Strategic Planning

The third largest U.S. retail company is partnering with a well-known integrated delivery system to evolve the primary care walk-in clinic, in a confident bet on retail health.

Most hospitals already have in place plans to cope with disasters such as tornadoes and plane crashes, but the Ebola virus presents a different challenge. Because of the risk and expense involved, a hospital's CFO should be an integral part of Ebola planning and preparation efforts.

Bon Secours Health System wants to ensure discharged patients get the care and attention they need without being unnecessarily readmitted to the hospital. To that end, they're launching a new population health and care management program.

DaVita HealthCare Partners, a provider of kidney dialysis services, is making a move into primary care, and has announced a joint venture with a hospital company in Colorado and Kansas. Some say the firm might be trying to create a model for Medicare to follow.

Care coordination networks are a mainstay of the Affordable Care Act's cost reduction goals. Accountable care organizations are the most widely recognized of these networks, yet by no means is design of these business arrangements simple or straightforward.

In eastern Massachusetts, Steward Health Care is closing the 196-bed Quincy Medical Center, amid continuing financial losses, competition from rivals and a decentralization of traditional hospital care.

The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) is a national campaign to drive environmental health and sustainability across the healthcare industry. But the Initiative is not only focused on saving resources, but demonstrating how sustainability can positively impact hospital finances.

When Medicare started tracking patient satisfaction in late 2012, and shaving payments to hospitals that fell short, patient experience was put high on hospitals’ agendas. And, as patients’ out-of-pocket costs have risen, they have become savvier, more demanding consumers.

The Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine, opened a new chapter in its almost 100-year history last month, when it became part of MaineHealth, the state's largest health system. Revenue declines forced the hospital to seek a strategic partner, the organization's CFO acknowledged.

A number of hospitals are getting into the surgery center business as inpatient surgery cases continue to decline. For hospital CFOs contemplating a surgery center acquisition, there are a number of considerations to take into account.