Strategic Planning

America's physicians are a frustrated lot -- fed up with long hours, increased regulations, and changes in reimbursement practices. As a result the healthcare industry is scrambling just to keep up when it comes to physician hiring.

Healthcare prices in October 2013 rose 0.9 percent above October 2012, the lowest reading in 50-plus years, according to a recent brief from the Altarum Institute.

If mHealth entrepreneurs and investors want to take the burgeoning industry to the next level, they're going to have to change their focus, said experts kicking off the 2013 mHealth Summit.

Northern Michigan's Munson Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are venturing into the developing world of new payment models by launching a value-based hospital reimbursement agreement.

LifePoint Hospitals, headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., acquires the struggling Bell Hospital and forms a joint venture with Portage Health.

In theory, if an investment has high societal value, there should be a way to reward the investor and still leave society better off. Investments that improve health tend to produce significant potential cost offsets.

As healthcare executives look to the year ahead, one key to their growth strategies is pursuing merger and acquisition opportunities.

To be successful, a hospital must acquire physician practices able to work in a world that is essentially foreign to what they are used to. The 'new normal' is based on value, outcomes and patient satisfaction.

Strategy is the name of the game if you're a hospital CEO. For many, that includes a presence on social media. But is that a strategy every CEO should use?

The lure of rewards points is strong, as credit card companies will tell you. Use your credit card and points build up to be redeemed for gift cards, reductions on gasoline, even cash. One New Jersey hospital is using a rewards points program in the hopes of more effectively managing chronic disease patients.