergency departments climbed nearly 10 percent in one year to a new high of more than 136 million visits in 2009, according to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just as emergency physicians are releasing new studies showing an association between medical liability concerns and rising hospital admissions from the emergency department.