Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Chris Serb.
The advent of pay-for-performance contracts and insurance policies that force consumers to make more of their health care choices are dramatically changing how hospitals get reimbursed for their services by both private and government payers. Here are 10 strategies to help you confront this new payment era right now.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
With the annual inflation rate in their pharmacies at or near double-digits, hospital leaders are demanding better data, questioning why drug formularies are often ignored and urging pharmacists to take the initiative in identifying ways to save on costs.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Surging prices for supplies are intensifying the pressure on hospitals already reeling from skyrocketing liability, staffing and technology costs. The prices for certain supplies far outstrip general inflation and, executives say, could undermine the financial viability of some service lines. That's forcing some hospitals to rethink their purchasing strategies.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Created five years ago out of the Balanced Budget Act, Medicare+Choice was thought to be the next generation of Medicare, giving benefits to seniors and saving the government money. But enrollment has dropped and health plans, complaining of low reimbursement rates, have fled. What went wrong? Can it be fixed?
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Along with tight reimbursement and confounding regulations, any list of big headaches for health care leaders includes information technology. We've been promised so much from IT for so long, and have been disappointed so many times, who can blame us for being skeptical, if not downright cynical? When is the last time an investment in information technology actually improved your bottom line? But we know we can't dismiss IT altogether. At the end of the rainbow there really is efficiency, security and better care for patients. So how close are we? In this issue, H&HN takes a hard look at technology--what it can do for us today and tomorrow. We look at return on investment, examining whether hospitals are measuring what they get back against what they put in; a budding effort to bring a common platform to health care IT; handheld computers; electronic medical records; and computerized physician order entry. The technology is out there, but it's fair to ask: is it really clicking yet?
This installment of our quarterly series on clinical management issues focuses on trends in oncology services. Even with the threat of overbuilding in certain markets, proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements and competition from niche facilities, hospitals are placing renewed emphasis--and spending--on cancer.
Johnson & Johnson leads the way as major organizations pump money and expertise into trying to alleviate a nurse shortage that experts say may never completely go away. One strategy: enhance the image of the field so it becomes a profession of choice among men and young people, including those from ethnic minorities.
As we observe the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that changed our nation, health care providers prepare to deal with potential disasters that in better times were merely the realm of science fiction. In communities across the country, readiness is the new goal, bioterrorism the new threat.