June 2011 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review

13 Legal Issues for Hospitals & Health Systems

Here are 13 legal issues affecting hospitals and health systems in 2011. Click to continue »

Private Equity Funds Are Changing the Face of U.S. Hospitals

Private equity funds roared into many hospital executives' consciousness last year with two huge purchases of non-profit hospitals, and they are continuing to make their presence felt. Click to continue »

As Denials Rise, Hospitals Working Harder to Fend Off RACs

With Medicare recovery audit contractors racking up more claims denials, hospitals are forced to put more time and energy into improving their claims-processing track record. Click to continue »

13 Key Questions for Hospital-Physician Relationships — Assessing Legal Compliance

Hospitals pursuing financial relationships with physicians must be focused on legal compliance. The following 13 questions can be used as barometers to help assess legal compliance from a Stark Act, Anti-Kickback and Tax Exempt entity perspective. Click to continue »

Overcoming Healthcare’s Most Pressing Challenges: Q&A With Methodist Health System CEO Stephen Mansfield

Stephen Mansfield, PhD, FACHE, president and CEO of Methodist Health System in Dallas, discusses his outlook on healthcare for the next several years, including the need to improve access, the process of integrating independent physicians and the American expectations that are crippling hospitals. Click to continue »

Creating a Growth-Oriented Hospital: Q&A With Mark Newton, CEO of Chicago’s Swedish Covenant Hospital

Mark Newton has been CEO of Swedish Covenant Hospital for 11 years, during which he helped the independent hospital grow into the largest academic community hospital on Chicago's North Side. Click to continue »

The Challenge of Non-Profit Status in an Era of Accountable Care

Non-profit hospitals like my own now face a more skeptical regulatory environment, challenging whether we give back enough to our communities to justify our tax-free status. Click to continue »

Physician-Hospital Contracting: A Compliance Approach: 11 Key Concepts

The federal government has greatly increased its regulatory efforts related to investigating, prosecuting and combating healthcare fraud. Click to continue »

Male Physicians Still Out-Earn Female Physicians in Almost Every Specialty

In 1980, female physicians comprised 11.6 percent of the physician workforce; by 2009, they had grown to 29.6 percent of the total physician population. Click to continue »

Physician Group Type, Size Affect Level of On-Call Compensation

Providers receiving on-call compensation are more likely to be compensated daily or annually than in previous years, according to Medical Group Management Association's Medical Directorship and On-Call Compensation Study: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data. Click to continue »

Should Your Hospital Form an ACO? 5 Considerations

Many hospitals are now reconsidering their options to set up accountable care organizations. Click to continue »

Should Specialists Join ACOs?

As hospitals and large multi-specialty group practices gear up for accountable care organizations, procedure-oriented specialists are still trying to figure out their role in them. Click to continue »

Post-Acute Care Networks: The Key to Success in Accountable Care

Emerging accountable care organizations that are focusing extensively on primary care redesign may be overlooking a part of the care continuum that may yield the greatest benefit — post-acute care. Click to continue »

The Gentle Art of Listening

Listening is one of the most powerful communication skills around, but in this era of multi-tasking, many people forget how important it is. Click to continue »

Understanding Technology’s Role in Accountable Care Organizations

When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the proposed rule for accountable care organizations at the end of March, health information technology was recognized and emphasized as a central component. Click to continue »

Six Building Blocks of a Technology Framework for ACOs

Accountable care organizations continue to be a hot topic in healthcare, and with CMS' proposed rule released, many of the "why" and "what" questions regarding the model have largely been answered. Click to continue »

How to Gain Stakeholder Support for Transactions

Hospitals do not operate in a vacuum; they affect everyone in the community. Without the buy-in of employees, staff, community members and elected officials, an otherwise well-planned transaction may fail. Click to continue »

Overall Healthcare M&A Spending Up, Volume Down

A total of $54.4 billion was spent to finance mergers and acquisitions in the healthcare industry during the first quarter of 2011, up 65 percent from $32.9 billion in the first quarter of 2010, according to a new report by Irving Levin. Click to continue »

7 Traits of a Great Hospital CEO

CEOs play a large role in the success of a hospital. But as the healthcare system gets more complex, CEOs face increasing demands on their time and responsibilities. Click to continue »

5 Problems That Hurt a Hospital-Physician ASC Joint Venture — and How to Avoid Them

Physicians and hospitals can both benefit significantly from a hospital-physician ASC joint venture: The hospital benefits from transferring its brand to the surgery center and building a strong relationship with community physicians, and the physicians benefit from greater leverage in payer contract negotiations, access to better supplier agreements and decreased competition. Click to continue »

5 Key Legal Issues Affecting Surgery Center Joint Ventures

Scott Becker, JD, CPA, partner with McGuire Woods LLP, discusses five issues that can affect the legality of hospital/physician ASC joint ventures. Click to continue »

10 Most Frequently Provided Ambulatory Surgery Center Services

Here are the 10 most frequently provided ambulatory surgery center services in 2009, along with their percent of total volume, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) March 2011 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy. Click to continue »

Hospital & Health System Executive Moves

Healthcare and Wendover, Ky.-based Frontier Nursing Service entered into a letter of intent for ARH to acquire Mary Breckinridge Hospital in Hyden, Ky., and all related healthcare services. Click to continue »

Hospital & Health System Executives Moves

Akron (Ohio) General Health System named Benito “Ben” Alvarez, MD, senior vice president of medical affairs and CMO of Akron General Medical Center. Click to continue »