Monday, July 26th, 2010
By Lowell C. Kruse
Former CEO, Heartland Health
By now the reality is setting in that change is coming and hospitals and healthcare systems need to prepare for this change.
Reform will bring major differences in terms of the way hospitals are paid by Medicare and there will also be penalties for certain hospital readmissions. It is going to be an entirely [...]
Friday, June 25th, 2010
By Kester Freeman
Former CEO, Palmetto HealthÂ
I spent the afternoon yesterday attending a special briefing held by Premier, a national performance improvement alliance of more than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 67,000-plus other healthcare sites.
Premier has been instrumental in helping Congress understand the intricacies of the healthcare industry. Now the company is helping hospitals, clinics and healthcare [...]
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
By Jennifer Mitchell
Editor, Action for Better Healthcare
When you hear about doctors who are deciding to no longer accept Medicare patients, you need to understand why this is happening. Medicare rates vary widely across the U.S. due to the way the program was set up years ago. So essentially a doctor in Florida can be doing [...]
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
By Kester Freeman
Former CEO, Palmetto HealthÂ
There is an important element to healthcare reform that will begin rewarding hospitals for the quality of service they offer, instead of just the quantity of services they provide.
The program is referred to as value-based purchasing (also known as pay-for-performance). Essentially, hospitals will be given financial rewards from Medicare beginning [...]
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
By Rick Norling
Former CEO, Premier healthcare alliance
In California, several well-known healthcare providers are experimenting with charging an innovative, comprehensive fee for hip and knee replacement procedures. This is happening at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the UCLA Health System and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, as mentioned in a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. You can read [...]
