June 2017 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
150 Hospital and Health System CFOs to Know 2017
Meet 150 leaders in hospital finance who are tackling one of the healthcare industry's most complex challenges: the costs of care. Click here to continue.
230 Hospital Benchmarks 2017
Find out how your hospital compares to regional and national competitors on quality, patient satisfaction, utilization, finance, IT and more. Click here to continue.
Executive Briefings in this Issue
Avoiding Friction in the Age of High-Deductible Health Plans: How Innovative Solutions Can Help Providers Succeed
The Real Reason Loyalty Lacks in Healthcare
Keys to Painless Conversions: Transition Services and Best Practices to Prevent Disruption and Return to Baseline
CFO/Finance
CHS Records $199M Net Loss, Says Divestiture Spree is Over
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems posted a net loss of $199 million in the first quarter after recording net income of $11 million in the same period of the year prior. Click here to continue.
LifePoint Eyes New Acquisitions as Profit Rises
Brentwood, Tenn.-based LifePoint Health is looking to acquire hospitals after a "natural pause" of more than year since buying a new facility, said LifePoint Chairman and CEO Bill Carpenter on a first quarter earnings call with investors April 28. Click here to continue.
Family Pays 35-Year-Old Hospital Bill by Selling Jewelry Collection
Children's Hospital of Orange (Calif.) County received reimbursement for a bill from nearly four decades ago after a family sold their jewelry collection to pay the $10,000 tab, The Orange County Register reports. Click here to continue.
DOJ Sues UnitedHealth Over $1B+ in Medicare Claims
The Justice Department sued Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group Tuesday, alleging the payer defrauded Medicare at least $1 billion in false claims. Click here to continue.
OIG Tags Arkansas Hospital for Incorrect Billing
The University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Medical Center in Little Rock failed to comply with Medicare billing requirements for 16 of 130 inpatient claims reviewed by HHS' Office of Inspector General for the audit period of Jan. 1, 2013, through Dec. 31, 2104, according to a recent OIG report. Click here to continue.
Georgia Hospital to Close After Years of Financial Troubles
Savannah, Ga.-based Optim Healthcare announced Tuesday that it will close Optim Medical Center-Jenkins in Millen, Ga., on June 24. Click here to continue.
Brigham and Women's Offers Voluntary Buyouts to 1,600 Workers
Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital said Thursday it is offering voluntary buyouts to 1,600 employees as a means to cut costs, The Boston Globe reported. Click here to continue.
The $12M Patient Who Drove Insurance Rates Higher in Iowa
Iowa's health insurance exchange faces a unique challenge — an individual who has $1 million per month in medical claims. Click here to continue.
US Drug Spending to Hit $610B by 2021
U.S. prescription drug spending could peak at $610 billion by 2021, according to a new report from QuintilesIMS Holding. Click here to continue.
9 Healthcare Bankruptcies So Far in 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.
Tenet Sees Net Loss Narrow to $53M, Inks Deal to Sell 3 Hospitals to HCA
Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare said Monday it ended the first quarter with a net loss. Click here to continue.
RAND Study: MACRA Could Cause $250B Drop in Hospital Medicare Revenue by 2030
Depending on the amount of risk physicians choose to take on under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, hospitals' Medicare revenue could drop by $250 billion by 2030 or it could increase by $32 billion, according to a study published in Health Affairs. Click here to continue.
Study: High Prices Not Necessarily Indicative of Better Quality for Outpatient Services
High prices for outpatient services at physician practices do not necessarily guarantee better care quality and efficiency, suggests a new study published in Health Affairs. Click here to continue.
CEO/Strategy
Truven Names 15 Top Health Systems for 2017
Truven Health Analytics, a healthcare data and analytics solutions provider, has released its ninth annual list of the nation's 15 top health systems. Click here to continue.
Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove Announces Plans to Step Down in 2017
Toby Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, revealed plans to transition out of his executive roles later this year. Click here to continue.
HCA to Change Its Name — Again
Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Holdings board of directors voted last week to rework the company's name, CEO Milton Johnson said on an earnings call Tuesday. Click here to continue.
Governor Orders New Hampshire Hospital CEO Bob MacLeod to Resign Over Staffing Deficiency
The governor has told Concord-based New Hampshire Hospital CEO Bob MacLeod to step down from his post, according to a Concord Mirror report. Click here to continue.
6 Tips for Working With Someone Who Isn’t a Team Player
Working with someone who isn't a team player is not only frustrating, it can impair the entire team's performance. Click here to continue.
Be ‘Professionally Blunt’ — 4 Tips for Developing a Great Leadership Team
The drafting and management of a successful leadership team is a soft science with no fixed blueprint. Click here to continue.
OSU Wexner CEO Resigns Over Faculty Concerns About Leadership
Columbus-based Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center CEO Sheldon Retchin, MD, has resigned, following complaints about his leadership from the faculty. Click here to continue.
University of Utah Health Care CEO Dr. Vivian Lee Steps Down Post-Cancer Center Conflict
Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, stepped down Friday from her roles as senior vice president for health sciences, medical school dean and CEO of University of Utah Health Care in Salt Lake City, after a high-profile controversy involving the director of the university's cancer center. Click here to continue.
Study: Executives Who Flatter CEOs Most Also Develop Greatest Resentment for Them
While CEOs may like to hear their top executives sing their praises, a recent study suggests they may want to be wary of managers who never voice dissenting opinions. Click here to continue.
CIO/Health IT
Epic, Cerner Hold 50% of Hospital EHR Market Share: 8 Things to Know
In 2016, Epic and Cerner led the EHR market space for acute care hospitals in the United States, with Meditech following close behind, according to the new KLAS US Hospital EMR Market Share 2017. Click here to continue.
Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush: Trump, High Deductibles Played Role in Disappointing Q1
Athenahealth shares dropped 17 percent on April 28 after the company posted its 2017 first quarter financial results, according to the Boston Business Journal. Click here to continue.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center Begins IT Overhaul, Epic Implementation
Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center has launched its 18-month IT replacement project called Epic Leap. The medical center is replacing its current IT system with software from Epic. Click here to continue.
The 16 Tech Companies Paying Interns Most
Students are raking in the cash at tech company internships, earning more than the average American worker, according to a new report from Glassdoor. Click here to continue.
CIOs Greatly Underestimate How Many Cloud Apps Their Organization Use
Organizations are using far more cloud apps than their CIOs think, according to Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report. Click here to continue.
Report: 3 Cyberthreats Make Up 81% of Healthcare Breaches
There were 296 confirmed data breaches in the healthcare industry last year — a substantial portion of which were perpetrated by insiders, according to Verizon's 10th annual Data Breach Investigations Report. Click here to continue.
Why Do Women, Minorities Leave Tech Companies? 4 Study Insights
A new study by the Kapor Center for Social Impact explores what fuels voluntary turnover in the technology industry. Click here to continue.
47% of Organizations Say Virus Bypassed IT System Designed for Malware
One in four organizations reportedly suffered cyberattacks that bypassed all of their security solutions, according to a Barkly report. Click here to continue.
Lifespan Notifies 20k Patients of Privacy Breach From Stolen Laptop
Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan notified patients on April 21 about a potential breach of personal information, including names, medical record numbers, demographic information and medication prescriptions.Click here to continue.
HIMSS Analytics Unveils 2018 EMR Adoption Model Criteria
HIMSS Analytics established a new set of criteria for its EMR Adoption Model, set to take effect Jan. 18, 2018. Click here to continue.
Health IT Regulations Are Too Burdensome for Physicians, Says Price
HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, on April 27 addressed the Trump administration's long-term plans for health IT guidance during a speech at the Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C., reports the Washington Examiner. Click here to continue.
Cerner Impersonation Scheme Leader Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
Albert Davis, the leader in a fraud scheme that established a fake company impersonating Cerner, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, according to a Kansas City Star report. Mr. Davis was also ordered to pay part of the restitution costs. Click here to continue.
CMO/Care Delivery
8 Things to Know About Nurse Bullying
The nursing profession has consistently ranked No. 1 in Gallup's annual poll of Honesty and Ethical Standards in Professions for the past 15 years — which makes the rampant bullying and hazing that persists among nurses that much more surprising. Click here to continue.
CDC Director Calls C. Auris Fungus a ‘Catastrophic Threat’
In a recent interview with STAT, Anne Schuchat, MD, acting director of the CDC, pointed to the deadly fungus Candida auris as a "catastrophic threat" to society. Click here to continue.
Trump Appoints Nurse to Serve as Acting Surgeon General
Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams, PhD, RN, was installed as acting surgeon general Friday after the Trump administration asked Vivek Murthy, MD, to resign, according to The New York Times. Click here to continue.
Survey: 70% of Nurses Report Burnout in Current Position
While the number of nursing jobs increased by 6 percent from 2012 to 2016, and is poised to increase an additional 7 percent from 3.6 million positions in 2017 to 3.9 million positions in 2021, the nursing skills gap is also growing, according to a market analysis conducted by CareerBuilder. Click here to continue.
CDC Issues New Prevention Guidelines for Surgical Site Infections: 5 Things to Know
The CDC published its long-awaited update on recommendations for the prevention of surgical site infections on Wednesday in JAMA Surgery. Click here to continue.
Dr. Peter Pronovost: This Unnecessary Regulation Doesn’t Benefit Patients and Costs $500M Each Year
The federal government requires preoperative testing before cataract surgery, which costs the healthcare system $500 million annually — but has no positive effect on patient health, according to a blog post in The Wall Street Journal. Click here to continue.
2 in 3 Medicare Clinicians Exempt From MIPS
The majority of clinicians who bill Medicare will not have to comply with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act's Merit-based Incentive Payment System this year, CMS said. Click here to continue.
50 Cities With the Largest, Smallest Gender Wage Gaps for Physicians
Female physicians earn 26.5 percent less than their male counterparts on average, according to new data from Doximity, a medical social network whose membership includes 70 percent of the nation's physicians. Click here to continue.
Resignation of 3 Physicians Sparks Great Concern in Small Iowa Community
Residents of Akron, Iowa, are fighting to keep three local family medicine physicians from Akron (Iowa) Mercy Medical Clinic in business, according to a report from the Sioux City Journal. Click here to continue.
How Identifying High-Value PCPs Can Improve Profitability
Providers and health plans are constantly searching for ways to improve their bottom line without slashing benefits or increasing premiums. Click here to continue.
10 Best and Worst States for Nurses
Wisconsin is the best state for nurses, according to an analysis by WalletHub. Click here to continue.
Thought Leadership
Remembering Chuck Lauer
Chuck Lauer, 86, was a legend in the healthcare arena. Click here to continue.
Chuck Lauer, in the Words of His Readers, Friends and Colleagues
The healthcare industry said goodbye to a giant this week with the passing of Chuck Lauer, 86, former publisher of Modern Healthcare. Click here to continue.
Raising the Nation’s ‘Guts Quotient’ — 5 Thoughts on the Future of Healthcare From Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove
When Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, was a high school junior, his father took him to visit a family friend who was a college professor. Click here to continue.
Michael Dowling: The Health System CEO's Affiliation Playbook — 5 Thoughts From a CEO Who Has Executed 50+ Agreements
As hospitals and health systems seek ways to fortify their organizational strategies amid the transition to value-based care, the drive to forge new partnerships will continue. Click here to continue.
Corner Office: Temple University Hospital CEO Dr. Verdi DiSesa on Fatherhood and Health System Leadership
Despite the years of higher education and clinical training, many of the most important lessons Verdi DiSesa, MD, has learned come from his family. Click here to continue.