Stephanie Bouchard

Just over a decade ago, members of Arkansas Children's Hospital's management decided to go to Disney World. It wasn't a fun-and-games trip, although fun was had. They went to learn about developing a culture that would support everyone working at the hospital and everyone using hospital services. Arkansas Children's was ahead of a trend recently taking hold in the healthcare industry: valuing customer service.

On the U.S. Department of Treasury's Go Direct campaign website is a countdown clock. It isn't counting down to the end of the Mayan calendar. And although some older adults may view the clock as ticking down to the end of the world as they know it, the Treasury Department and leaders of the long-term care industry say the deadline it's counting down to will begin a new era of increased efficiency and cost savings.

Fifteen years after the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) directed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement intermediate sanctions for noncompliant home health agencies (HHAs), the federal agency has finally complied.

An analysis of hospices active in Medicare between 1999 and 2009 published in the June issue of Health Affairs is an attempt to shed some light on the degree of the changes transforming the industry and to point the industry in the direction it should be focusing on.

The home care industry has enormous potential for business people. One segment of the business world has already figured this out: franchise business owners

The obesity epidemic in the U.S. will eventually bankrupt the nation if left unchecked, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which held a webcast June 5 to outline its recommendations for curbing the crisis.

If you were to measure the influence any group has in politics by how much money is contributed to campaigns, the healthcare sector would deservedly be labeled influential. But lobbying insiders say it's not just the money that gives the healthcare industry authority - it's the effectiveness of the advocates the industry employs - and that effectiveness - maybe to the surprise of some - is dependent as much on trustworthiness as on anything.

Home health agencies inappropriately paid $5 million for home health claims in 2010, found the Office of Inspector General in an examination of home health agencies' billing practices.

As congressional lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday that would avoid a government shut down before the presidential election, the Congressional Budget Office released an analysis estimating the cost of alternative policies to modify the physician payment rate set by the sustainable growth rate.

Grand Junction, Colo., gets a lot of credit and attention as being home to pioneers in providing high-quality, low-cost healthcare. Healthcare leaders in the city of more than 58,000 are once again demonstrating their initiative.