October 2020 Issue of Becker's Hospital Review
ON THE COVER
Top Hospitals for Patient Experience, State by State
Using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems scores from CMS, Becker's has compiled a list of the best hospitals for patient experience in each state. Hospitals either received five or four patient summary star ratings.
'We alone can do our part': How US News' top 10 hospitals are addressing health disparities
The COVID-19 pandemic and deaths of Black Americans such as George Floyd have spurred many health systems to take increased focus on addressing systemic racism and health disparities. As a result, organizations are implementing various initiatives, from outreach programs to education to recruiting a chief diversity officer.
Medicare payment rules for 2021: 11 notes for hospital execs
CMS in the past week has proposed Medicare payment rules for outpatient services and physicians for 2021 and finalized payment rules for inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and psychiatric facilities.
How Northwell is planning for a COVID-19 resurgence and utilizing IT in the next 18 months for recovery
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, health systems across the U.S. canceled elective procedures and transitioned many team members to remote work.
What makes a strong CEO-CFO partnership? 4 health system execs weigh in
Whether navigating through the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic or deciding where to make investments in the year ahead, a strong partnership between C-suite executives is essential to hospitals and health systems today.
15 rural hospital closures in 2020
Nearly one in five Americans live in rural areas and depend on their local hospital for care. Over the past 10 years, 131 of those hospitals have closed.
Anthem agrees to pay $27K medical bill after TV report airs
After a nine-month fight, Anthem BlueCross BlueShield has agreed to pay a $27,000 medical bill for a North Carolina family after a local TV report aired, according to WBTV.
Former Tennessee hospital CEO says he was asked to resign after participating in surgery
Greg Neal told the Bristol Herald Courier he was asked to resign as CEO of Bristol (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center after participating in a surgical procedure without a medical license.
28 ways for men to be (better) allies with women
The concept of allyship has never been more prevalent in the public sphere than over the past several months, as neighbors, colleagues, friends and family saw the renewed need to act in solidarity with the people in their lives who face prejudice.
13 big ideas in healthcare innovation
Here are 13 key quotes about the role of innovation in healthcare that executives from hospitals and health systems across the country shared with Becker's Hospital Review in August:
Texas hospital exits $20M Cerner EHR contract
Nacogdoches (Texas) Memorial Hospital terminated a $20 million contract with Cerner this week, opting to instead remain using its current Cerner EHR rather than transitioning to the vendor's Community Works platform.
Don't write off neck gaiters yet, researchers say
Neck gaiters are still a viable option to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and are likely better than wearing no mask at all, researchers and health experts told The New York Times.
7 most common sentinel events this year
Care management incidents were the most common type of sentinel event reported in the first half of 2020, according to data The Joint Commission released Aug. 12.
Olesea Azevedo
Olesea Azevedo, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth since 2016, has focused on identifying meaningful diversity and inclusion efforts with a passion for ensuring each person is seen and heard for who they are.
Jenni Alvey
Asked what inspires them in their job, most provider-based CFOs will say, "caring for our patients," "making our community healthier," or "making healthcare more affordable and accessible." The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to put those aims to the test.
Heather Geisler
Heather Geisler, Henry Ford Health System's new senior vice president and chief marketing, communications and experience officer, will bring global brand builder experience to the position she begins Sept. 1.
B.J. Moore
Since announcing its strategic alliance to build a high-tech hospital with Microsoft in July 2019, Providence has zeroed in on innovations in patient care delivery, virtual communication tools and artificial intelligence across its Renton, Wash.-based health system.
Robert Garrett
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a sad truth in America: health outcomes are too often based on race, ethnicity and zip code, a track record that places us behind our global peers, one that needs our collective attention for once and all.
Rick Evans
In New York City, the summer has brought a strange and unfamiliar mix of both relief and anxiety.
Eric Yablonka
Stanford Health Care (Calif.) is in the heart of Silicon Valley and known for innovative partnerships with big technology companies as well as entrepreneurial companies to improve clinical care, research and innovation.
Paul Rothman, MD
As an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Paul Rothman, MD, began to develop his passion for research. In the decades since, his career has been driven by a desire to improve patient care by understanding the causes behind diseases.
John Couris, Holly Graziadio & Stacey Brandt
At Tampa General Hospital, we're focused on facilitating honest and transparent two-way communication with our team. In fact, an integral part of our organizational culture is providing platforms for an ongoing exchange of ideas.
John Woolley
Healthcare leaders should consider the pandemic an opportunity to reinforce their organization's core values, said John Woolley, president and CEO of Chandler, Ariz.-based Hatfield Medical Group.
CFO / FINANCE
15 rural hospital closures in 2020
Nearly one in five Americans live in rural areas and depend on their local hospital for care. Over the past 10 years, 131 of those hospitals have closed.
New York public hospital will go 'belly up' without changes, chairman warns
The public benefit organization that runs Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, N.Y., is at risk of going belly up without significant operational changes, Newsday.com reports.
CMS terminates Missouri hospital's Medicare contract
CMS has ended its provider agreement with Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Boonville, Mo.
Mayo Clinic's operating income drops 48.7%
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic recorded a net operating income of $154 million in the second quarter of 2020, a decrease of 48.7 percent compared to the same period last year, according to recently released financial documents.
Chicago's Mercy Hospital to close in 2021
After nearly 170 years of operation, Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago will close in 2021, pending approval from the state review board. The hospital noted that it can no longer sustain monthly operating losses of $4 million.
CEO/STRATEGY
Kamala Harris on healthcare: 6 things to know about her policy positions
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced Aug. 11 that he selected Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate.
Biden's pandemic plans if elected: 7 things to know
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has discussed several changes regarding the White House's response to the pandemic if he is elected in November, according to STAT.
Supreme Court to hear ACA repeal case Nov. 10
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Aug. 19 that it will hear a case over the legality of the ACA on Nov. 10.
These 14 healthcare priorities are on Trump's 2nd-term agenda, he says
President Donald Trump has released the "Fighting for You" campaign setting his agenda for his potential second term.
6 health systems advising big companies on COVID-19 safety
Businesses are turning to medical experts at large health systems to inform COVID-19 safety protocols for their customers.
WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
How Forbes' best employers in healthcare are improving their workplaces for women
For a closer look at efforts to improve gender parity at U.S. health systems, Becker's Hospital Review asked organizations included on the Forbes 2020 list of America's Best Employers for Women to reveal how they've made their workplaces better for women in the last year. Read their responses below, presented alphabetically.
American women more likely than men to skip medication due to cost, study finds
Twenty-five percent of American women reported forgoing medications because they were unaffordable, compared to 14 percent of American men, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.
Race and gender equity in academic medicine — a fireside chat with Harvard's Dr. Uzma Shah
Academic medicine, like society more broadly, has a problem with race and gender equity. While underrepresented in top leadership roles in academic medicine, women make up more than 50 percent of medical students. This suggests the bulk of our nation's potential future physicians are learning in institutions that are not reflective of their ambitions.
Women experience adverse reactions 2x more than men due to clinical testing gender bias, study finds
Women are more likely than men to experience adverse side effects from prescription drugs because drug dosages have been historically based on clinical trials involving male participants, according to new research published in Biology of Sex Differences.
Boehringer to pay $379K to settle suit alleging pay discrimination against female workers
German pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to pay $379,089 to resolve allegations that it paid 75 female employees at its St. Joseph, Mo., facility less than their male counterparts, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
INNOVATION
Providence: 8 innovation trends cultivating the 'next normal' post COVID-19
Technology and digital transformation will continue to play a vital role in health systems' recovery and transition toward the next normal after the COVID-19 pandemic.
How Cedars-Sinai became more like Netflix, Google Maps during COVID-19 response
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai is becoming more like Netflix and Google Maps in its COVID-19 response by using predictive analytics to meet the needs of patients and staff as the disease progresses, according to a Newswise report.
Tackling the 'giant red flag' in healthcare digital transformation: Spectrum Health CIO Jason Joseph
While the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the boundaries of care by accelerating adoption of virtual services and digital communication, there is still a long way to go on the healthcare digitization journey, according to Spectrum Health System CIO Jason Joseph.
20 health systems with investment arms
Health systems across the U.S. have established investment arms that support digital health innovations and bring money back into the health system.
5 new details about Amazon's first health clinic in Texas
Amazon inked a partnership with Crossover Health earlier this year to pilot a health clinic for employees in Texas.
CIO/HEALTH IT
Texas hospital exits $20M Cerner EHR contract
Nacogdoches (Texas) Memorial Hospital terminated a $20 million contract with Cerner this week, opting to instead remain using its current Cerner EHR rather than transitioning to the vendor's Community Works platform.
Epic walks back mandatory on-campus return, allows remote work through end of year
Epic told its employees Aug. 12 that they will now be permitted to work from home through at least the end of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement emailed to Becker's Hospital Review.
Teladoc-Livongo has a combined market cap of $38 billion: 5 new details on the transaction
Teladoc and Livongo merged Aug. 5 in an $18.5 billion deal that was accelerated by the pandemic. The combined company has a market cap larger than Johnson & Johnson, and aims to start making changes as early as next week.
HHS tied billions in COVID-19 aid to reporting data through TeleTracking: 7 details
HHS linked COVID-19 funding for hospitals to reporting their data through the TeleTracking Technologies portal, according to the New York Times.
VA deploys 1st go-live of EHR modernization program: 3 details
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Aug. 24 announced the first go-live of its EHR modernization program, launching a new centralized scheduling solution at an Ohio VA medical center.
CMO/CARE DELIVERY
A timeline of emerging infectious diseases in history
The world has entered "a pandemic era" in which humans' impact on the environment may cause new infectious diseases to emerge more frequently, Anthony Fauci, MD, and his colleague David Morens, MD, wrote in an article for Cell.
COVID-19 patients test positive for 3 weeks, UPMC analysis finds
A systemwide analysis of COVID-19 retesting data at University of Pennsylvania Medical Center found patients generally tested positive for three weeks, the Pittsburgh-based health system said Aug. 10.
'I'm fighting a war against COVID-19 and a war against stupidity,' says CMO of Houston hospital
After two hours of sleep a night for four months and seeing a member of his team contract the virus, Joseph Varon, MD, is growing exasperated.
Don't write off neck gaiters yet, researchers say
Neck gaiters are still a viable option to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and are likely better than wearing no mask at all, researchers and health experts told The New York Times.
Fauci: Temperature checks often 'notoriously inaccurate'
Anthony Fauci, MD, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the White House and NIH have abandoned temperature checks to screen for coronavirus, according to ABC News.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
How AdventHealth's CHRO Olesea Azevedo determines whether diversity and inclusion efforts are real or window dressing
Olesea Azevedo, senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth since 2016, has focused on identifying meaningful diversity and inclusion efforts with a passion for ensuring each person is seen and heard for who they are.
A new challenge for hospitals: reimagining their real estate footprints
Asked what inspires them in their job, most provider-based CFOs will say, "caring for our patients," "making our community healthier," or "making healthcare more affordable and accessible." The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to put those aims to the test.
Henry Ford's new marketing chief on building trust, surprise and delight in healthcare
Heather Geisler, Henry Ford Health System's new senior vice president and chief marketing, communications and experience officer, will bring global brand builder experience to the position she begins Sept. 1.
Where the Providence, Microsoft 'hospital of the future' partnership stands 1 year later: 3 Qs with CIO BJ Moore
Since announcing its strategic alliance to build a high-tech hospital with Microsoft in July 2019, Providence has zeroed in on innovations in patient care delivery, virtual communication tools and artificial intelligence across its Renton, Wash.-based health system.
Let's create a more just healthcare system and start in how we train future physicians
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare a sad truth in America: health outcomes are too often based on race, ethnicity and zip code, a track record that places us behind our global peers, one that needs our collective attention for once and all.