July 2021 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
ON THE COVER
Leapfrog's 'F' and Straight-'A' Hospitals
The Leapfrog Group released its spring 2021 Hospital Safety Grades April 29, assigning "A" through "F" letter grades to more than 2,700 general acute-care hospitals in the U.S. for patient safety performance.
How UnitedHealth plans to make Optum a $100B business
UnitedHealth Group bought its first medical practice 15 years ago and now aims to make providing healthcare its next $100 billion business, according to Insider.
The 17 health systems to which Walmart sends employees for care in 2021
Through its Centers of Excellence program, Walmart partners with health systems that have demonstrated appropriate, high-quality care and outcomes for defined episodes of care.
18 highest-paid CEOs in healthcare
The CEOs of Centene, HCA Healthcare and AbbVie are among the highest-paid chief executives of the largest U.S. companies, according to Equilar.
Bonuses no longer cut it: How to recruit, retain nurses
As the nation grapples with a nurse shortage heightened by the pandemic, healthcare organizations are struggling to recruit and retain nurses.
Tennessee to revise certificate-of-need law, increasing fees for hospitals, exempting others
Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill last week that makes several changes to the state's certificate-of-need requirements, exempting more healthcare providers from needing to apply for a certificate but raising fees for providers.
Kansas hospital to close all inpatient beds, ER
Community HealthCare System will close the emergency room and all inpatient beds at its hospital facility in St. Marys, Kan.
Who health systems are adding to the C-suite
Health systems are focused on having the right people with the right skills to tackle evolving issues in healthcare. This means the C-suite and leadership roles are changing.
10 most, least racially inclusive hospitals: Lown Institute
A new ranking from the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan healthcare think tank, examines racial inclusivity of more than 3,200 U.S. hospitals to assess which are best at serving the people of color in their communities.
147,000+ individuals' health info stolen during Scripps ransomware attack
San Diego-based Scripps Health is notifying more than 147,000 individuals that their protected health information was exposed during a malware attack on its information systems last month, according to a June 1 KNSD report.
How top EHR vendors ranked in hospital beds gained, lost in 2020
While 2020 was not Epic's largest year for EHR market share growth, the Verona, Wis.-based EHR vendor gained more hospital contracts and beds than its competitors for the year, according to a recent KLAS Research report.
Minnesota nurse reinstated after being fired for wearing hospital-issued scrubs instead of own
Minneapolis-based Allina Health must reinstate former nurse Cliff Willmeng, RN, but doesn't have to issue back pay, an arbitrator determined April 21.
Why are physicians leaving this North Carolina hospital? City seeks attorney general probe
Brevard, N.C., leaders are urging the state's attorney general to investigate why a flood of physicians have left rural Transylvania Regional Hospital, according to WLOS.
Delvecchio Finley
Delvecchio Finley grew up in public housing in Atlanta's Southside and saw healthcare as a pathway to help others and promote health equity. Now, Mr. Finley is returning to Georgia as the CEO of Macon, Ga.-based Atrium Health Navicent to use his position to improve health access for his local community.
Kavitha Bhatia, MD
Kavitha Bhatia, MD, is the first chief medical officer of strategy for Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, a role she was appointed to in 2019.
Meredith Foxx, MSN
When Meredith Foxx, MSN, started her nursing career 22 years ago, she never expected to be leading nearly 30,000 nursing caregivers at one of the nation's top health systems — Cleveland Clinic.
Rick Evans
The chief experience officer, or CXO, role in healthcare is still relatively new on the scene.
Paul Castillo
Paul Castillo has been Michigan Medicine's CFO since 2011. He recently reflected on the pandemic and his priorities for the health system's future.
Vedner Guerrier
During his 20-year journey at Memorial Healthcare System, Vedner Guerrier has risen to become CEO of Memorial Hospital Miramar (Fla.).
CFO / FINANCE
How UnitedHealth plans to make Optum a $100B business
UnitedHealth Group bought its first medical practice 15 years ago and now aims to make providing healthcare its next $100 billion business, according to Insider.
CHS has sued 19,000 patients for unpaid bills amid the pandemic
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems has filed at least 19,000 lawsuits against patients to collect unpaid bills since March 2020, CNN reported May 17.
Jefferson Health drops policy linking physician bonuses, patient fundraising referrals
Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health has dropped a policy that linked some physician bonuses to patient referrals to its fundraising office, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
CommonSpirit posts $1.7B net income in Q3
After posting a $1.4 billion net loss in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, CommonSpirit, a 140-hospital system based in Chicago, saw improved finances in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021, according to financial documents released May 14.
CommonSpirit's plan to sell 14 hospitals to Essentia abandoned
Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health and Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health have abandoned a deal that would have added 14 hospitals and three clinics to Essentia Health's network.
CEO/STRATEGY
Union takes aim at HCA exec compensation in ad campaign
Service Employees International Union, which represents more than 1 million healthcare workers, is taking aim at Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare for what it calls runaway executive competition in an advertising blitz.
Buffett on failed Haven venture: The 'tapeworm won'
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told shareholders his company's failed healthcare venture with JPMorgan Chase and Amazon could not overcome the high cost of care in the U.S., according to Yahoo Finance.
CEOs die earlier because of stress, study finds
Stress induced from working long hours and making high-stakes decisions translates to a shorter life and faster aging for CEOs, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
How do hospitals handle dishonest patient reviews? Execs from Cleveland Clinic, UCHealth & more discuss
When Americans need to find care, the first place they usually go is Google. With hospitals' ratings and reviews often affecting healthcare consumers' decision about where to seek care, what options are available when a patient writes a misleading or dishonest review?
Amazon Care has its first enterprise client
Amazon Care, the e-commerce giant's new healthcare venture, has signed its first enterprise client, Insider reported May 5.
WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
Dr. Vineet Arora: U of Chicago's newly appointed dean of medical education plans to fight hard for health equity
Vineet Arora, MD, is the University of Chicago's next dean of medical education, a role that will become effective July 1. Her predecessor, Halina Brukner, MD, is retiring.
Meet new HHS Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm: 4 things to know
The Senate has confirmed Andrea Palm as the next deputy secretary of HHS. She will be the No. 2 official at a $1 trillion-plus agency with about 80,000 employees.
More women assuming chief marketing officer role, but racial, ethnic diversity is slipping
Despite more women becoming chief marketing officers in 2020, the profession saw a drop in overall racial and ethnic diversity, according to a recent report from executive search firm Spencer Stuart.
Male physicians see 30% larger paychecks than their female colleagues
Male physicians continue to earn more money than female physicians in 2021 — 27 percent more in primary care and 33 percent more in specialty care, to be precise.
'Get the waste out of the system': AdventHealth's Kimberly Bell on the future of heart care
Cardiology needs to be "more in the business of prevention than treatment," says Kimberly Bell, MSN, vice president of operations for specialty practices at Orlando, Fla.-based AdventHealth. She recently joined the Becker's Healthcare cardiology podcast to discuss how she believes heart care will evolve.
INNOVATION
Google, HCA partner for health algorithms: 7 things to know
HCA Healthcare inked a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud focused on building a health data analytics platform to support the Nashville, Tenn.-based system's clinical and operational workflows, the organizations announced May 26.
Cleveland Clinic names new head of innovation arm: 5 things to know
D. Geoffrey Vince, Ph.D., was tapped to lead Cleveland Clinic Innovations as executive director, a newly created role, the health system said May 26.
Mayo, Kaiser strike joint investment in virtual hospital-at-home model: 6 details
Two of the nation's biggest healthcare providers are betting on the future of healthcare delivered from outside the four walls of the hospital.
U of Texas: Blockchain tech could increase homeless population's access to healthcare
University of Texas Dell Medical School researchers are building new blockchain technology to devise a better way for people experiencing homelessness to have their identity verified and shared by healthcare providers, according to a May 10 Austin American-Statesman report.
Colorado physician creates, starts selling wearable COVID-19 vaccine card
Tashof Bernton, MD, an internal and occupational medicine physician in Colorado, created a blue silicone bracelet called the ImmunaBand, which has a metal tag with a QR code on it. Scanning the QR code and then entering a PIN number will open to show someone's vaccination status, according to NBC affiliate KXAN in a May 12 article.
CIO/HEALTH IT
Walmart to bring telehealth nationwide with acquisition of MeMD: 8 details
Walmart Health has entered an agreement to acquire on-demand, multispecialty telehealth provider MeMD, the retailer said May 6.
Telehealth company fires CEO accused of harassing teen in TikTok video
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based telehealth company VisuWell has terminated its CEO Sam Johnson after he was seen on a TikTok video appearing to harass a boy who wore a dress to his prom April 24, NBC News reports.
Mayo Clinic names new chief technology officer from Northwell
Vish Anantraman has been chosen as chief technology officer of Mayo Clinic, the Rochester, Minn.-based health system said.
147,000+ individuals' health info stolen during Scripps ransomware attack
San Diego-based Scripps Health is notifying more than 147,000 individuals that their protected health information was exposed during a malware attack on its information systems last month, according to a June 1 KNSD report.
Atlantic General Hospital CIO saves drowning toddler after bridge car crash
The CIO of a Maryland hospital helped save a 2-year-old from drowning after the child was thrown from a vehicle into the Assawoman Bay near Ocean City, according to a May 12 Daily American report.
CMO/CARE DELIVERY
PAs seek new title: 'Physician associate'
The American Academy of Physician Assistants is adopting "physician associate" as the official title for the PA profession.
Physician assistant title change opposed by American Osteopathic Association
A recent push to change physician assistants' professional title could cause confusion about medical roles and undermine the importance of a physician-led care team model, thereby threatening patient safety, the American Osteopathic Association said May 28.
Minnesota nurse reinstated after being fired for wearing hospital-issued scrubs instead of own
Minneapolis-based Allina Health must reinstate former nurse Cliff Willmeng, RN, but doesn't have to issue back pay, an arbitrator determined April 21.
Where are the 27 Leapfrog straight-'A' hospitals?
The Leapfrog Group released its spring 2021 Hospital Safety Grades April 29, assigning "A" through "F" letter grades to more than 2,700 general acute-care hospitals in the U.S. for patient safety performance.
Stanford Health Care overhauls surveys
Stanford Health Care is giving its patient surveys a makeover, with revised questions and digital options for completion so patients can share feedback immediately.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
From public housing to C-suite: Atrium Health Navicent's CEO on how leaders' roles don't stop at hospital doors
Delvecchio Finley grew up in public housing in Atlanta's Southside and saw healthcare as a pathway to help others and promote health equity. Now, Mr. Finley is returning to Georgia as the CEO of Macon, Ga.-based Atrium Health Navicent to use his position to improve health access for his local community.
Leadership through a physician's lens with Prime Healthcare CMO of strategy, Dr. Kavitha Bhatia
Kavitha Bhatia, MD, is the first chief medical officer of strategy for Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare, a role she was appointed to in 2019.
When leading a team of 30,000, self-care is essential: 5 Qs with Cleveland Clinic's CNO
When Meredith Foxx, MSN, started her nursing career 22 years ago, she never expected to be leading nearly 30,000 nursing caregivers at one of the nation's top health systems — Cleveland Clinic.
NewYork-Presbyterian CXO Rick Evans: As healthcare evolves, so does the role of experience leaders
The chief experience officer, or CXO, role in healthcare is still relatively new on the scene.
Michigan Medicine CFO Paul Castillo sees light at the end of the tunnel
Paul Castillo has been Michigan Medicine's CFO since 2011. He recently reflected on the pandemic and his priorities for the health system's future.