July 2017 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
100 Great Community Hospitals | 2017
Becker's Hospital Review is pleased to release the 2017 edition of its 100 Great Community Hospitals list. Click here to continue.
Executive Briefings in this Issue
How Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Fix Hospitalwide Throughput, Starting in the ED
Redefining the Hospital-Physician Relationship: How Integration is Evolving for Success Under Value-Based Reimbursement
CFO/Finance
BCBS of Georgia to Stop Covering ED Visits it Deems Unnecessary
Starting next month, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia will no longer cover emergency department services it determines are unnecessary for members with individual plans. Click here to continue.
USDA Withholds Funds From Rural Hospital Project, Cites Slow Financial Turnaround
Leadville, Colo.-based St. Vincent General Hospital is putting a major construction project on hold because the United States Agriculture Department decided to pause a loan for the project, due to "the hospital's slower than anticipated financial turnaround," according to an announcement from the hospital's board of directors. Click here to continue.
Dallas Hospital Unexpectedly Closes
Walnut Hill Medical Center, a for-profit 100-bed hospital in Dallas, closed Friday, according to The Dallas Morning News. Click here to continue.
NY Cancer Center Avoids Medicare Reimbursement Cut After $250k Typo
CMS has decided not to pull $250,000 in Medicare reimbursement from Hematology-Oncology Associates of CNY, a cancer treatment center with locations across New York in Auburn, Camillus, East Syracuse and Onondaga Hill, according to a press release from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Click here to continue.
Study: 41% of Healthcare Spending Attributed to 12% of Americans
U.S. adults with five or more chronic conditions spend 14 times more on health services on average than those with no chronic conditions, according to a new RAND Health report prepared for the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. Click here to continue.
'Save Copper Basin Medical Center!!': Rural Hospital Seeks to Raise $100k on GoFundMe
In the past 10 days, a rural critical access hospital in Copperhill, Tenn., has halted inpatient care, laid off at least 15 nurses and activated a GoFundMe page in hopes to raise $100,000. Click here to continue.
CEO/Strategy
Hospitals Face Unprecedented Turnover, Attrition Rates: 4 Survey Findings
Hospitals today are facing higher turnover and attrition rates than ever before, according to a survey report from Leaders for Today, a hospital management staffing firm. Click here to continue.
Baylor Scott and White Eliminates 100 Positions
Dallas-based Baylor Scott and White Health on Friday confirmed it cut 100 positions, or less than .5 percent of the system's total workforce, reports The Dallas Morning News. Click here to continue.
UW Medicine Hospital Cuts 60 Jobs Including COO, VPs
Renton, Wash.-based Valley Medical Center, a part of Seattle-based UW Medicine, reduced its workforce by 60 positions, or about 1 percent, to combat lower reimbursements, according to a Kent Reporter report. Click here to continue.
CHS to Divest 5 Hospitals to Reading Health System
West Reading, Pa.-based Reading Health System has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire five hospitals owned and operated by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. Click here to continue.
30 Most 'Likable' Healthcare CEOs
Timothy Ring, CEO of Murray Hill, N.J.-based Bard, topped Owler's 2017 "National CEO Likeability Study" of executives in the healthcare industry. Click here to continue.
Is Your Corporate Culture Holding You Back? Answer These 5 Questions
The difference between an efficacious workplace culture and a bland culture comes down to corporate leadership — specifically, corporate leaders who take the time to explicitly define and promote cultural values. Click here to continue.
CEO Turnover for Misbehavior Up 36% Worldwide
More CEOs are being ousted than ever before for ethical missteps at the world's 2,500 largest public companies, according to a study conducted by PwC's Strategy&. Click here to continue.
The 3 Most Effective Words in Healthcare Ads
Marketing plays an important role in influencing consumer healthcare decisions. Click here to continue.
CIO/Health IT
EHR Vendor, Executives to Pay $155M for Allegedly Misrepresenting Software's Capabilities
Westborough, Mass.-based eClinicalWorks, an EHR vendor, and some of its executives and employees have agreed to pay $155 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act, according to the Department of Justice. Click here to continue.
Molina Healthcare Fixes Hyperlink Flaw That Exposed ‘Countless’ Medical Claims Online
Long Beach, Calif.-based insurer Molina Healthcare remedied a website security flaw that exposed "countless patient medical claims to the entire Internet," according to Krebs On Security. Click here to continue.
Children's Mercy Physician Exposes 5.5k Patients’ PHI on Unauthorized Website
Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.) on May 19 notified 5,511 patients of an unauthorized disclosure of protected health information. Click here to continue.
Study: 82% of Electronic Patient Progress Notes Copied, Imported
Only 18 percent of electronic inpatient progress notes are original entries by clinicians, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. Click here to continue.
53% of Healthcare Orgs Don't Test Medical Device Security, Survey Finds
The majority of healthcare providers (56 percent) and medical device manufacturers (67 percent) believe an attack on one of their medical devices is likely within the next year, according to a Ponemon Institute survey. Click here to continue.
WannaCry Attack Infects Bayer Medical Devices in US Hospitals
Bayer on Wednesday confirmed the worldwide ransomware attack, WannaCry, infected several of its medical devices used in U.S. hospitals, reports Forbes. Click here to continue.
10 Hospitals With the Most Social Media Activity, as Ranked by Hyp3r
Hyp3r, a San Francisco-based social engagement platform, on May 22 launched its Geosocial Index. Click here to continue.
Startup Insider: 4 Questions With Kyruus CEO Dr. Graham Gardner
Kyruus, a Boston-based health IT startup, found inspiration from an unlikely source — the 2011 baseball drama Moneyball. 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. 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
Scripps CEO Chris Van Gorder: Leaders Can’t Write a Memo to Change Culture
When Chris Van Gorder joined San Diego-based Scripps Health as COO in 1999, the health system had 55 days cash on hand, and there was no trust between the administration and clinical staff. Click here to continue.
Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling: The Health System's Role Amid Rural and Community Hospitals' Financial Crisis
Hospitals of all sizes and in all regions must find ways to become more fiscally efficient as reimbursements from government and commercial payers continue to decline. Click here to continue.