June 2020 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
ON THE COVER
61 Hospital + Health System CISOs to Know
Becker's Hospital Review named 61 hospital and health system chief information security officers to know in 2020. Hospitals and health systems across the country have appointed CISOs to oversee cybersecurity efforts, assist with data management and drive new technology implementation.
State-by-state breakdown of 354 rural hospitals at high risk of closing
Twenty-five percent of the 1,430 rural hospitals in the U.S. are at high risk of closing unless their finances improve, according to an annual analysis from Guidehouse, a consulting firm.
'This is healthcare's Amazon moment': Dr. Stephen Klasko's 5 predictions on healthcare delivery post-COVID-19
Health systems have accelerated their digital health, telehealth and virtual care capabilities in the past 30 days forcing them to disrupt themselves, says Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health President and CEO Stephen Klasko, MD.
14 hospital leaders on the toughest thing about resuming elective surgeries
Fourteen hospital and health system leaders shared the most challenging aspects of resuming elective surgeries, the first steps they are taking to reschedule elective procedures that were canceled last month, and how they are collaborating with health officials.
When will hospitals recover from COVID-19? 3 questions answered
Daily COVID-19 deaths are plateauing in New York City, but some states haven't reached their peak. With peak dates in the back of their mind, hospitals leaders nationwide are asking the same question: How quickly will they rebound from the pandemic?
Mayo Clinic furloughs, cuts hours of 30,000 employees to help offset $3B in pandemic losses
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic said it will furlough or cut the hours of about 30,000 staff members to help offset about $3 billion in losses incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Post Bulletin.
Quorum Health files for bankruptcy
Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health, which operates 23 hospitals in 13 states, announced April 7 that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Reputational risks linger for execs who don't take pay cuts
Senior executives at hundreds of public U.S. companies have adjusted their salaries as pay cuts, furloughs or layoffs affect non-managerial workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders who do not reduce their base pay, defer salary, exchange cash wages or equity, or forgo bonuses put their organization's reputation at risk, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Making mistakes as a woman in charge: 6 things to note
Research has shown that women are judged more harshly than men when they make a mistake, which can result in a strong aversion to risk, lower confidence and missed leadership opportunities.
HHS delays enforcement of interoperability rules: 6 things to know
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HHS on April 21 implemented enforcement discretion of its final interoperability rules. The regulations, which were finalized March 9, were issued by CMS and ONC to give patients secure and free access to their health data via third-party apps.
Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic: What's different & what has stayed the same for clinicians
From relaxed federal regulations to expanded insurance coverage, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven several changes for clinicians providing telehealth services.
'We can't do this forever': 8 nurses doubling as janitors at Oklahoma hospital on brink of closure
The COVID-19 pandemic could scuttle the sale of Haskell County Community Hospital in Stigler, Okla., a bankrupt hospital that is relying on a skeletal staff to keep its doors open, according to ProPublica.
5 asks clinicians have for their hospitals amid the pandemic
Hospitals and health systems should look at five main areas to ensure they are fully supporting clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an article published in JAMA.
Stephen Klasko, MD
Health systems have accelerated their digital health, telehealth and virtual care capabilities in the past 30 days forcing them to disrupt themselves, says Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health President and CEO Stephen Klasko, MD.
Zafar Chaudry, MD
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an accelerant to the use of technology in the remote healthcare space. And while it will not serve as the single solution to the pandemic, it will "be one of the lasting consequences," according to Eric Topol, MD, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, Calif.
John Couris
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Tampa General Hospital CEO John Couris mobilized his team quickly to ensure the hospital would be able to safely deliver care to patients.
Angela Shippy, MD
Angela Shippy, MD, stepped into her expanded role as senior vice president and chief medical and quality officer of Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System in February.
Paul Viviano
Each day as I walk the halls of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and greet our team members, I remind them that I am smiling behind my mask. I'm reminded that I have never been more grateful to a dedicated group as I am during this incredibly challenging period of time.
Christopher Scanzera
Federal and state regulatory relaxations coupled with increasing social distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated telehealth adoption and paved a new way for healthcare innovation, according to Christopher Scanzera, vice president and CIO at AtlantiCare.
Christine Candio
Christine M. Candio, president and CEO of St. Luke's Health Corp. in Chesterfield, Mo., will say goodbye to her executive role when she resigns on April 1.
Daryl Tol
Daryl Tol became president and CEO of Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth's Central Florida division in 2015. Under his leadership, AdventHealth Orlando, the health system's flagship campus, was ranked the No. 1 hospital in Florida by U.S. News & World Report for 2019-20. AdventHealth also opened its Mission Control clinical command center at the health system's Orlando campus in August, as part of a partnership with GE Healthcare.
CFO / FINANCE
Hospital CEOs blast distributing stimulus funds based on Medicare revenue
Hospital CEOs are blasting HHS' decision to distribute the first $30 billion in emergency funding based on Medicare fee-for-service revenue, according to Kaiser Health News.
COVID-19 financial damage forces West Virginia hospital to close
Williamson (W.Va.) Hospital has been in a fragile financial position for months, and a drop in patient volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the hospital to close, according to a statement from the hospital's CEO.
900 furloughed MUSC employees to get insurance paid for by donations
Nearly 900 employees at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston who have been temporarily laid off will see their monthly health insurance premiums covered by two donors, according to local news station Count On News 2.
HCA records 44% drop in profit, pulls 2020 guidance
HCA Healthcare, a 186-hospital system based in Nashville, Tenn., said its revenue increased and its profit declined in the first quarter of this year, which ended March 31.
Mayo Clinic furloughs, cuts hours of 30,000 employees to help offset $3B in pandemic losses
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic said it will furlough or cut the hours of about 30,000 staff members to help offset about $3 billion in losses incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Post Bulletin.
CEO/STRATEGY
27 healthcare execs on Trump's economic revival task force
President Donald Trump has created a new task force to advise the White House on reopening sectors of the economy shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Arizona hospital gets bailout after execs take pay cuts
The state of Arizona is giving Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital $3.6 million to keep its doors open, according to the Arizona Republic.
Fired CEO returns to Missouri hospital as chief strategy officer
A Missouri hospital CEO who was fired last month is in a new role at the facility amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Louis Business Journal reported.
Reputational risks linger for execs who don't take pay cuts
Senior executives at hundreds of public U.S. companies have adjusted their salaries as pay cuts, furloughs or layoffs affect non-managerial workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Leaders who do not reduce their base pay, defer salary, exchange cash wages or equity, or forgo bonuses put their organization's reputation at risk, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Former fed official files whistleblower complaint against HHS
Rick Bright, PhD, former director of an HHS agency at the center of the government's coronavirus pandemic response, filed a whistleblower complaint May 5 claiming he was fired after raising concerns about hydroxychloroquine, a drug being tested as a possible COVID-19 treatment.
WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
Making mistakes as a woman in charge: 6 things to note
Research has shown that women are judged more harshly than men when they make a mistake, which can result in a strong aversion to risk, lower confidence and missed leadership opportunities.
Viewpoint: 'Across the world, women's independence will be a silent victim of this pandemic'
The existing workforce structure invites the likelihood that women will bear the brunt of much of the "looking after" labor that the coronavirus pandemic demands: looking after patients, looking after self-isolating elders, looking after children kept home from school.
Considering a workforce reduction? Don't undo your gains in diversity now
Even companies that upheld diversity as an imperative will risk harming it when downsizing their workforce. The reason is simple. In an effort to be fair and transparent, companies often resort to formal rules to decide which roles are eliminated and which remain.
US ranked 53rd globally for gender parity by World Economic Forum
The United States doesn't even break the top third of 153 countries for gender parity, and its rank has continued to fall over the past 15 years, according to the World Economic Forum.
Will coronavirus disproportionately affect women?
With women holding 76 percent of U.S. healthcare jobs, experts are concerned they could be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC reports.
INNOVATION
Mayo Clinic launches self-driving shuttles to transport COVID-19 tests and medical supplies
Mayo Clinic in Florida partnered with the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to deploy autonomous shuttles that transport medical supplies and COVID-19 tests collected at the hospital's drive-thru testing location.
Cleveland Clinic shares predictive model to help hospitals plan for COVID-19: 4 things to know
Cleveland Clinic created a model to help hospitals forecast patient volume as well as supply availability and needs in partnership with SAS, and is now sharing the predictive model with other health systems via GitHub.
Partners HealthCare transforms digital workplace platform into COVID-19 communication hub
Boston-based Partners HealthCare scaled its digital workplace platform to serve as a centralized communication hub for COVID-19 information for its 78,000 employees, according to an April 21 news release.
5 innovation leaders on how COVID-19 has altered digital strategy at Houston Methodist, Penn Medicine & more
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, innovation leaders at hospitals and health systems across the U.S. have been forced to reevaluate their existing strategies and reframe ongoing IT projects to assist with COVID-19 triage and treatment.
'Our innovation initiatives really helped prepare us for taking care of our patients' during the pandemic: Insights from Houston Methodist's Michelle Stansbury
Michelle Stansbury, vice president of innovation at Houston Methodist, sees digital health technology and innovation as integral aspects of the health system's strategy to treat patients today and post-pandemic.
CIO/HEALTH IT
HHS delays enforcement of interoperability rules: 6 things to know
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, HHS on April 21 implemented enforcement discretion of its final interoperability rules. The regulations, which were finalized March 9, were issued by CMS and ONC to give patients secure and free access to their health data via third-party apps.
New York to use single digital system to manage 200 hospitals
As the number of coronavirus cases continues to spike in New York, the state will now merge all of its 200 hospitals into a single digital system to disperse staff, patients and equipment to hospitals most in need, Vox reports.
Amazon opens COVID-19 'data lake' to hospitals
Amazon Web Services made its COVID-19 data lake available to the public April 8 to support hospitals, researchers and public health officials.
How Cleveland Clinic rapidly scaled its telehealth program during the pandemic: 8 key notes
Cleveland Clinic released its COVID-19 Digital Health Playbook, including a guide for healthcare organizations to rapidly scale their telehealth offerings.
Beaumont Health alerts 112,000 patients of phishing attack
Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health last week notified about 112,000 patients that their protected health information may have been exposed in a data security incident.
CMO/CARE DELIVERY
Philadelphia hospital investigating why bodies were moved to morgue in pickup truck
Philadelphia-based Einstein Medical Center is investigating why corpses were taken to the medical examiner's office in a pickup truck Sunday, according to Philly Voice.
Social distancing may be needed through 2022, Harvard researchers say
Social-distancing measures for COVID-19 may need to continue through 2022, according to new projections from Harvard researchers published in Science.
Don't intubate too soon, NYC physician warns
Many physicians are starting to share clinical insights they learned while working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, reports The New York Times.
'We can't do this forever': 8 nurses doubling as janitors at Oklahoma hospital on brink of closure
The COVID-19 pandemic could scuttle the sale of Haskell County Community Hospital in Stigler, Okla., a bankrupt hospital that is relying on a skeletal staff to keep its doors open, according to ProPublica.
'COVID toes' could indicate coronavirus infection in asymptomatic patients
Physicians have noted a new coronavirus symptom, named "COVID toes," appearing primarily in patients with no other symptoms, children and young adults, according to USA Today.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Tampa General CEO John Couris: The key to effectively mobilizing for COVID-19 and how to plan for the 'new normal'
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Tampa General Hospital CEO John Couris mobilized his team quickly to ensure the hospital would be able to safely deliver care to patients.
The 2 traits leaders need to always make the right decision from Memorial Hermann’s quality chief Dr. Angela Shippy
Angela Shippy, MD, stepped into her expanded role as senior vice president and chief medical and quality officer of Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System in February.
CEO of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles: 5 standout initiatives in the fight against COVID-19
Each day as I walk the halls of Children's Hospital Los Angeles and greet our team members, I remind them that I am smiling behind my mask. I'm reminded that I have never been more grateful to a dedicated group as I am during this incredibly challenging period of time.
AtlantiCare CIO: Why the coronavirus pandemic has spurred ‘real innovation’ + how healthcare will move forward
Federal and state regulatory relaxations coupled with increasing social distancing guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated telehealth adoption and paved a new way for healthcare innovation, according to Christopher Scanzera, vice president and CIO at AtlantiCare.
‘Time to pass the baton’: Former St. Luke's CEO Christine Candio reflects on accomplishments
Christine M. Candio, president and CEO of St. Luke's Health Corp. in Chesterfield, Mo., will say goodbye to her executive role when she resigns on April 1.