August 2017 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
100 Community Hospital CIOs to Know
Becker's Healthcare is proud to present its first edition of 100 Community Hospital CIOs to Know. Click here to continue.Click here to continue.
62 Critical Access Hospitals to Know
Becker's Healthcare is pleased to present the 2017 edition of the "62 critical access hospitals to know" list, highlighting 62 of the nation's certified critical access hospitals. Click here to continue.
62 Healthcare Leaders Under 40
Becker's Healthcare is pleased to honor 60 healthcare leaders under 40 years old as rising stars in the industry. Click here to continue.
Executive Briefings in this Issue
CFOs: The New 'Executive Champions' of Patient Satisfaction
Joint Ventures and Collaborations Across Healthcare Services
Beyond the Walls of a Hospital — Formalizing a Post-Acute Care Strategy for Cross-Continuum Care
CFO/Finance
Dana-Farber Operating Income Plunges 66% on Unplanned Costs of CMS Review
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute saw revenue increase year over year in the first two quarters of fiscal year 2017, but the Boston-based cancer hospital ended the period with significantly lower operating income. Click here to continue.
CHS Divests 9 Hospitals
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has completed its sale of nine hospitals. Click here to continue.
West Virginia Hospital to Charge Upfront Co-Pays for Non-Emergency ER Visits
Thomas Memorial Hospital in Charleston, W.Va, in about a month, will begin charging upfront co-pays to patients who visit the hospital's emergency room for non-emergency care, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Click here to continue.
UHS Hospital in Oklahoma Faces Medicare Termination on Heels of Buzzfeed News Investigation
Tulsa, Okla.-based Shadow Mountain Behavioral Health System, which is owned by King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services, is at risk of losing its Medicare contract Aug. 24, according to Tulsa World. Click here to continue.
300+ Hospital Executives Tell Their No. 1 Financial Strategy
Hospitals cited "reviewing and optimizing current operational and clinical processes" as their top strategy for containing costs in the next three years, according to a survey of U.S. hospital executives. Click here to continue.
9 Hospital Bankruptcies in the First Half of 2017
From reimbursement landscape challenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals and other healthcare organizations to file for bankruptcy. Click here to continue.
Analysts: For-Profit Payers to Grow Medicare, Medicaid Businesses Regardless of Health Law
Large for-profit health insurers can still run profitable Medicare and Medicaid businesses depsite whether senators pass the Republican healthcare bill this summer, analysts told CNBC. Click here to continue.
Georgia Hospital Lands Last-Minute Buyer, Avoids Closure
Optim Medical Center-Jenkins in Millen, Ga., will no longer close after scoring a buyer less than two weeks before it was slated to shut down, according to Georgia Health News. Click here to continue.
4 Questions With Baylor Scott & White VP of Revenue Cycle Sarah Knodel
Sarah Knodel, system vice president of revenue cycle for Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health, is responsible for the strategic management and direction of the revenue cycle department for the nearly 50-hospital system, which includes responsibility for more than 1,700 employees spanning across access services, revenue integrity, utilization review, denial resource center and the central business office. Click here to continue.
Change of Plan: Adventist to Close Washington Hospital, Medical Group
Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health called off plans to transfer ownership of its 72-bed Walla Walla (Wash.) Click here to continue.
University of Iowa Health Care to Stop Accepting Checks, Cash July 1
Effective July 1, Iowa City-based University of Iowa Health Care will no longer accept cash or checks for co-payments or other medical expenses, according to The Des Moines Register. Click here to continue.
Louisiana Hospital Overstated Expected Collections by $8.9M, Audit Finds
Marrero, La.-based West Jefferson Medical Center overestimated anticipated hospital collections by $8.9 million in 2014 prior to leasing the hospital to a private operator, according to the New Orleans Advocate, which cited a recent audit by Ernst and Young. Click here to continue.
CEO/Strategy
Colorado Healthcare Commission Calls for ‘Extraordinary Public Leadership’
The Colorado Commission on Affordable Health Care released a report Friday calling for "extraordinary public leadership" from state officials if they hope to keep healthcare costs down for state residents, according to the Denver Post. Click here to continue.
After CEOs Visit White House, Companies See Boost in Stock Returns
A new study that utilized the open White House visitor logs of the Obama administration found that companies whose CEOs visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue often see a boost in stock returns, according to Harvard Business Review. Click here to continue.
MD Anderson Eliminates EVP Roles
Houston-based MD Anderson Cancer Center will institute a new organizational structure that eliminates executive vice president roles and gives senior vice presidents more focused areas of responsibility. The change is effective immediately. Click here to continue.
Memorial Hermann to Cut Additional 350 Jobs
Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System will lay off an additional 350 employees, or less than 2 percent of its total workforce of more than 25,000. Click here to continue.
CHS Fires Lutheran Health Network CEO and CMO
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, the parent company of Fort Wayne, Ind.-based Lutheran Health Network, fired LHN CMO Geoff Randolph, MD, Monday, according to wane.com. Click here to continue.
Board Leaders Speak Out on Abrupt Firing of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital CEO: 8 Things to Know
Oak Bluffs, Mass.-based Martha's Vineyard Hospital board members confirmed that President and CEO Joe Woodin was fired, according to the Vineyard Gazette. Click here to continue.
MedStar Hospital Lays Off 100 Employees in Attempt to Close Budget Shortfall
MedStar Washington Hospital Center — a nonprofit, 912-bed academic medical center in the District of Columbia — is laying off 100 employees as it seeks to close a budget gap, according to the Washington Business Journal. Click here to continue.
Mississippi Health System Cuts More Than 100 Jobs
Meridian, Miss-based Rush Health Systems is cutting 4 percent of its 2,800-person workforce, or about 112 jobs, according to WTOK. MedStar Hospital Lays Off 100 Employees in Attempt to Close Budget Shortfall
35 Ways to Positively Affect Healthcare
Difficult, ongoing political debates about healthcare can make people feel powerless to affect change. Fortunately, there are many things people can do to make a difference. Click here to continue.
20 Most Beautiful Hospitals in America, as Ranked by Soliant
Middletown, N.Y.-based Orange Regional Medical Center is the most beautiful hospital in the country, according to Soliant Health's 2017 list of the 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals in America. Click here to continue.
Summa Health System to Cut 300 Jobs Due to $60M Operating Loss
Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health System plans to cut 300 positions in the next month to help offset operating losses of more than $60 million this year, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Click here to continue.
3 Health System CEOs With Highest Employee Approval Ratings
Three health system CEOs received Glassdoor's annual Employees' Choice Awards, which honors the 100 highest employee-rated U.S. CEOs in 2017. Click here to continue.
Patient or Consumer? 9 Thoughts on Healthcare Semantics
What should healthcare call the people who receive medical services — patients or consumers? And does it really matter? Click here to continue.
8 Healthcare Organizations Named Among 50 Most Community-Minded Companies
Points of Light, the world's largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, has announced its 2017 Civic 50 Honorees, including eight healthcare organizations. Click here to continue.
CIO/Health IT
OIG: CMS Made $729.4M in Erroneous EHR Incentive Payments
Medicare made approximately $729.4 million in EHR incentive payments to hospitals, physicians and other health professionals who did not comply with federal requirements, according to a report by HHS' Office of Inspector General. Click here to continue
Lawsuit Claims Houston Methodist Secretly Taped Patient Calls
Eric Haufrect, MD, has filed a lawsuit against Houston Methodist Hospital, alleging the hospital secretly recorded telephone conversations for as long as eight years without the consent of patients, nurses or physicians, according to the Houston Business Journal. Click here to continue
West Virginia Hospital to Replace 1.2k Hard Drives After Ransomware Attack
Princeton (W.Va.) Community Hospital will replace nearly 1,200 hard drives after it fell victim to a ransomware attack Tuesday, MetroNews reports.Click here to continue
VA Secretary Announces Cerner as Next EHR: 6 Things to Know
The Department of Veterans Affairs will implement Cerner as its systemwide EHR, VA Secretary David J. Shulkin, MD, said at a June 5 news briefing at the Washington, D.C.-based VA headquarters.Click here to continue
KLAS: Do Epic, Cerner Customers Stay Loyal for Interactive Patient Systems?
Although many leading EMR vendors offer interactive patient systems, the plurality of healthcare providers prefer to work with separate vendors to engage patients, according to a KLAS Research report.Click here to continue
Penn State is Helping Sexual Assault Victims in Rural Areas — Here’s How
One-third of women and one-sixth of men in the U.S. experience at least one incident of sexual violence during their lifetime, according to an April 2017 report out of the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. These victims often need specialized medical attention, especially if they plan to move forward with a criminal investigation. Click here to continue
NATO researchers: Global cyberattack Petya likely caused by 'state actor'
The worldwide cyberattack attack "Petya" — which infected computer systems in more than 60 countries June 27 — is "most likely be attributed to a state actor," according to a team of researchers from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.Click here to continue
Boston Security Researcher Discovers ‘Vaccine’ for Petya Ransomware
Amit Serper, a security researcher at Boston-based Cybereason, discovered a fix to aid computers infected by Petya June 27. However, he emphasized the solution is only a "workaround," not a killswitch. Click here to continue
Global cyberattack 'Petya' may be worse than ransomware: 3 things to know
A worldwide cyberattack attack — reportedly spread by a ransomware variant called "Petya" — infected computer systems in more than 60 countries June 27. However, upon further inspection, security researchers have hypothesized Petya is not a ransomware — it's a 'wiper.' Click here to continue
Frost & Sullivan: 5 key players in healthcare blockchain market
Blockchain innovations will improve healthcare functions like data interoperability, claims submissions and drug supply chain by 2025, according to a Frost & Sullivan report. Click here to continue
Medtronic Faces Global Computer Outage: 5 Things to Know
Medtronic — a Dublin, Ireland-based medical technology company with operational headquarters in Minneapolis — is working to bring its IT systems back online after a global computer outage affecting multiple Medtronic systems took place earlier this week, the Star Tribune reports. Click here to continue
83% of Life Science Execs Expect to Adopt Blockchain Within 5 Years
Twenty-two percent of life science executives are experimenting with blockchain, although the number is expected to grow within five years, according to a The Pistoia Alliance survey. Click here to continue
66% of Physicians Say Health Tech Innovations Improve Quality of Life, Cybersecurity Remains a Concern: 5 Survey Insights
Most physicians agree healthcare technology innovations have improved their quality of life, but many also cite room for improvement in cybersecurity standards, a new survey found. Click here to continue
Viewpoint: In Cybersecurity, AI Has its Limits
Organizations are turning to machine learning solutions to help identify malware, Sven Krasser, PhD, chief scientist at CrowdStrike, wrote in an op-ed for CIO Dive. Click here to continue
5 Questions With Imprivata CTO David Ting on Healthcare’s Cybersecurity Problem
The Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force released its long-awaited improvement report June 5, detailing more than 100 recommendations and action items to enhance poor security practices in the industry. Click here to continue
CMO/Care Delivery
Study: Quality Improvement Initiatives Reduce Readmissions, But May Not Save Money
While quality improvement initiatives to reduce readmissions at various health systems have proved successful, these interventions may not always result in fiscal savings, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Click here to continue
CMS Won't Update Hospital Overall Star Ratings in July
CMS will not update its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings in July, despite previous announcements it would do so, AHA News reports. Click here to continue
To Up Patient Compliance With Hand Hygiene, Consider Ease of Use
Hand hygiene is an important aspect of infection prevention in any care setting, and patients are no exception. However, ease of use of and accessibility to some hand hygiene products may preclude patients from properly cleaning their hands. Click here to continue
OSHA investigates Minnesota hospital's ED in wake of patient sexual assault
The Minnesota Office of Safety and Health Administration has initiated a review of emergency department operations at the University of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview in Minneapolis where a mentally disabled adolescent girl was sexually assaulted, according to a report from KSTP. Click here to continue
The 19 double-5-star hospitals
CMS assigns hospitals two major star ratings: the HCAHPS summary star rating, based exclusively on patient survey scores; and the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, which incorporates outcomes measures as well as patient experience scores. Click here to continue
The cost/benefit of employed physicians for 18 specialties
Recruiting and paying a salary for a new physician in any specialty can be costly for hospitals, but physicians usually generate more revenue than they get in salary or income guarantees, according to the Merritt Hawkins "2016 Physician Inpatient/Outpatient Revenue Survey." Click here to continue
Hot or Cool: Water Temperature Does Not Impact Bacteria Removal During Hand Washing, Study Shows
Cool water is as effective as hot water for removing harmful bacteria, according to a study conducted by researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick (N.J.). Click here to continue
Thought Leadership
4 Questions With Henry Ford Health System CIO Mary Alice Annecharico
Mary Alice Annecharico, RN, CIO of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System, didn't envision her future in IT. Click here to continue.
5 Thoughts From Dr. Steve Allen, CEO of Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Steve Allen, MD, is CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Children's Hospital, the fourth largest pediatric hospital in the country. Click here to continue.
Building a 'Nimble' Multi-State Health System: 5 Questions With Ascension CEO Dr. Anthony Tersigni
With 2,500 sites of care — including 141 hospitals and 30 senior living facilities that sprawl across 23 states and Washington, D.C. — St. Louis-based Ascension may not seem well-suited to make sudden business changes. Click here to continue.
Michael Dowling: How to Gain Physician Trust? Get Back to the Basics
Preventing physician disengagement and burnout is an issue all health system leaders deal with. No one factor alone is responsible. Instead, it's a combination of internal and external factors that can diminish clinicians' wellbeing and ultimately interfere with the care they deliver. Click here to continue.
The Corner Office: Rush University Medical Center President Michael Dandorph on Empowering Others to Take Risks
A brush with death during his college years solidified Michael Dandorph's desire to build his career in healthcare. During the last 4 years, Chicago's Rush University Medical Center and the Rush system, of which Mr. Dandorph is president, has grown and improved across a variety of metrics. Click here to continue.