Quality and Safety
With healthcare undergoing intense market transformations in payment models, revenue sources and the demands of healthcare innovation, leaders in the field need to focus on actively managing the move to value-based payments and accelerate their planning for these transitions.
A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) showed that half of all the billings paid by Medicare in 2010 to community mental health centers for the partial hospitalization program were questionable.
With an increasing demand for home care services, home care businesses have been springing up in communities across the country. And with the rapid expansion of these largely unregulated businesses questions about the industry's hiring practices have begun to surface.
Johnson City, TN-based Mountain States Health Alliance (MSHA) has been named the recipient of the NQF's 2012 National Quality Healthcare Award. MSHA is the nineteenth organization to receive the honor.
Proponents of lean management argue that whether or not healthcare providers realize it yet, there is a major demand within their organizations for the model because, they will tell you, lean improves patient safety and reimbursement rates, and creates new standards around transparency. But getting healthcare organizations on the lean bandwagon takes leadership.
This week, a Kaiser Health News analysis of Medicare data showed that 2,211 hospitals will face penalties in October for having too many patients readmitted for care within 30 days of discharge. Hospitals in several states react to this impending financial challenge.
Healthcare organizations are being more proactive in the prevention of burnout among their staff. After all, it's within a provider's best interest to keep expenses down around the well-being of their employees. "If employees leave a company, there's a cost to advertise and recruit. Providers lose out every single day there's an empty position," explained Tricia Pattee, product director with HEALTHeCAREERS, an online resource for both recruitment and job searches within the healthcare industry.
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.
North Shore-LIJ Health System in metropolitan New York expects to save $8 million by sharpening its focus on labor. Jim Bosco, vice president of corporate human resources at the health system, recently discussed the benefits of its new workforce management technology with Healthcare Finance News Editor Rene Letourneau.