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L F Harrington

Publications and source records attributed to L F Harrington.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Objective risk adjustment improves calculated ROI for capital projects.

Most healthcare organizations can ill afford to assume risk for which they are inadequately compensated. When capital projects are being considered, factoring risk with an adjustment to the projected cost of capital can increase the calculated return on investment and improve the net present value of anticipated cash flow. This adjustment factor, however, should reflect the capital structure of the organization, historical average returns, and variance in the context of the market, the specific industry, and similar projects being considered.

Capital Financing↗

Using microcomputers to improve capital decision making.

Health care organizations have traditionally selected capital projects based on subjective measures such as medical staff priority, accreditation criteria, and regulations. In some cases, basic qualitative measures, such as payback period or profitability indices, have been used. The expected reduction in available capital that will result from changes in Medicare reimbursement and from managed care, as well as increased competition, will require health care decision makers to adopt more sophisticated methods of capital project evaluation in the future if they expect their organizations to remain viable. This article demonstrates, through the use of microcomputers and commonly used spreadsheet software, that the capital selection decision process can be improved and the optimal combination of projects, from a financial perspective, selected.

Capital Expenditures↗

Leukotriene formation by mouse connective tissue mast cells.

Stimulation of peritoneal cells from BALB/c, CBA/J or WBB6F1(-)+/+ mice with IgE/antigen caused the release of mast cell granules and leukotriene C4. No leukotriene formation was observed with peritoneal cells from mast cell-deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv mice. Mast cells (greater than 98% purity), separated on metrizamide gradients, did not synthesize detectable amounts of leukotriene C4 when challenged immediately after purification. Co-culture of the mast cells with 3T3 fibroblasts restored the capability of the mast cells to produce leukotrienes. Addition of IL-3 during culture enhanced the synthesis of this eicosanoid. The 5-lipoxygenase inhibitor A-63162 blocked the leukotriene formation. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of 5-lipoxygenase in connective tissue mast cells. These experiments demonstrate that mouse peritoneal (connective tissue) mast cells can produce significant amounts of leukotrienes.

Acetamides↗