Whitepapers & E-Books

When it comes to the revenue cycle, the conversation often centers on challenges. But in the areas where administrative and financial leaders at ambulatory surgery centers are facing the toughest barriers — denials, the workforce and patient payments — key opportunities exist.
In this e-book, revenue cycle management experts outline four areas where ASCs can flip challenges into strategies for a stronger, simpler revenue cycle by uncovering data and reviewing important trends. 

You will learn:

• A legislative update on hospital price transparency
• A three-step plan to shore up security
• Critical checkpoints to prevent denials now
• Four questions to help quality check your technology

For busy materials managers in ambulatory surgery centers, the top priority is ensuring clinicians have the medical-surgical supplies they need — when they need them — while controlling costs. It’s a daunting task, with caseloads and the cost of supplies continuing to grow.

However, shipping is an overlooked opportunity for significant savings. This brief report covers how Mountain View Hospital lowered shipping costs while supporting quality care through a collaboration with OptiFreight® Logistics.

Readers will learn about key insights that led to success, including:

• Tailored, innovative shipping solutions with no change to current processes
• Dedicated support from a team of committed logistics experts to continuously identify savings opportunities
• Data analytics and dashboards to track performance and share with departments and executive management

Revenue cycle leaders know the staffing crisis in healthcare is not limited to clinical functions; there’s also a revenue cycle staffing crisis.

Based on increasing revenue cycle work and a shortage of skilled workers, it is impossible to hire enough people or ask current employees to work harder.

It’s time to work smarter, not harder. What does working smarter in the revenue cycle mean? It means finding innovative ways to do more with less.

Download for best practices on:

 

• Developing a smarter revenue cycle and administrative strategy
• Cutting down on outdated manual processes
• Streamlining existing processes with intelligent automation

  Learn more about what intelligent automation is, how it works, which revenue cycle tasks are best automated and what the benefits are

As post-acute care settings evolve, health plans must adapt to new norms and challenges. Shifts in patient acuity, labor dynamics and payment models result in data lost between acute and post-acute care settings. This is a critical concern for health plans that demands strategic solutions to enhance data continuity, improve care coordination and minimize readmissions.

In this whitepaper, we examine how a connected network can bridge the gap in data flow and align care approaches with the shifting needs of an aging population.

Key learnings:

• The biggest barriers to effective care transitions
• How to improve data visibility and simplify patient transitions across care settings

Labs generate 70% of the data used in clinical decision-making, yet only 3% of healthcare costs. As such, they can play an important role in helping payer organizations lower costs for employers and individual members, via earlier screening and detection of diseases.

Payer executives from hospitals and health systems across the country discussed how they're working to increase access to high-quality, cost-effective specialty testing to rein in costs during a roundtable at Becker's Spring 2024 Payer Issues event.

Major themes examined during the conversation include:

• The evolution of lab services
• How shifting the site of testing can unlock economic savings
• Managing patient and population health through data-driven decision support

To advance value-based care models that help manage costs while improving outcomes, health plans and health systems that take on risk need effective care management and population health programs. However, many of the legacy tools and tactics that have previously been used to drive these efforts have been ineffective, hindering successful management of cost and care quality.

Becker's Healthcare recently hosted a panel-style webinar with three healthcare leaders who shared how organizations can break through these barriers and achieve effective and efficient care management programs. They examined the current state of care management, proposed improvements and discussed how a comprehensive data approach can enable contextual awareness.

Major themes examined during the conversation include:

• Why conventional care management strategies aren't driving positive results
• How healthcare organizations can cultivate patient relationships built on trust
• Why patient data capture must adapt to the patient journey

From consolidation to shifting service models to deepening joint ventures and partnerships, academic medical centers are expansive, exciting places to be ― especially as many transform into larger academic health systems.

At Becker's 14th Annual Meeting in Chicago, top AMC and academic health system leaders from Rush University System for Health (Chicago), UNC Health (Chapel Hill, N.C.), University Hospitals (Cleveland) and more convened to discuss the crucial challenges and opportunities they're seeing as their organizations grow in reach, influence and complexity.

This e-book outlines the five key elements that characterize the AMC evolution. Download to see leaders' candid insights, strategies and proven approaches for navigating change and common barriers in:

• Growth
• Patients and community
• Sustainability
• Reputation
• The workforce

Despite gradual financial recovery for some hospitals, 40% are still losing money. High labor and operating costs, slow cash flow recovery and low payer reimbursements continue to compress margins as the rate of growth for expenses outpaces that for revenue.

In this e-book, you'll learn how some health systems are optimizing workforce management to promote profitability, with five best-practice strategies your organization can implement to control costs, increase efficiency and drive revenue.

Learnings:

• How optimizing scheduling can reduce labor costs and eliminate costly payroll errors
• Why systems are prioritizing clinical space utilization for cost-efficient growth
• Ways to secure more complete reimbursements from improved payer enrollment and credentialing

Vendor management systems can have a positive impact on hospitals and clinics across the country. At a time when facilities everywhere are facing physician shortages and burnout, these systems help connect vulnerable patients to quality care with ease. Through a partnership, Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health improved its workflow efficiency, boosted patient satisfaction, gained valuable operational insights and increased revenue from its contract physician program.

Learnings in this report include:

• How a successful partnership of people and technology generated millions of dollars in revenue from contract provider care.
• How contract physicians can integrate into a seamless workflow.
• How better vendor management ultimately yields benefits for patients.

Wondering what the future of health system supply chain operations will look like? Look no further than Marietta, Ga.-based Wellstar Health System.

With the belief that "automation is where healthcare is trending," Wellstar has implemented automatic identification and data capture solutions and plans to implement autonomous robots throughout its consolidated service center. This shift has resulted in overall improved efficiency, enhanced quality of service to clinical customers and reduced costs. Specific results include a 220% picking/packing productivity increase, 99% stock supply fill rate and a 30% per pick cost reduction.

Read Wellstar's success story to learn:

• How to lower costs by automating tasks and streamlining processes.
• How to right-size inventory levels and improve clinical service support with accurate, real-time data analytics.
• How to plan for scalability to accommodate an expanded service area.

Across the U.S., many emergency departments are under immense pressure as they face staffing shortages, heightened workplace violence and overutilization — all of which play a role in increased patient boarding times in hospital EDs.

While no one solution will solve these issues, an interoperable and connected ecosystem is key in mitigating common challenges. This whitepaper explores the top challenges EDs are navigating today, and how closing the gap between disconnected systems enhances overall operations and enables the delivery of higher quality emergency care.

Key learning points:

• What an interoperable, connected network looks like in the ED
• Solving common challenges through increased connectivity
• Improve patient throughput, anticipate violence & reduce staff burden

Hospitals and health systems face a difficult recruitment and retention environment. A well-crafted employee value proposition can be an important element in addressing the challenge.

Health insurance, paid time-off and access to a retirement savings plan top the list of benefits valued most highly among healthcare employees, with no other benefit coming close. That is according to the TIAA Institute's new report, Toward an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) in the Healthcare Sector. The report looked at registered nurses, physicians and surgeons, as well as other medical and non-medical professionals.

The report identifies:

• The benefits and workplace attributes that are most important to healthcare employees when seeking new employment or deciding to remain with their current employer.
• How an EVP can be a strategic tool to position organizations as employers of choice by responding to the needs and expectations of the workforce.

Healthcare organizations often look to improve retention and bolster clinical, operational and financial performance with leadership development programs. Unfortunately, these initiatives often do not deliver their promised value.

This new report provides a framework for high-quality leadership development, empowering top executives to make workforce development investments that will deliver a meaningful ROI and help organizations meet their goals.

Learnings include:

• A four-phase leadership development roadmap
• The program elements necessary to ensure success and drive buy-in
• How to avoid the most common missteps that abound in leadership development program design and delivery

The 2024 Nurse Salary and Job Satisfaction Report includes data and insights from more than 3,600 nurses nationwide.

The report breaks down data according to demographic groups and type of licensure and reveals trends related to nurse salaries, benefits and job satisfaction. It also explores the prevalence and impact of workplace violence, as well as mental health challenges nurses face.
Nurses also shared which of their skills they thought were underutilized by their employers and their intentions to change employers or relocate for job opportunities.

Key points

• Salaries for RNs have increased by 2.6%, compared to the 2022 report
• Across all licensures, nurses shared the goal of continuing their education, which for many, resulted in higher salaries
• Workplace violence from patients, patients' family members, and even colleagues remain a pressing concern for nurses

The ongoing shortage of providers in the United States and the growing demand for care in rural areas creates the perfect storm for rural healthcare organizations. While this is already a challenging environment, it is compounded by the reluctance of many providers to move out of larger cities and urban areas.

Give this, how can rural healthcare organizations find, engage and retain physicians and advanced practice clinicians? It all comes down to a deep understanding of your ideal candidate and putting a strong recruitment plan in place that speaks to them holistically.

Key learning points:

• Understand how the goals and priorities of physicians seeking placement in rural settings differ from urban environments
• Get actionable tips for recruiting and retaining top talent in a rural organization
• Learn how to build an effective, data-driven physician and APC recruitment strategy

Leave management in healthcare has unique challenges, including strict staffing guidelines, replacement worker management, fitness for duty requirements, and much more. In our recent forecast survey, 55% of healthcare HR teams reported an increase in leave requests in 2023.

More employees going on leave means more employees returning to work. Combined with unprecedented challenges in recruitment and retention, it's more critical than ever for HR teams to review, improve, and streamline their return-to-work processes.

This brief guide covers:

• The effect a comprehensive return-to-work program has on employee retention and satisfaction
• Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations
• Saving on recruitment and replacement worker costs

In 2022, Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System embarked on a journey to build a more balanced workforce, standardize operations and gain enterprisewide staffing visibility.

This white paper explores how the system successfully implemented a new contingent labor strategy to stabilize rates and improve the quality of candidates, leveraging analytics to allow them to visualize all contingent labor on one digital platform, providing actionable data imperative to strategic decision-making.

Read the case study to learn how HSHS:

• Cut average time to fill from 18 days to six, despite increased patient demand
• Lowered clinician bill rates by 24%
• Reduced overtime hours by 27%
• Achieved $9.2M to $14.2M in estimated total cost savings over a 12-month period

A growing number of healthcare professionals ― including physicians and advanced practitioners ― have chosen to work on temporary assignments rather than permanent, full-time roles amid high rates of burnout, provider shortages and turnover.

In this report, you'll access new findings from AMN Healthcare's 2024 Survey of Locum Tenens Physicians and Advanced Practitioners, which collected experiences, perspectives and demographics of 589 physicians and advanced practitioners working locum tenens nationwide.

Download to see more findings, including:

• Issues of burnout persist. Physicians and advanced practitioners are choosing to work locum tenens primarily to improve their working conditions and address feelings of burnout.
• Schedules are a key attraction. Nearly half (45%) of survey respondents said they would return to permanent practice if schedules, compensation and other aspects of the practice were favorable.
• Younger providers are working differently. Physicians and advanced practitioners are choosing to work locum tenens earlier in their careers (81% started working locum tenens either right out of training or mid-career).

The healthcare industry has reached a tipping point where consumers don't blindly trust brand promises or provider referrals when seeking care. Their increased reliance on crowdsourced feedback means that providers need to prioritize reviews, star ratings and accurate business listings to establish brand trust.

This report includes key insights on consumer feedback trends, hospital rankings and strategies to boost reputational performance from leading systems.

Key insights:

• Trends on consumer feedback and health system's reputational performance
• 50 health systems + 20 hospitals with the highest reputation scores
• How healthcare marketers can build and execute a reputation performance program

In today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, staffing issues pose significant challenges. However, it is possible to build a workforce that is not only adaptable but also cost-effective and efficient, ultimately leading to better patient care.

This white paper includes the insights and tools needed to tackle the complexities of talent acquisition in the healthcare industry and provides talent strategies to address clinical labor shortages in the healthcare recruitment landscape. Learn how to implement scalable and flexible recruitment strategies, create compelling recruitment campaigns, foster candidate engagement, and build a talent pipeline that drives organizational growth.

Key learnings:

• Gain actionable tactics to elevate your healthcare recruitment efforts
• Explore how candidate marketing can be used to attract and retain top-tier talent
• Discover insights on building a talent pipeline that drives organizational growth

As clinical staff demand flexibility in their schedules and working arrangements, health system leaders have raised concerns about what it means for productivity and their bottom line. However, some organizations are finding that strategic use of on-demand workers and flexible scheduling options are enhancing operational efficiency and improving patient care.

In this white paper, you'll learn how a $6 billion health system revolutionized its workforce management through an innovative, on-demand nursing tool. The health system achieved $85 million in savings, streamlined onboarding processes and optimized staffing levels across its 23 hospitals. By successfully onboarding 1,500 healthcare professionals, the health system demonstrated its current growth and commitment to meeting healthcare demands.

Read more to learn:

• How the health system saved $85 million through strategic implementation of an on-demand nursing technology
• The benefits of flexible scheduling options and expedited onboarding processes in optimizing workforce management
• How this technology facilitated seamless transitions to full-time employment for healthcare professionals

Left unchecked, healthcare's workplace violence crisis will have profound effects on staff engagement, patient satisfaction and quality outcomes. With workers increasingly facing violent and aggressive events on the job, safety has emerged as a central focus for hospital and health system leaders.

Increasingly, nurses and other workers are prioritizing safety in their choice of employment. Now, hospitals are strengthening their approach to foster and elevate a culture of safety and transparency to protect patients and staff, and ensure teams can work without fears about a lack of security.

Becker's and Commure recently caught up with hospital executives to learn more about how their organizations are bolstering security and fostering a culture of safety.

Download a summary of the conversation to learn about:

• Specific security-related interventions hospitals are seeing success with
• Effective, transparent communication with employees about safety measures
• Best practices for creating an integrated safety strategy, and the role technology plays

Creating a safe and supportive workplace where employees can thrive is the top priority for hospital leaders. However, creating such an environment presents numerous challenges for leaders.

This guide can help hospital leaders and executives supplement or accelerate their work on professional well-being at the operational level.

What makes this guide special:

• Builds upon existing research and resources from organizations who have made strides to address healthcare worker burnout.
• Includes six evidence-informed actions with useful background information and tools to fully equip leaders to make improvements.
• Real-world tested in six hospitals across the United States.

 

Facing frequent no-shows, high staff turnover and resource draining, paper-based processes in patient access, Wayne HealthCare was due for a digital upgrade.

Read the case study to learn how using EngageCare self-service technology to transition administrative and financial tasks to patients helped Wayne improve patient safety, reduce no-shows and increase staff efficiency.

Download a copy of the case study to learn how Wayne:

• Reduced denials 80 percent
• Decreased no-shows and cancellations, saving revenue
• Reallocated staff and eliminated need to fill 5 vacant positions

Supply chain inefficiencies cost hospitals $25.7 billion annually. With the right strategies, however, supply chain teams can not only lower supply chain and healthcare costs but also serve as a direct bridge to improved care quality.

At the Becker's Supply Chain Leadership Virtual Forum, six healthcare supply chain experts discussed their systems' supply chain transformation efforts and shared how supply chains can become a strategic asset when bolstered by the power of data, standardization and process efficiency. This report offers seven takeaways from the discussion.

Key learnings:

• How labor challenges are affecting supply chain teams
• Top priorities for healthcare supply chain leaders in 2022
• The key to successful supply chain transformations
  
  

Learn how we worked with this fully-integrated healthcare system to deliver a whole-person approach to care for its employees and spouses with chronic conditions.

Results include:

• A coordinated experience across conditions for people living with both diabetes and hypertension Multiyear impact on clinical diabetes measures, including reduced HbA1c levels and a fewer hypoglycemic readings
• Measurable impact on systolic and diastolic blood pressure rates among those with uncontrolled hypertension
• Reduced spending incurred through medical care, emergency room visits and pharmacy costs associated with managing chronic conditions, resulting in a positive ROI

Before COVID-19, the opioid epidemic was the nation's most consequential public health threat. The pandemic has magnified the impact of the opioid crisis on communities as unemployment, homelessness and behavioral health disorder rates soar.

Learn how eight organizations across the country have used technology and collaboration to achieve the following:

• 61 percent reduction in opioid prescriptions
• 32 percent reduction in opioid deaths
• 50 percent decrease in emergency department visits for patients with high utilization patterns
• $34 million in cost savings

This downloadable whitepaper will cover:

• Four proven strategies for addressing the opioid epidemic on an organizational and community level
• Statewide efforts to reduce opioid prescribing and use, including implementation of seven best practices for prescription opioids
• How collaboration helped achieve measurable results outside opioids — including decreased ED visits and significant cost savings

For healthcare to overcome its most vexing and long-standing challenges, advancements in both clinical and operational innovation are necessary. However, in the healthcare C-suite, there is no shortage of competing priorities. How are leaders navigating these priorities? Where are they seeing progress toward innovation, and where has progress stalled?

To learn more about where innovation ranks among hospital and health system leaders' current concerns and strategic initiatives, Becker's Healthcare and T-Mobile for Business conducted a survey among senior healthcare leaders. This report assesses the findings.

Key learnings include:

• A breakdown of health system leaders' innovation priorities
• Why a lack of resources is hampering advancement in innovation
• Why most health systems want to enhance connectivity

Healthcare is on the brink of a tech-driven transformation, and government healthcare organizations are at the forefront of this change. While much of the conversation about transformation in healthcare focuses on delivering new therapies and curing previously incurable diseases, it's important to remember that biotech and pharma are not the only parts of the healthcare ecosystem benefiting from new technologies. Government healthcare organizations are leveraging technology to transform patient experiences, from the frontlines of patient care to the offices of hospitals and call centers across the country. IT leaders in government healthcare are harnessing innovations in healthcare IT to streamline each patient-care touchpoint, from routine communications to care delivery, while also alleviating the workloads of their teams on the backend. At the heart of this transformation is the desire to improve the lives and well-being of patients, and to provide them with the best possible care.

Healthcare leaders face a dilemma: They must innovate to increase care access, improve outcomes, deliver better patient experiences and stem rising costs; at the same time, they also must contend with capital constraints and limited resources to devote to innovations that will move the needle.

During Becker's 14th Annual Meeting, hospital and health system executives from across the country discussed the need for innovation, challenges that hinder these efforts and best practices to foster necessary advancements within their organizations.

This report contains key takeaways from the session. Areas of focus include:

• The most prominent constraints hindering innovation and how to overcome them
• The new models health systems are embracing to drive and fund innovation
• The areas of healthcare operations most primed for transformation

Artificial intelligence can revolutionize healthcare, with its potential to enhance diagnoses and treatments and drive needed efficiency at hospitals and health systems.

However, before AI can be widely implemented and fully embraced, the significant ethical, social and legal challenges this technology presents must be addressed. During a recent virtual fireside chat hosted by Becker's Healthcare, David Rhew, MD, global chief medical officer for Microsoft, discussed how responsible and trustworthy AI health networks can offer an objective and transparent assessment of AI models.

Learnings include:

• Why ethical AI is an imperative in healthcare
• How AI can help address healthcare's most intractable challenges
• New guidelines for the ethical AI from the TRAIN consortium

Launching or expanding a telehealth and remote patient monitoring program can be an intimidating task. From establishing goals and determining your financial plan, to choosing a technology partner and building clinician and patient buy-in, there are many essential factors to consider to ensure your program is successful.

This guide will serve as a resource for your organization as you start the telehealth implementation journey.

Key learnings:

• Tips for defining your RPM program goals, including a financial plan and patient outcomes
• An overview of different care delivery models
• 15 questions to ask your telehealth partner

Hospital-at-home initiatives and remote patient monitoring are top priorities for healthcare organizations nationwide. These programs gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering numerous benefits, such as improved bed capacity, increased access to care and reduced readmissions.

Learn more about the current state of care-at-home programs and what the future may hold as two leaders from York-Pa.-based WellSpan Health shared their perspectives.

Key learnings:

• Why programs are considering switching vendors
• The future of care at home
• As the care at home model matures, health systems need enterprise solution vendors that can serve the entire care continuum

Implementing virtual care comes with a unique set of challenges. CIOs must implement reliable virtual care technology to support the bedside teams while controlling the cost of the technology – a difficult task when IT leadership is already short-staffed and under pressure to tighten their budgets.

Download the guide to learn:

• Top 3 use cases for a virtual care platform
• CIO’s checklist for choosing a virtual care vendor
• The virtual care adoption model for a successful rollout and future proofing

Vast adoption of artificial intelligence and automation technologies in the revenue cycle is well established ― but as economic, workforce and efficiency constraints persist at hospitals and health systems, demonstrating real return on investment is essential.

This white paper explores the multiple ways AI can help generate net new revenue opportunities for hospitals and health systems; offers advice on choosing the right technology partner; and breaks down whether to consider novel pricing structures, such as contingency-based pricing, to increase ROI.

Download to learn more about:

• Improving RCM efficiency, including pre-bill review
• Identifying and remediating claims errors
• Innovative pricing models

Organizations across the healthcare industry are grappling with the difficult task of managing an ever-increasing volume of patient data. These efforts are often complicated by hazards such as incomplete and unreliable information – resulting in "dirty data lakes" that can hinder effective patient care and operational efficiency.

This eBook delves into the challenges of poor data quality and offers insights on how to overcome them with natural language processing and normalization.

Key learning points:

• The potential of AI-powered autonomous coding to improve data reliability
• The effect of data inaccuracies on analytics and revenue cycle management
• How quality data underpins effective reporting and healthcare delivery

At most health systems, demand is on the rise, staff shortages are a chronic problem, reimbursements are down — and asset utilization isn't what it should be. The result is a poor patient experience and worsening hospital economics. However, AI technology can help health systems manage assets and human resources more effectively to unlock enormous amounts of capacity and value.

These were among the overarching themes of the recent Transform Hospital Operations Virtual Summit held during Becker's 14th Annual Meeting. Real-world case studies were presented with results that included saving OR staff 25 hours per week and achieving a $45M ROI.

In this whitepaper, you'll find key takeaways and insights from the event. Organizations represented at Transform included:

• CommonSpirit Health (Chicago)
• Oregon Health & Science University (Portland)
• NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City)

Choosing the right technology solution can be a challenging process for hospitals and health systems — especially when artificial intelligence (AI) is involved. When selecting an AI technology partner, leaders must consider crucial factors such as ethics, equity, data privacy and security.

This whitepaper contains real-world lessons in AI vendor selection from Cooper University Health Care (Camden, N.J.).

Key learning points:

• Why internal stakeholder engagement is key
• Why selecting the right AI vendors requires careful evaluation
• How healthcare organizations aim to leverage AI responsibly

Technology's role in enhancing patient care and reducing provider burden is top of mind for nearly all leaders in healthcare. However, questions related to oversight, responsible use and potential consequences linger.

Executives from Houston Methodist, Berlin, N.H.-based North Country Healthcare and Elsevier, a scientific publishing and data analytics company, discussed current challenges within digital health and AI as part of a panel session at Becker's 14th Annual meeting.

This report features key lessons from the session, including:

• Determining the best governance approach when adopting digital technologies
• Best practices for interdisciplinary collaboration & change management
• Keeping the workforce engaged as AI's role in healthcare grows

In 2021, North Kansas City Hospital started automating vaccine scheduling. Over the course of three months, NKCH and Meritas Health administered over 97,000 vaccines and achieved a 99% patient satisfaction rate.

Since then, they’ve integrated automation into their entire digital front door—everything from patient access to population health—and they’ve learned a lot along the way.

In this whitepaper, you’ll learn:

How NKCH and Meritas Health has approached automating workflows across registration & intake, authorizations, and population health to augment Oracle Health
How automation has helped them maintain their independence in a competitive market
The real patient and staff outcomes they’ve achieved over the past two years

To adequately meet the healthcare needs of this patient population — while managing capacity and keeping costs down — hospitals and health systems are embracing remote patient monitoring technology.

Learn what two experts have to say about deploying remote patient monitoring technology and how RPM can help patients manage cardiac-related conditions, while reducing care costs for health systems.

Key learnings:

The costs of heart disease and related comorbidities
How remote patient monitoring can help to reduce hospitalizations and healthcare utilization
How using remote patient monitoring leads to clinical efficiencies and improved health outcomes

By and large, healthcare leaders are optimistic about the potential for artificial intelligence-powered tools to address a wide variety of operational and clinical issues. The first step in getting there is establishing governance and aligning with industry regulations — a significant challenge given how quickly the technology landscape evolves.

At Becker's 14th Annual Meeting, CDW sponsored a roundtable discussion with executive leaders on how organizations can stand up effective governance for AI initiatives within their organizations. This brief report highlights key insights from the conversation.

Key takeaways:

Determining when an AI tool will actually deliver value
Keeping data at the core of AI governance
Top areas where organizations are using AI

In the complex world of healthcare, where every decision affects patient safety and privacy, navigating the maze of regulatory compliance isn't just essential – it's a critical lifeline for maintaining trust, safeguarding data, and ensuring the highest standards of care.

In today's world of constantly changing and complicated regulations, technology stands out as a reliable ally, offering efficiency and effectiveness. Gain insights into the benefits of centralized platforms for showcasing compliance evidence, transforming how healthcare organizations demonstrate adherence to regulatory standards and cultivate a climate of outstanding patient care and data protection.

What to expect:

• Unlock a practical five-step checklist for effortless compliance.
• Gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic healthcare regulatory changes, including pivotal standards like HIPAA and their impact on compliance efforts.
• Gain insights into the benefits of centralized platforms for showcasing compliance evidence, revolutionizing how healthcare organizations demonstrate adherence to regulatory standards.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform healthcare.

In this whitepaper, learn how healthcare organizations across the country are deploying AI-powered technology and opportunities to improve clinical, operational and financial performance.

Key learning points:

• Three criteria for effective AI integration
• Overcoming implementation barriers
• Maximizing ROI with smart AI selection

Last year a Bain & Co. survey found that only 6% of health system executives had established a generative AI strategy.

Today, we’ve moved well beyond hype to the hope that advanced AI will be able to reshape the healthcare industry.

At Notable, we’ve spent the past eight months deploying conversational AI at patient care organizations throughout the United States, and we’ve learned valuable lessons along the way.

In this whitepaper, you’ll learn:

• Why an AI-readiness audit and strategy are essential first steps
• How conversational AI can deliver better experiences for patients and staff
• How leading healthcare organizations are putting the technology to work
• How AI is enabling organizations to rapidly iterate and optimize their workflows
• Successful approaches to programming conversational AI to meet specific outcomes

Hospitals face inpatient bed capacity constraints from extended stays, staffing shortages and overcrowding.

This article examines how care-at-home solutions alleviate strain by facilitating early discharges, transitional care, chronic disease management and resource optimization. Provider insights and outcomes along with market data demonstrate these programs improve capacity while enhancing patient care delivery.

Key learning points:

• Uncover the underlying challenges that are leading to constrained inpatient bed capacity
• How innovative care-at-home solutions can help unlock hospital capacity
• Insights from leading health systems about successful care-at-home programs

In critical care, time is crucial and always in short supply.

However, new technology can empower clinicians to make the most of every moment by delivering real-time, data-driven insights to the bedside. Having a digital view into each patient's clinical story as it's happening can support swift, effective decision making in the moments that matter most.

Read this white paper to learn more about the potential of these technologies to reshape critical care.

The operating room is a crucial area of the health system. What happens in the OR has significant implications for patient care as well as the entire organization's financial performance.

Increasingly, ORs are outfitted with robotic surgical systems. When managed effectively, these systems can support efficient care delivery and quality surgical outcomes. However, they are significant investments — a single robot can cost as much as $2.5 million to purchase, while maintenance, supply, and leasing fees can mount up over time. To maximize the return on investment for surgical robots, hospital leaders must use a data-driven and strategic approach to optimize their efficiency. This playbook details the "magic equation" — of AI-powered automation, integrated workflows, and change management — needed to achieve that goal.

Learnings include:

• How to leverage data, AI-powered automation, integrated workflows, and change management to drive improved robot utilization and ROI
• A checklist of exactly what health systems need from an effective robot utilization solution
• Case study: How Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville (Fla.) delayed spending on additional robots

Healthcare government organizations face numerous challenges in meeting their healthcare mission, including the need for secure and compliant sharing of personal health information across multiple devices, users, and locations. In this eBook, learn how partnering with Lumen can provide your healthcare agency with the talent, expertise and infrastructure needed to unlock the full potential of your data and rapidly adopt game-changing technologies. Take advantage of the full range of capabilities needed for success in a digital-first business landscape, delivered in a simple platform approach that makes it easy to manage IT operations while also potentially reducing costs.

Key learnings:

• Unlock the keys to a winning digital transformation strategy across multiple business locations
• How to optimize omnichannel and deliver exceptional digital and physical healthcare experiences
• Explore ways to mitigate supply chain and cybersecurity risks

Effective clinical decision-making and treatment plans often hinge on data from diagnostic laboratories. But for many healthcare organizations, the patient data clinicians need is fragmented and siloed, making it difficult to integrate or match to the right patient — which can have severe consequences.

This whitepaper highlights Sonora Quest Laboratories' digital transformation journey to drive interoperability through identity data management. Sonora Quest Laboratories is a large, integrated diagnostic lab and joint venture between Phoenix-based Banner Health and Quest Diagnostics.

Download to learn:

• Challenges Sonora Quest faced in data identity management, per their CIO
• Four key takeaways from Sonora Quest's digital transformation + real results they achieved
• Best practices for improving patient matching technology

The mindset toward health IT is changing for many healthcare leaders. Organizations benefit by steering away from the “necessary expense” perspective to consider IT as a strategic asset. When this mindset is embraced, health IT is a powerful enabler for truly scaling and achieving operational efficiency across the enterprise.

This brief report discusses how leveraging health IT through comprehensive managed services can achieve sustainable growth.

Key learning points:

• Leveraging IT as a true asset to transform how care is delivered and overall operations
• How providers should strategize through partnerships to secure the greatest possible total value for their systems over time, instead of prioritizing the greatest short-term savings
• Examples on how a comprehensive managed services strategy provides opportunities for scale that aren't typically possible when IT delivery is solely handled in-house

Despite AI's meteoric rise in popularity across industries, healthcare has lagged behind on adoption, with 60% of leaders reporting their company is not moving quickly enough. At the same time, 86% of leaders believe the ability to effectively leverage tech, data and AI will define success over the next five years, meaning organizations need to bridge the gap quickly.

With healthcare's privacy, regulatory and security concerns adding a layer of complexity to AI implementation, the right third-party AI partner can offer a path forward — but healthcare organizations need to know what to look for. This whitepaper uses findings from a survey of healthcare leaders to examine AI adoption, barriers and factors for a successful AI partnership.

You'll learn:

• Where other organizations are in their AI journey
• How to lay the groundwork for successful AI adoption
• How to choose long-term partners to support AI growth and ROI

 

By now, healthcare leaders are familiar with AI's potential to alleviate documentation burden, lighten clinicians' cognitive load and streamline operations overall, but only 6% of organizations currently have a generative AI strategy in place.

Many leaders have been overwhelmed by how quickly the technology has burst into the public consciousness and the hype surrounding it. Hospital leaders need clarity on generative AI’s risks and use cases if they’re to create a successful strategy, and apply the technology safely and effectively.

In this guide, we look beyond the hype to explore five key areas every healthcare organization should consider when developing an AI strategy and assessing potential vendors’ solutions.

Key learning points:

• Criteria to look for in a vendor to ensure their solutions fit daily practices in healthcare
• Crafting a responsible approach to AI
• How to prioritize solutions that can be deployed effectively in real-world environments

 

Given the breadth and depth of potential use cases, one thing is clear – more and more people will find themselves working in environments where ML plays a critical role. And thanks to the emergence of low-code and no-code software, ML is no longer the exclusive preserve of programmers, data scientists, and people who paid attention in math class. More of us can – and will – be involved in developing and deploying practical ML solutions.

This eGuide will help you understand:

 

• The key concepts behind ML and common applications
• How it’s becoming more useful to people at all levels of organizations

 

At virtually every stage of a patient’s wellbeing, different forms of technology and software support the expansion of better healthcare. As the reliance on technology grows, ensuring that these lifesaving systems don’t break under the strain is imperative.

  To keep operations running smoothly, healthcare IT professionals must perform regular and exhaustive testing. Fortunately, the introduction of automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI) has made testing easier to deliver.

In this eBook from Keysight Technologies, you will discover  

• How automation can improve workflow management to help physicians and patients alike
• How AI-driven test automation helps your EMR become more interoperable and user-friendly
• Six critical tasks that can be optimized with robotic process automation
• The importance of testing both on-site and wearable medical devices

 

Please fill out the form to download the eBook.

Medical coding is plagued by complexity, with more than 70,000 codes, dense records and inefficient processes.

Health systems have traditionally turned to technology for help, though most existing tools have distinct limitations that result in lower accuracy or inflexible service-line viability. But where old rules-based tech stumbled, generative AI runs.

This whitepaper outlines six things medical coding solutions should offer teams — and how generative AI can contribute to each of them. Learn how this new technology can help systems:

• Enhance coder productivity and accuracy
• Achieve more comprehensive coding coverage
• Rescue burned out staff members

The topic of value-based care has generated more heat than light in recent years. But there are signs the industry may be at a tipping point. The confluence of cost pressures, workforce shortages and consumer demands are driving more hospitals to get serious about value-based care strategies.

In this report, hospital leaders weigh in on how they're forging a path to profitability under value-based care. It covers how leaders are taking control of the move to full-risk, aligning strategies, payer relationships and more.

Key learning points:

• Overview of current trends driving the shift to value-based care
• The range of VBC approaches health systems are taking
• Key thoughts on alignment with physicians and payers

Health systems' efforts to collect payments are often inefficient and costly, leading to confusion and frustration among patients. To maintain strong patient relationships and offer a positive financial experience, health systems must embrace creative solutions.

Revenue cycle leaders from hospitals nationwide discussed key challenges surrounding the patient payment experience and how they're working to address them during a recent advisory call hosted by RevSpring.

This report offers key takeaways from the discussion, including:

• 4 top payment collection challenges
• 6 strategies to improve collections and boost financial outcomes
• Opportunities to incorporate data and intelligence

It's time for healthcare financial leaders to acknowledge that the current state of patient billing isn't working. Health systems are grappling with labor shortages, a high cost to collect and shrinking margins. These issues lead to a poor patient experience with elevated call hold times and a lack of clarity regarding patients' payment options — or even why they owe what they owe in the first place.

This report outlines key opportunities for health systems to improve billing experiences, increasing the likelihood of patients paying — all while lowering costs, easing strain on staff and delivering a positive patient financial experience.

Get the report to learn:

• What 2,000+ healthcare consumers want from billing experiences
• How to create an actionable AR strategy
• How health systems can address rising costs and staff shortages

Healthcare leaders' focus on cost containment is far from new, but initiatives are evolving to adapt to growing needs around capacity, efficiency and a changing workforce, as well as strategic opportunities identified with internal and comparative data.    

This e-book highlights key takeaways from an exclusive discussion with chief administrative and financial leaders from major hospitals and health systems, who outlined strategies they're using to optimize revenue, promote growth and sustainability, and gain a competitive edge in the markets they serve.

You'll learn:

• How leaders are reframing their mindsets around efficiency, cost effectiveness and quality
• Opportunities for driving improvements with benchmarking and clinical documentation
• Diverse approaches to labor cost-reduction strategies

Technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly transforming the healthcare revenue cycle, helping health systems achieve more accurate billing, streamlined workflows and improved financial performance. However, this innovation is also creating new challenges for organizations, particularly as payers increasingly use AI to deny claims.

Healthcare Executives from hospitals and health systems across the country discussed the future of revenue cycle functions and how their organizations are aiming to level the playing field with payers during a roundtable at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting.

Major themes examined during the conversation include:

• Where RCM operations are heading
• AI's role in revenue cycle functions
• How healthcare executives are preparing now for future challenges

The majority of leading health systems — 73% — have more than four revenue cycle management partners, indicating ample opportunity to further improve efficiency and outcomes in the revenue cycle. 

To better understand how financial performance is affected by the management of multiple vendors, The Health Management Academy partnered with Waystar to conduct a study. 

Leaders from systems with over $2 billion in total operating revenue were either surveyed or interviewed for deeper insights on what contributes to a winning RCM strategy. 

We compiled their insights in this report, which covers:  

• Why leading healthcare systems are moving toward RCM software consolidation
• Key lessons on how to win with a platform strategy
• What to look for in a new RCM platform and how to choose the right partner 

Healthcare merger and acquisition activity remained steady in 2023 and is expected to accelerate through the end of this year. This forecast signals a transformative period for healthcare leaders, demanding acute awareness of emerging trends and strategic opportunities. 

VMG Health's report offers a comprehensive look at the healthcare M&A landscape in 2023 — and the outlook for 2024 — across 12 healthcare settings and specialties, including hospitals, post-acute care, behavioral health and private equity. 

Key topics coverage for each setting include:

• M&A trends and notable transactions
• Regulatory shifts
• Reimbursement trends

Healthcare organizations in 2024 need real-time access to financial data to inform and empower the decisions they have to make on a daily (and often hourly) basis.

Today's healthcare organizations face challenges that extend well beyond delivering excellent patient care. Increasingly stringent regulatory requirements regarding HIPAA and electronic record-keeping call for a robust healthcare enterprise resource planning software that does much more than provide accounting functionality and access to financial data.

This eBook dives into the latest trends and challenges to help find the right solutions for your organization.

Key learning points:

• The evolving role of technology in healthcare finance
• The challenges of legacy software in healthcare
• HIPAA compliance considerations

2023 was a year of recovery for U.S. healthcare organizations, as many worked to rebuild financial health following a challenging 2022. Even with revenue and margin gains, ongoing expense pressures slowed progress.

Despite continued challenges, healthcare leaders are optimistic about 2024, citing their top priorities as reducing costs, managing strategic and performance improvement initiatives, and managing service line financial performance.

In this whitepaper you'll learn:

• CFOs' top priorities for 2024
• How healthcare organizations are leveraging data
• Strategies and opportunities for a successful 2024

As many health systems operate on slim workforces and margins, denials continue to pose threats to efficiency. To meet growing demands in the revenue cycle, healthcare leaders should direct more time and attention to labor productivity using an essential tool: key performance indicators.

Knowing the relevant KPIs to monitor, however, isn't always clear amid increasing complexity and overwhelming amounts of available data.

This white paper breaks down nine recommended KPIs that healthcare leaders should track to improve organizational performance, the nuances of these measures and how to leverage technology to meet them.

Key points:

• Leading KPIs, how to calculate each type and an action plan to put them to use right away
• Guidance on the "why" behind each KPI and how to set realistic expectations applicable to their current situation — rather than simply following industry standards
• Best practices for collaboration that can help sustain the process of collecting and analyzing the right KPI data and improve specific measures

Healthcare organizations are making strides with patient access, though there is still much room for improvement, particularly in convenience and price transparency.

This report examined the perspectives of more than 1,200 healthcare employees, patients and guardians on the state of patient access in 2024, including:

• How well patient access functions are managed in U.S. healthcare
• What functions are best meeting patient and staff members' expectations
• Providers' primary cause of denied claims
• The biggest pain point for patients

Revenue cycle leaders know there is a synergistic relationship between digital payment platforms and patient financing in healthcare. This whitepaper examines how technology platforms have transformed healthcare financial operations and patient engagement, spotlighting the challenges of relying solely on digital platforms for patient pay collections.

Through an analysis of the digital payment platforms' role and the hidden costs of their independent use, the paper highlights the complementary nature of patient financing solutions on both financial outcomes for health systems and patient experiences.

Key takeaways in this whitepaper:

• Discover how the integration of digital payment platforms with comprehensive patient financing solutions can address the shortcomings of standalone systems.
• Learn about the benefits of combining digital ease with flexible financing solutions, including the reduction of bad debt, increased patient loyalty and improved financial health for health systems.
• Understand the importance of leveraging data-driven insights from patient financing solutions to make informed decisions that mitigate financial risks while enhancing patient care.
• Gain insights into how the combination of digital platforms and patient financing solutions can lead to more efficient collections at the lowest cost.

Health systems are grappling with increasing levels of uncompensated care as healthcare costs rise and insurance coverage remains inadequate for a significant portion of the population.

This whitepaper outlines key opportunities for organizations to maximize revenue recovery efforts while improving cash flow and operations.

Learn to adapt to rising costs with insights on:

• Understanding the current healthcare environment regarding rising costs, COVID-19 impacts and Medicaid redetermination
• Focusing on more than cost-cutting
• Auditing your current solutions and processes

 

Medicare and Medicaid administration can be nightmarishly complicated with interconnected programs and requirements. Even for those well-versed in the fundamental rules, hidden pitfalls can lead to significant financial gains or losses, often in the millions.

The silver lining is that proactive steps can be taken to safeguard revenue and optimize reimbursement. This tip sheet presents healthcare finance leaders with five practical strategies to attain excellence in government reimbursement, encompassing: 

• Fundamental pathways to follow for financial success
• Tactical approaches to ensure ongoing compliance
• Proven methods to maximize reimbursement potential

Selling a medical practice can be a difficult process to navigate. Without the right strategies and team in place, owners will likely leave substantial money on the table. This whitepaper outlines how owners can avoid this common mistake and highlights considerations when evaluating potential buyers. These concepts are brought to life in a two-part case study that showcases how an owner was able to increase a physician’s post-sale, after-tax net worth by 77%.

Key learnings:  

• How practice owners can best position themselves in the market with a strategic buyer or private equity (PE) platform
• The value that an investment banker-led marketed process brings vs a non-marketed process
• Strategies to maximize personal wealth for physician owners through pre-sale and post-sale wealth planning

 

Beyond clinical staff, labor shortages are putting significant pressure on the revenue cycle function at hospitals and health systems, leading to negative consequences on the bottom line and for patient engagement. 

This report uncovers findings from a survey of 200 employees responsible for staffing the revenue cycle function at provider organizations, demonstrating how chronic staff shortages of non-clinical staff affect the revenue cycle at their organization. Before the pandemic, the situation was concerning. Now, it's unsustainable.

Download the report to learn where there are opportunities to address top challenges and position your organization for long-term stability.

Sample findings: 

• 96% of respondents indicated that payer reimbursements, patient collections -- or both -- were affected by staff shortages
• More than 8 out of 10 respondents say the patient experience is worse due to staffing shortages 
• 92% of respondents say new staff members make errors that negatively affect claims

Health systems are painfully aware of the complexities of revenue cycle management and understand the need for RCM partners. In fact, 93% of health systems rely on at least one RCM partner.

But there are different reasons for pursuing RCM partnerships and very different approaches to partnership. Which approach and partners are best for your organization?

Here are insights from new research conducted with the Health Management Academy:

• 4 key reasons health systems pursue RCM partnerships
• 2 primary approaches to RCM partnership, and the key differences between them
• Factors to consider when vetting and evaluating RCM partnerships
• Why so many leading health systems are considering enterprise RCM partnerships

The key takeaway: RCM partnerships are necessary but they're not all alike. Understand the differences to make the best RCM decision for your health system.

High deductible health plans (HDHPs) have shifted the already-complex payer reimbursement burden onto the shoulders of consumers who are unprepared to bear it.

Consumers, on the one hand, need increased support to understand their bills and figure out how to pay them. On the other hand, patients with more skin in the game are becoming more demanding about the quality of their customer experience.

These changes necessitate a new patient payment model that focuses on delivering convenience and clear communication to patients, driving both quicker payments and increased patient satisfaction.

Download this whitepaper to learn:

• The current state of patient collections, with data
• How to help patients take charge of their new responsibility
• How to identify hidden coverage
• How to increase the likelihood of quick, easy payment

The economic landscape of the healthcare market has been forever altered by the COVID-19 crisis. Existing challenges have intensified, and the pace of change is accelerating, raising the bar for organizations to adapt strategically and quickly.

Download the e-book to learn more about how health leaders can ready their organization for growth with forward-thinking strategies that include:

• Meeting the consumer on their terms
• Adapting to new competition
• The growing role of strategic partnerships
• Mastering the new indicators of growth
• Tracking the spend of the health care dollar

Operating health systems and physician practices has always been hard, but COVID-19 has created extraordinary profitability challenges in 2020. Lower volumes, changing case and payer mixes and greater operating margin anxiety make revenue optimization more essential than ever.

We asked physician management and healthcare organization leaders to share their strategies for overcoming the considerable challenges of this altered landscape. They offer 10 strategies for using data and analytics to better manage capacity, coordinate care and optimize revenues, including:

• Tracking real-time practice COVID-19 volumes
• Managing productivity and modifying physician incentive compensation
• Capturing charges efficiently and accurately at the point of care
• Improving throughput across the continuum

The white paper features expert views from:

• Dennis Deruelle, MD – Executive Director of Hospital Medicine, American Physician Partners
• Andrea Funk, RN, MEd, CPHQ – Vice President of Integrated Acute Care Operations, US Acute Care Solutions
• Derick D. Perkins – Founder and Managing Partner, Metis Advisors LLC

COVID-19 has pushed healthcare delivery beyond its breaking point, heightening the urgent need for accelerated patient care, improved clinical efficiencies and secure clinical communication with real-time critical patient updates.

Before the arrival of COVID-19, specific environmental trends were challenging the healthcare industry, such as acquisitions of smaller health systems by larger health systems, clinician shortages and burnout. These trends had already created an urgent demand for clinical communication platforms (CCP) that would work securely across growing networks of diverse care provider organizations. The arrival of COVID-19 has applied untold new pressures to already strained systems.

In this white paper, you will learn about:

• The impact and cost of COVID-19 on healthcare
• How clinical collaboration platforms improved communication during COVID-19
• Where you will see cost savings from leveraging clinical collaboration platforms
• What to look for in a clinical collaboration platform in order to achieve savings
• How clinical collaboration platforms can help your organization increase efficiency and achieve return on investment

Women today have enough to juggle without spending time in the hospital recovering from a surgical procedure. That's why outpatient providers are increasingly tapping multimodal pain management protocols and non-opioid medications to enable same-day discharges for a wide range of women’s health procedures.

Becker's ASC Review recently spoke with three experts about women's health procedures in the ASC and how innovative pain management products are transforming the patient experience. This whitepaper offers a summary of the conversation.

Key learnings:

• ERAS protocols for women's health procedures
• The benefits of same-day discharges for patients and providers
• Upcoming reimbursement changes for non-opioids like EXPAREL

Patients' heightened expectations for convenience and fast responses have spurred healthcare organizations to level up their contact centers, and move away from antiquated "call centers" that have historically led to rerouted calls, inefficiencies and frustration.

This interview with Ron Strachan, Healthcare CIO Advisor at Zoom shares what healthcare organizations — whether a provider, payer or life science company — need to build a modern, robust contact center.

Learning points:

• Why contact centers have gained renewed attention as a top priority
• How a cloud based, video enabled, contact center solution can expand patient engagement and satisfaction
• Ways the modern contact center can increase flexibility for physicians and potentially reduce burnout

Patients care about the clinical care they receive. And, increasingly, they're demanding more from their care experiences as well. With access to new technology and information, patients are eagerly vetting providers and practices for these organizations' ability to meet their needs and expectations.

Health systems must embrace these shifts to maintain their competitive edge now and in the future.

Learnings contained in this e-book include:

• The primary factors patients consider in selecting healthcare providers
• What the next generation of patient care means for security and compliance standards
• The reliable technology solutions health systems need most in this environment

A new study has found significant improvements in readmission rates and healthcare costs in ischemic stroke patients who were monitored with mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry, compared to those monitored with implantable loop recorders.

The research is based on an analysis of de-identified Optum claims data on patients who were hospitalized for ischemic stroke between 2017 and 2020. Download the full findings here.

Key findings:

• Patients monitored with Philips Mobile Cardiac Telemetry - MCOT were at 38% lower risk for emergency readmission for ischemic stroke than those monitored with ILR at 18 months.
• Patients monitored with MCOT following stroke had $27,429 lower average cost of care than those monitored with ILR.
• In the 18 months following the incident stroke, patient survival favored those monitored with MCOT compared to those monitored with ILR.

For infants in the NICU, the transition to independent oral feeding is a key milestone and often a last criterion before discharge. However, some infants need considerable support to develop the skill of non-nutritive sucking — one of the most complex and essential precursors to successful oral feeding. The effects of underdeveloped sucking skills can be profound for both the infants and their caregivers — including delayed transition to full oral feeds, increased length of stay in the NICU, altered neurodevelopmental outcomes and increased parental stress.

In this whitepaper, neonatal experts will share their experiences with feeding challenges for preterm infants and infants in the NICU, and they will recommend preventative measures that can be used in the NICU to address some of these difficulties.

Key discussion topics and takeaways:

• Why infants admitted to the NICU often present with underdeveloped sucking skills and the importance of developing strong non-nutritive sucking abilities.
• How underdeveloped sucking skills affect health or developmental outcomes for an infant.
• What challenges families or caregivers may face once an infant with feeding difficulties is discharged from the NICU.
• Resources, tools and preventative measures for hospitals and caregivers to address challenges with infants and feeding difficulties in the NICU.

A recent survey of consumers with a strong affinity to therapy commissioned by Thriveworks reveals that consumers are leaning into the hybrid world to seek and experience mental healthcare, with high standards for fit and quality care.

These key insights outline how consumers are most likely to seek mental healthcare, their preferences in delivery models and their expectations and desired outcomes in receiving care.

Key points:

• Consumers rely on a mix of the healthcare system and digital tools to guide them in mental health decisions
• Consumers want choice in how they participate in mental health, and they want covered services
• Consumers demand high quality care and are prepared to shop for best fit

When it comes to testing, many health systems limit their approach to focus on specific disease stages or cancer types. This strategy might be a way to fall behind as precision medicine advancements evolve.

To make personalized cancer care more accessible, organizations may consider effectively leveraging genomic testing, which can help identify potential clinical trial options and inform treatment alternatives.

This brief report outlines some ways organizations may make genomic testing more accessible to physicians and patients keeping cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes top of mind.

Key learning points:

Designing a comprehensive genomic testing program that could expand patients' access to cutting-edge care & improve financial results
Persistent challenges that prevent change and potential ways to address them
Good practices to integrate genomic testing into care pathways

Adequate feeding is essential to recovery from critical illness and for improved outcomes. Read this report to learn about a next-generation feeding pump that enables efficient collaboration for multidisciplinary teams, and is designed to support nutritional delivery across the entire continuum of care. Versatile and adaptable, it can feed and hydrate, deliver thick formula, offer multiple feed and flush combinations, and capture and transmit feeding history.

Key learning points:

• Risks of inadequate nutrition and malnutrition in patients
• Challenges of determining a patient’s nutritional adequacy
• How tracking feeding history supports adequate feedings at home

Many hospital pharmacy leaders focus on drug prices alone. But the total cost of a drug is influenced by many other factors. Leaders know this, but they're pressed for time and often unable to complete deeper calculations that fully capture the drivers of total value for drug purchases.

Consider this scenario: A purchase seems to initially offer savings based on a price, but in the long run, those upfront savings prevent more significant total value that may stem from volume discounts and other agreement terms.

Now, more hospital pharmacy leaders are tapping technology to help them identify the total value of purchases, identify systemwide purchase savings strategies and track the performance of those initiatives.

This report covers:

• The holistic drivers of total value on purchase price
•  solution to support time- and resource-strapped pharmacy teams in managing medication inventories
• How health systems are actually using the tool to affect total value

As the U.S. population ages, health systems are readying to care for more patients with Alzheimer's disease. Early detection and quick time to treatment are critical to improve patients' quality of life, but systems are up against key barriers in being able to do so at scale.

Health system executives participated in a roundtable sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company at Becker's 14th Annual Meeting in April to discuss how they're positioning themselves to handle the complexities of Alzheimer's care. This report features key takeaways from the session.

Key learnings points:

• Top obstacles in early detection
• The approaches systems are taking to improve detection & diagnosis
• How multidisciplinary teams and digitizing processes can enhance care coordination

Workforce concerns, capacity strains and heightened cybersecurity risks are underscoring an imperative for hospitals and health systems in 2024: driving efficiency — safely — with technology innovation.

At forward-thinking healthcare organizations across the U.S., clinical and administrative tools powered by automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning are showing promising results (think: increased capacity and patient satisfaction). And despite widespread financial challenges, clinical and IT departments are devoting significant time and resources toward innovation. They're confident these technologies will drive much-needed strides in care team efficiency, quality and patient safety, interoperability and streamlined operational processes.

These 10 recent articles highlight healthcare leaders' current concerns, tech investments and wins to date. They also shed light on where the industry is headed — and where organizations can't afford to fall behind.

Making determinations about observation care in a manner that is clinically appropriate can be challenging amid a lack of unanimity on the structure and duration of such care. However, there are standards and rubrics hospitals can utilize when making critical decisions concerning patients in the emergency department.

Download this whitepaper where William Rifkin, MD, Associate Vice President and Managing Editor at MCG Health, breaks down the general framework around observation care, which aims to help users employ such care correctly to ensure patient safety and reduce friction with payers.

Key learning points:

• Discussion of the intended duration of observation care
• Comparing utilization patterns for selected diagnoses
• Analyzing the stability of observation vs. inpatient rates (including a combined analysis of ED decision making for all potentially ambulatory diagnoses)

Like many health systems, Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Health was challenged with how to optimize drug spend without adding to their staff's already demanding workloads.

Seeking a more efficient and effective tool than their wholesaler analytics platform, Sentara opted to implement a new drug spend optimization platform. The decision helped detect overcharges, simplify the credit and rebill process and identify lower-cost alternatives. Within five months, Sentara eliminated more than $1 million in annual drug spend.

This brief report delves into how the system achieved such significant savings.

Key learnings:

• The advantages of utilizing a spend optimization platform
• Best practices behind the success of Sentara's software implementation
• Benefits of leveraging both a supply chain expert and software to optimize purchasing workflows and drive savings

Los Angeles-based UCLA Health is taking a digital-first approach to patient marketing, and the results are paying off.

The system's marketing team has collaborated with its Office of Health Informatics and Analytics for several years, using data and technology to personalize patients' lifelong health journeys. This white paper delves deeper into UCLA Health's marketing strategy and successful initiatives, including:

• What marketing channels the system uses to connect with consumers
• How the system navigates stringent compliance requirements
• Deployments of new marketing technology from Oracle

Healthcare is gradually becoming more proactive as consumers increasingly engage with remote patient monitoring technology and other digital experiences. Already, healthcare organizations are leveraging data to interact with patients and prevent health issues, but what will all this mean moving forward?

This Forrester trends report leverages analysts' insights to forecast how digital experiences — ranging from chats to the metaverse — will affect the healthcare industry across three key dimensions: revenue, cost savings and patient experiences.

Download the report to learn:

• Which digital interface will affect healthcare the most
• How invisible experiences will have a larger financial impact
• Ways proactive engagement prevents illness before treatment is needed

This meta-analysis tracks results across eight studies covering more than 34,711 patients, 19,136 of whom were monitored using the LEAF◊ Patient Monitoring System.
See the huge impact the system made on protocol adherence and incidence of pressure injuries.

• 1 randomized controlled trial
• 7 conference abstracts
• Study results included both clinical and health economic data

The LEAF System combines wearable patient sensors with a user interface, offering:

• Personalized care for each patient
• Digital turn reminders (in room and at the nurses’ station)
• Confirmation that patient turns have sufficiently offloaded pressure
• Automatically generated reports that can be used for root cause analysis

Registered nurses with less than one year of employment make up as much as 83% of a hospital's total turnover. That's because the transition into practice for today's nursing graduates has never been more demanding. Patients have more complex care needs. Nurse-to-patient ratios are higher. Technological advances requiring ongoing training continue at a dizzying pace.

Faced with these challenges, healthcare organizations must take a proactive approach leveraging historical data to develop predictive analytics to manage nurse onboarding and retention. This whitepaper shares how nurse leaders can apply a quality improvement methodology to streamline the onboarding process while addressing work-life balance concerns to successfully retain new nurses beyond their first few years of practice.

Key takeaways:

• 7 questions to consider when assessing your onboarding strategy
• 4 strategies to streamline new nurse onboarding
• The benefits of a centralized onboarding model

Hospitals are fighting an ongoing battle against unrecognized patient deterioration, alarm fatigue, opioid-induced respiratory depression, sepsis, unplanned extubation and other preventable conditions. In this whitepaper, we will review the scope of these patient safety matters, inadequacies of current practices, the emergence of clinical surveillance and a strategy to implement continuous clinical surveillance that helps enhance patient safety and outcomes.

Key points that readers will learn include:

• The clinical and financial impact of alarm fatigue and these adverse patient conditions
• How continuous clinical surveillance is different from patient monitoring and alarm management and focuses on mitigating non-clinically actionable alerts and notifications
• Published results that hospitals have achieved with continuous clinical surveillance

Technology innovation is only gaining steam in dentistry. As practices and DSOs assess new tools and use cases, widespread needs ― like centralized practice management and strategies to lead through change ― are becoming apparent.

This e-book offers candid insights and best practices from dental leaders on their recent technology initiatives.

Download to learn:

• How organizations are streamlining their digital tools and unifying teams
• Opportunities for artificial intelligence at various stages of the patient journey
• Key aspects of change management when deploying new tech

For many DSOs and dental private practices, several patient and operational challenges prevent optimal performance. Meeting patients' growing expectations is a struggle, and functions related to scheduling, revenue cycle management and IT costs are posing significant barriers to smooth operations.

Becker's Dental + DSO Review recently spoke with Sadiye Akturk, global solutions ambassador at Straumann Group DSO Global, to explore how cloud-based dental practice management technology can address the pressing challenges facing these organizations.

Learn how a cloud practice management system can:

• Make it easier to monitor performance across multiple locations and view real-time analytics.
• Increase production at your dental organization.
• Help reduce day sales outstanding.

To be successful, every DSO must strive for a strong and dynamic procurement strategy. Large rapidly growing specialty DSOs are no exception.

One multispecialty DSO with more than 180 locations was able to save about $3 million annually by executing a strategic procurement initiative that drove savings towards their bottom line and increased ordering efficiencies among their practices in the process. This was all done while maintaining physicians' and clinicians' autonomy regarding clinically sensitive items they have access to.

Download the case study below to learn how SourceClub helped this multispecialty DSO save millions and achieve success

Today's most significant business operation problem in dental offices is repetitive, consistent, and boring manual processes and tasks. DentalRobot solves this problem with its proprietary automation platform specially designed for dental practices, and its unique approach of Pre-Built Robots and Automated Workflows.

Regardless of how you built the processes in your DSO, MSO, or Group, DentalRobot provides a custom-fit automation solution that matches your current context and vision for operations and growth. We understand each specialty and its journey. We impact your organization's outcomes by rapidly automating every process from insurance verification or EOB posting to Accelerated Patient Scheduling or Customized Treatment Plan Follow-Ups.