November 2019 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review

November 2019 Issue of Becker's Healthcare Review

ON THE COVER

Championing better care 8,000 miles from home: Meet Tamra Minton, UPMC International's new VP of nursing and quality
In September, UPMC named Tamra Minton, MBA, MSN, RN, vice president of nursing and quality for UPMC International, a role in which she will work with UPMC's public and private partners in Ireland, Italy, China and Kazakhstan.

Living Like a Leader: A day with LifePoint Health's President and CEO David Dill
I am working on being more effective about scheduling a margin in my calendar for more time to think and explore new ideas.

'More care for more kids': Passion for the mission drives new Driscoll Health CFO
Driscoll Health System's mission is to provide care to more children in need, and that's a goal its new CFO can get behind.

Leaders, let's not forget our most important 'skill'
In pursuit of my doctorate in business administration, I have spent a great deal of time reviewing research to more thoroughly understand how modifications in leadership styles and a greater focus on organizational culture can help drive quality and access to patient care while keeping costs in check.

Michael Dowling: Health reform begins with making better lifestyle choices
As healthcare continues to be a top-ticket item for the 2020 presidential election, I've noticed that talk of reform overlooks one major stakeholder: the patient.

Corner Office: Why CHLA CEO Paul Viviano feels blessed and how he gives back
A California native, Paul Viviano's three decades of healthcare leadership have been driven by a calling to support his community however possible.

38 best-rated commercial health plans for 2019
The National Committee for Quality Assurance ranked Capital District Physicians' Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States and Tufts Benefit Administrators among its highest-performing commercial health plans for 2019-20.

Walmart unveils plan to build healthcare workforce: 5 things to know
As Walmart pushes deeper into healthcare, the retail giant is rolling out education benefit programs to help its employees prepare for new jobs.

Why UCSF Health's patient initiatives don't feel like the flavor of the month
Susan Pappas, division director, UCSF Health experience excellence at University of California San Francisco Health, discusses the importance of being able to scale experience initiatives, the benefits of adopting Lean philosophy and why excellent patient experience requires commitment from the entire organization.

How Penn Medicine is overcoming interoperability Challenges
Jim Beinlich is the associate vice president and chief data information officer of corporate information services at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine.

Rest, journaling and listening: The habits hospital leaders developed this year
As hospital and health system leaders evolve in their roles, they often pick up new habits that stick with them.

Hospitals win challenge to site-neutral pay cuts
A Washington, D.C., federal judge ruled Sept. 17 that CMS overstepped its authority last year when it expanded a site-neutral pay policy that cut Medicare payments for hospital outpatient visits by hundreds of millions of dollars.

ethodist Le Bonheur wipes out medical debt for 6,500 patients
Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare erased medical debt for more than 6,500 patients after an investigation by MLK50 and ProPublica.

UNC board chair resigns: ‘I don’t have the energy to lead anymore’
Harry Smith, chairman of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, stepped down Oct. 1, noting that he doesn’t “have the energy to lead anymore,” according to The News & Observer.

PMC’s 24-member board faces criticism over management of nonprofit
UPMC’s board of directors is facing ongoing criticism over how it manages the nonprofit health system’s
charitable assets, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Why EHR customization should be kept to a minimum: Providence St. Joseph Health CMIO
As senior vice president and chief medical information officer at Providence St. Joseph Health, Michael Marino, DO, leads the Irvine, Calif.-based health system's clinical informatics department and system wide optimization efforts.

NYU Langone Health is replacing the hub-and-spokes model of innovation with a 'neural network' of interdepartmental collaboration
Thomas J. Graham, MD, is the director of strategy and innovation in the department of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

PwC: 5 ways to address social determinants of health
Healthcare organizations must rethink how they are approaching social determinants of health to see significant improvements in disease burden and health costs, according to a new report from PwC Health Research Institute.

CFO / FINANCE

Board of Arizona safety-net hospital backtracks on CEO's $100,000 pay hike after local paper inquires
The board of Valleywise Health, a public and nonprofit safety-net health system in Phoenix, postponed discussions about increasing its CEO's pay after The Arizona Republic inquired about the hike Sept. 24.

Senate votes to push back Medicaid DSH cuts
The U.S. Senate has approved a measure to delay $4 billion in cuts to Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital payments that would have begun Oct. 1, according to America's Essential Hospitals, an association representing U.S. safety-net hospitals.

CMS' final burden reduction rule: 5 things to know
CMS released its Omnibus Burden Reduction final rule Sept. 26, which aims to cut healthcare administrative costs and paperwork.

Hospital operator closes 2 facilities after leadership exodus
Houston-based Nobilis Health closed Scottsdale (Ariz.) Liberty Hospital and Surgeons' Premier Medical Center in Sugar Land, Texas, on Sept. 13, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Partners' plan to buy New Hampshire hospital blocked by AG
The New Hampshire attorney general's charitable trusts unit issued a report Sept. 20 objecting to Boston-based Partners HealthCare's plan to expand further into New Hampshire, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Tennessee hospital misses payroll
Employees at Jellico (Tenn.) Community Hospital say their paychecks are more than a week late, according to TV station WVLT.

Catholic Health freezes hiring as losses mount
Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health has implemented a hiring freeze after posting an operating deficit of $16 million, according to Buffalo Business First.

Tennessee hospital halts admissions after staff doesn't show up
A shortage of nursing staff forced Big South Fork Medical Center in Oneida, Tenn., to stop admitting new patients Sept. 23, sources told the Independent Herald.

Methodist Le Bonheur wipes out medical debt for 6,500 patients
Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare erased medical debt for more than 6,500 patients after an investigation by MLK50 and ProPublica.

Top bid for Kentucky hospital falls through
Pineville (Ky.) Community Healthcare received a $7 million takeover bid, but the hospital ended up selling for less than half that amount, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

2 New York hospitals will share CEO in cost-cutting move
Two community hospitals in New York plan to share a CEO as a way to save money, according to local news network WWNY.

AHA says hospital mergers are good — economists say otherwise
The American Hospital Association released a report stating that hospital acquisitions allow providers to provide better care at a lower cost to patients.

Trump administration expands eligibility for overtime pay to 1.3M people
The U.S. Department of Labor unveiled a rule on Sept. 24 that would alter earnings thresholds to make more than 1 million American workers eligible for overtime pay, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Cost of employer-based family health coverage hits record high: $20,576
The cost of health insurance offered to workers through their employers is increasingly unaffordable, according to an annual report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Q2 brings smaller hikes to wholesale, net drug prices
Increases to both wholesale and net drug prices trended downward in this year's second quarter, according to STAT.

Medicare Advantage premiums to fall 23% next year, CMS says
Premiums for Medicare Advantage plans are slated to drop 23 percent from 2018, CMS said Sept. 24.

Humana CEO: Competition, innovation key to lowering drug prices
Humana CEO Bruce Broussard told CNBC that increasing competition and innovation among drugmakers is the best way to cut drug costs.

Hedge fund ups stake in Tenet
Glenview Capital Management recently purchased 8,160 shares of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's common stock.

CEO Wayne Smith ups investment in CHS by $2.4M
Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Chairman and CEO Wayne Smith purchased 1.2 million shares of CHS on Aug. 29, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Trinity Health considers $1.7B debt issuance
Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, a national nonprofit Catholic health system, said it is evaluating opportunities to issue $1.7 billion in debt to fund eligible capital projects and reduce interest costs.

UVA Health System pledges to change medical debt collection practices
The University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville has vowed to change its medical debt collection practices after a special report for The Washington Post revealed it has sued thousands of former patients, seized wages and put liens on homes, according to The Daily Progress.

Maine hospital files for bankruptcy with $25M in debt
Calais (Maine) Regional Hospital entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 17. The 25-bed hospital owes roughly $25 million to nearly 1,900 creditors, reports the Bangor Daily News.

Dana-Farber sees 51% drop in net income: 5 things to know
Boston-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's revenue increased year over year in the first nine months of fiscal year 2019, but its net income declined, according to financial documents released Sept. 10.

38 best-rated commercial health plans for 2019
The National Committee for Quality Assurance ranked Capital District Physicians' Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States and Tufts Benefit Administrators among its highest-performing commercial health plans for 2019-20.

Why Anthem is a 2nd or 3rd choice for investors
While Anthem has posted impressive earnings in the first two quarters of 2019 and raised its guidance twice, investors are questioning Anthem's efficiency as its medical cost ratio grows, according to Seeking Alpha.

Proposed merger would create 33-hospital network in Louisiana
The board of trustees of Lafayette (La.) General Health and New Orleans-based Ochsner Health System signed a letter of intent to merge, the health systems announced Sept. 25.

High-value physicians could save Medicare $287B, UnitedHealth says
If all physicians caring for Medicare fee-for-service patients meet certain national cost and quality benchmarks, Medicare would save about $287 billion across the next decade, according to a brief published by UnitedHealth Group.

China trade war will hit hospitals in the wallet, medical supply company says
The U.S. trade war with China threatens to hit hospitals and health systems as well as consumers in the form of higher prices and product shortages, the president of medical supply distributor DealMed told Yahoo Finance.

CEO / STRATEGY

Partners HealthCare has a question for employees: What should its new name be?
Boston-based Partners HealthCare is seeking input from employees to develop a new name that better reflects its academic medical centers, according to the Boston Business Journal.

How CEOs can play a role in addressing internal IT issues
Though CEOs regularly meet and work with finance, sales and operations teams, they typically have a much less hands-on role in the IT division — much to the detriment of the entire organization.

Competing for a CEO job? Your board may be watching to see if you play nice
Colleagues that compete nicely with each other while vying for the same CEO position are being noticed by corporate boards, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Trump signs executive order 'protecting' Medicare
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Oct. 3 aimed at improving private Medicare plans for
seniors, according to CNBC.

Michigan hospital restructures board about a month after CEO's firing
Sheridan (Mich.) Community Hospital reorganized its board and restructured its organization in early October, roughly a month after the board fired the hospital's CEO.

Providence St. Joseph union workers want more access to CEO
Providence St. Joseph Health union workers voiced frustrations with local media over the lack of access they had to CEO Rod Hochman, MD, during a September visit to St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka, Calif., and Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, Calif.

St. Christopher’s sale approved, prompting concern over chief heart surgeon’s contract
A bankruptcy court has approved the sale of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia
to a nonprofit duo for $50 million, which prompted concern from the physicians about the hospital’s status as a trauma center, according to local media.

Yale New Haven hospital creates leadership role for physician wellness
Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital, part of the Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health system, created a new leadership role for physician wellness, according to the Connecticut Post.

Female board directors help curb overconfidence of male CEOs, study finds
When female board members are present, male CEOs tend to exhibit less overconfidence, according
to a study published in the Journal of Empirical Finance.

Massachusetts hospital president: BCBS putting profits over patients
The president of a Massachusetts health system and hospital group accused Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts of caring about revenues more than patients, according to an op-ed published by the Sippican Week.

UPMC appeals vote blocking new hospital 1 mile from Allegheny Health rival
Pittsburgh-based UPMC will appeal a decision to revoke a zoning permit that would have allowed the health system to build a 63-bed hospital near a rival system, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Rest, journaling and listening: The habits hospital leaders developed this year
As hospital and health system leaders evolve in their roles, they often pick up new habits that stick with them.

Lifespan CEO, board chairman offered to resign to save Care New England-Brown merger, Boston Globe reports
Leaders at Lifespan health system offered to step down to move a proposed merger forward that would have brought together Care New England Health System, Brown University and Lifespan, all based in Providence, R.I., according to a Boston Globe report.

Board of Arizona safety-net hospital backtracks on CEO’s $100,000 pay hike after local paper inquires
The board of Valleywise Health, a public and nonprofit safety-net health system in Phoenix, postponed discussions about increasing its CEO’s pay after The Arizona Republic inquired about the hike Sept. 24.

Erlanger board names new CEO, settles with Kevin Spiegel
Board members at Erlanger Health System reached a separation agreement with former CEO Kevin Spiegel Sept. 18 and named his successor.

Tryon Medical Partners CEO: Our mission is to ‘free physicians from hospital systems’
Nearly 100 physicians split from Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health last year to form an independent medical group called Tryon Medical Partners.

How to support every stage of an organization’s innovation efforts
Though funding and other resourcees are undoubtedly imperative to an organization’s innovation efforts, equally important is buy-in from executives who value and prioritize innovation.

7 CEOs back plan to close Illinois hospital Quorum Health’s decision to close
MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, Ill., has drawn mixed reviews, according to The Beverly Review.

Kentucky hospital’s ex-chief of staff can’t stop $361M sale to Baptist Health
A three-judge panel from the Kentucky Court of Appeals has tossed out a lawsuit filed in 2018 that
sought to stop Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health from acquiring Elizabethtown, Ky.-based Hardin Memorial Hospital, according to Louisville Business First.

Vermont hospital president under investigation for allegedly plagiarizing emails to staff
The president and COO of Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, Vt., faces board scrutiny after he allegedly plagiarized weekly emails sent to his staff, according to the VTDigger.

10 most, least concentrated hospital markets
The hospital market in New York City is the least concentrated in the country, while Springfield, Mo., is home to the most concentrated market, according to an analysis from the Health Care Cost Institute.

How Amazon’s PillPack trains employees to be more empathetic
PillPack, the online pharmacy acquired by Amazon last year, has new employees undergo a half hour of
empathy training that includes sorting pills while wearing oversized gloves and thick prescription glasses, according to CNBC.

UPMC’s 24-member board faces criticism over management of nonprofit
UPMC’s board of directors is facing ongoing criticism over how it manages the nonprofit health system’s
charitable assets, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Tennessee lawmaker who called healthcare exec an ‘Irish gangster’ claims immunity in defamation suit
A Tennessee lawmaker says he is immune to liability in a defamation lawsuit filed by Rennova Health
President and CEO Seamus Lagan, according to the Independent Herald.

CIO/HEALTH IT

Consumerism is 2nd biggest challenge facing healthcare execs in 2020
Perfecting the consumer experience is one of the most pressing tasks on healthcare leaders' to-do lists in 2020, according to the HealthCare Executive Group's annual "Top 10" list of the primary opportunities and challenges facing its members.

Software issue prompts UK Healthcare to reroute EMS patients
A software issue at University of Kentucky Healthcare on Sept. 23 caused the Lexington-based health system to divert some patients who arrived by EMS to other nearby hospitals, CBS affiliate WKYT reports.

Presbyterian Health Plan alerts 56,000 patients of phishing attack
Albuquerque, N.M.-based Presbyterian Health Plan was notified by its managed care company vendor Magellan Health that more than 56,000 patients may have had their protected health information exposed in a phishing attack, according to the HIPAA Journal.

CVS Health adds 1st digital health app to benefits offerings
CVS Health is now offering Sleepio, an all-digital insomnia treatment app, to CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management clients, The New York Times reports.

Wisconsin hospital, Ciox Health to pay $35M for medical record overcharges
Milwaukee-based Aurora Health Care and Ciox Health, a medical records management company, agreed to pay $35.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the organizations overcharged for medical record requests, according to Top Class Actions.

Allina Health MyChart glitch sent false alerts to thousands of patients
Thousands of Allina Health patients received a false email Sept. 19 and Sept. 20 that said their email address for MyChart, the Minneapolis-based health system's EHR patient portal, had been changed, Star Tribune reports.

Most hospital data breaches contain financial, demographic info that risks identity theft
Seventy-one percent of data breaches at hospitals comprise financial or demographic information that may cause identity theft or fraud, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

OCR settles 1st HIPAA Right of Access case with Bayfront hospital
The Office for Civil Rights issued its first settlement Sept. 9 for its Right of Access Initiative, a rule which requires hospitals to provide patients with copies of their medical records promptly and without being overcharged.

Epicís making a mark on small practices, KLAS finds
Epic implementations among small size healthcare practices appear to be increasing as more practices join local accountable care organizations and affiliate with other organizations that use Epic, according to a KLAS Research report.

NYU Langone Health is replacing the hub-and-spokes model of innovation with a ëneural networkí of interdepartmental collaboration
Thomas J. Graham, MD, is the director of strategy and innovation in the department of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

Viewpoint: Lack of EHR interoperability keeps fax machines alive in hospitals
Fax machines have remained an integral way for hospitals and health systems to securely exchange patient health data in lieu of proficient interoperability between different EHR systems, according to Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine.

Wyoming health system halts patient admissions after ransomware attack
Gillette, Wyo.-based Campbell County Health suspended new inpatient admissions and canceled some surgeries Sept. 20 due to a ransomware attack, according to a news release on the health system's website.

Why every CIO needs to know how to partner: Lehigh Valley Health Network CIO Michael Minear
Since being appointed CIO at Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network in 2015, Michael Minear has spearheaded the implementation and optimization of an Epic EHR.

Ohio hospital hit with 2-notch credit downgrade amid IT transition
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Lancaster, Ohio-based Fairfield Medical Center's revenue bond rating to "Ba2" from "Baa3." The rating outlook is negative.

EHR data doesnít always reflect physician exams, study finds
Some EHR documentation of patient visits to the emergency department may not always accurately represent physicians' actions and exams during patient encounters, according to a recent study published in JAMA.

Donít put cybersecurity on CISOsí shoulders ó Why board members arenít doing enough
Corporate board members should be held more accountable to verify cybersecurity risks and ask questions about cyber efforts, governance experts told The Wall Street Journal.

AHA report: 3 shifts providers must make to embrace digital health
Digital tools have the potential to make healthcare more preventive, personalized and participatory, as long as providers can evolve toward a more consumer-centric model as well.

VA confirms delays for Cerner EHR rollout, scheduling tool
Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that it will push back its Cerner EHR rollout in the Pacific Northwest, according to Politco's Morning eHealth Sept. 27 newsletter.

CHIME unveils 2019 ëMost Wiredí hospitals list
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives released the names of the hospitals included in its 2019 CHIME HealthCare's Most Wired program.

Mayo Clinic taps Google for analytics, innovation, cloud computing
Mayo Clinic announced a 10-year strategic partnership with Google, which will provide the Rochester, Minn.-based health system with technological support to advance digital healthcare innovation.

Texas healthcare provider pays hackers in ransomware attack
Rowlett, Texas-based Berry Family Services, which provides health services to people with disabilities, was hit with a ransomware attack July 10 that barred providers from accessing computer systems.

4 alerts, tools that hospitals are adding to their EHRs
Here are seven alerts and tools that hospitals and health systems have recently developed and added to their EHR systems.

CMO/CARE DELIVERY

Only 52% of US adults plan to get flu vaccine this season, survey finds
A little over half of U.S. adults plan on getting vaccinated this influenza season, according to data released by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Flu season may be severe, health officials say
Health officials are predicting the upcoming flu season to be severe, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Ballad Health implements safety changes after fatal patient drop
A man who died in 2018 after being dropped in the operating room has led to immediate and long-term improvements at Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health, according to WJHL.

Freezer malfunction at Children's Hospital Los Angeles destroys stem cells for 56 patients
Fifty-six patients' blood stem cells have been destroyed after a freezer malfunction at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, CNN reports.

Summa Health regains approval for ER residency program
Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health regained approval to train emergency medicine more than two years after the residency program lost its accreditation.

AI can diagnose diseases on par with physicians, study finds
Artificial intelligence models can diagnose diseases just as well as human clinicians, suggest the findings of a study published in The Lancet Digital Health.

Only 24% of hospitals screen for social determinants of health
About a quarter of U.S. hospitals screen patients for the five main social needs linked to health outcomes, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

MetroHealth's Dr. Brook Watts on getting to the next generation of quality
Brook Watts, MD, chief quality officer at MetroHealth, has been overseeing the health system's experience initiatives for a year. Here, she discusses provider burnout, missteps made in measuring healthcare quality and why it's important to acknowledge the lived reality of patients.

Trump signs exec order on flu shot development
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Sept. 19 to modernize the flu vaccine development process.

How NYU Langone Health improved operations using a tactic from Amazon, Google
NYU Langone Health in New York City successfully used randomized quality improvement projects to evaluate the effectiveness of routine patient care processes.

UNC Children's can resume complex heart surgeries, independent panel says
An independent advisory board has ruled that Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Children's Hospital can resume complex heart surgeries after a three-month pause, reports The News & Observer.

1 in 6 physicians make diagnostic errors everyday
One in six physicians report making diagnostic errors daily, according to a Medscape poll.

AMA recognizes 22 healthcare organizations for physician burnout efforts
The American Medical Association recognized 22 healthcare organizations for their efforts to address the root causes of physician burnout.

Weill Cornell medical school to eliminate student debt
Thanks to $160 million in donations, New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine is wiping out medical school debt for all its students who qualify for financial aid, the school announced Sept. 16.

NINR reopens search for director after nurse backlash
The National Institute of Nursing Research reopened its search for a new director Sept. 16 after facing backlash for appointing a dentist to lead the organization, according to a tweet by NINR.

Ex-Utah nurse pleads guilty to infecting 7 patients with hepatitis C
A former Utah hospital nurse pleaded guilty Sept. 25 to diverting opioids and infecting at least seven people with hepatitis C, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

52% of nurses not familiar with term 'antimicrobial stewardship'
More than half of registered nurses are not familiar with efforts to curb antibiotic overuse, according to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Mass General ordered to release report on concurrent surgeries
A judge has ordered Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital to release a secret report that investigated instances of concurrent surgeries at the facility, according to The Boston Globe.

Obstetrician shortage forces New York hospital to end delivery services
Hudson, N.Y.-based Columbia Memorial Hospital will stop delivering babies Oct. 1 due to a shortage of obstetricians, according to CBS 6.

Nurse sues Tennessee hospital over patient attack
A nurse practitioner has filed a lawsuit against Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., alleging the hospital failed to protect her from a violent patient last year, according to local TV station WMC 5.

SUNY Upstate Medical University opens $11M simulation training center
SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., opened an $11 million simulation-based teaching center to improve patient safety and care delivery.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

November 2019 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Webinars