Briefs Focus was created to promote a constructive
dialogue about key issues in health care. Building on the
many strengths hospitals across California bring to the table,
Focus also provides solutions that improve and
strengthen care quality, access, operational efficiency and
patient satisfaction.
We draw on top experts in their field—from those key to health
care delivery to legal professionals working with hospital
environments—as contributors. To be considered, please read the submission guidelines and contact us.
March 31, 2013David Belson, Society for Healthcare Improvement ProfessionalsJennifer Wortham, Society for Healthcare Improvement Professionals
All hospitals and clinics face the challenge of ever increasing
costs. The most common path to successful cost reduction is
through the so-called Lean method. This approach is used by more
hospitals, and other businesses, than any other to identify waste
and unnecessary expense. According to a national study of the
American Society for Quality, 53 percent of sampled hospitals are
engaged in some level of Lean deployment.
February 21, 2013Patricia Wall, CAEDaniel Holden, AlliedBarton Security Services
According to a 2012 study by Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine, hospital-based shootings are rare, but recent attacks
in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and California—and non-hospital gun
violence in places like Colorado and New York—can attest to the
number of lives affected by these deadly events. With each
devastating occurrence, we ask the same questions: Why did it
happen; could we have been better prepared; and how do we prevent
it from happening again?
January 13, 2013Steve Nahm, Companion Management GroupGeorge Mack, Hospital Association of Southern California
Healthcare providers know that one of the principal challenges
facing our society is caring for the vast number of aging
Americans requiring healthcare. More than 10,000 people a day
reach Medicare age, some of whom will develop multiple chronic
conditions and account for a large share of Medicare spending.
The strain will financially overwhelm an unchanged healthcare
delivery system.
October 24, 2012Kelly Bruno, National Health Foundation
In 2008, news reports of alleged dumping of homeless patients to
Skid Row after being released from acute-care facilities peppered
the airwaves and stirred public outcry. New laws made it illegal
to discharge a patient to the area. Faced with the options of
keeping patients longer than medically necessary or attempting to
place them in increasingly limited facilities, hospitals began to
grapple with concerns over how to best discharge homeless
patients who are not sick enough to remain in the hospital, but
are too sick for a shelter.
September 30, 2012Julia Slininger, VP, Quality & Patient Safety, HASC
A New Approach to Error Prevention
If your Quality Improvement program needs an injection of
vitality — a new approach to error prevention and a culture known
for high reliability in quality and patient safety — consider a
TeamSTEPPS intervention.
September 21, 2012Kelly Rinehart, Executive Consultant, Institute for Performance Excellence & Medical Risk Consulting
In December 2012, Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (PIH) will move certain services into their new Plaza Tower. Preparing for such a move is always a challenge requiring planning and training right up to move-in day. The expansion of surgical services and changes in the way they currently admit patients presented the opportunity to design new processes as well as standardize the old ones incorpo rat ing Lean methods to decrease waste and improve patient flow throughout the entire surgical experience. Read more in this article by Kelly Rinehart, Institute for Performance Excellence executive consultant.
Fueled by media reports of hospitals overcharging patients and our inability to explain how our charge masters work, there is little or no tolerance for the ‘$27 aspirin’ or any of the other “extreme” charges that appear on healthcare bills. Healthcare reform must include financing and billing reform. This issue is rapidly reaching a crescendo. So, isn’t it time for us to begin a voluntary reform effort? Hospitals and health systems are increasingly vulnerable to voter backlash and existing billing practices seem well overdue for an overhaul.
July 24, 2012Teri HollingsworthRobert S. Gutherman Principal, The CAP-Ex Group
With increasing levels of attention toward compensation practices
at non-profit hospitals and health systems, alternative options
are being developed to provide benefits for executives and
physicians in a more responsible manner.
The CAP-Ex Group, a new Strategic Partner of AllHealth, a
subsidiary of HASC, offers an alternative to traditional
retention planning options, returning all costs of the plan, plus
interest, back to the organization while rewarding key talent
with a competitive retirement plan. Read on to learn more.
From May 2011 to February 2012, 20 Southern California hospitals participated in the inaugural session of the Case Management Transformation Initiative (CMTI), posting impressive first-round results. The initiative, a fee-for-service program offered by HASC in partnership with Marsh Risk Consulting’s Clinical Healthcare Consulting Practice, is data driven and provides participants with tools and strategies to transform case management programs into outcomes-based, physician-centric, case manager-as-care-coordinator programs.
April 24, 2012Teri HollingsworthDr. Adam Bordes, Senior Health Strategist, American Council on Exercise
As we explore who’s responsible for leading the Battle Royale against obesity we, of course, look to the healthcare industry (physicians, dietitians, nurses, etc.). In doing so, we have to wonder if these professionals are any different than the rest of us. Are those in the healthcare industry immune to the rapidly growing obesity epidemic?
Read Dr. Adam Bordes’ article for simple, proven methods of engaging employees in wellness programs that work for health care environments. The article previews some of the successful strategies that will be outlined at the 2012 Health Care Provider Wellness Conference, June 14-15, at the Hilton Los Angeles / Universal City. Click here for more information.
February 27, 2012Teri HollingsworthMichele Siqueiros, Executive Director, Campaign for College Opportunity
California’s population is growing, aging and becoming
increasingly diverse. These compounding factors—including
the additional four million Californians expected to secure
health insurance coverage by 2014 under the Affordable Care Act
—will create unprecedented demand for health care services that
must be delivered by a strong health workforce.
January 24, 2012Ifsha Buttitta, Contributing Editor, HASC
Since the inception and development of palliative care in the
United States as its own distinct medical discipline in 2006, the
number of hospitals with palliative care teams has steadily
grown. The Center to Advance
Palliative Care currently estimates that about 55 percent of
hospitals in California have a palliative care team in place.
It is not certain that every hospital will successfully cross the transformational chasm. Radical change and major financial investment are required by hospitals while at the same time we face the most problematic economic outlook in 20 years.
Inpatient volumes are falling and it’s not only because of the depressed economy. Admissions/1,000 and days/1,000 are being reduced through better care coordination, fewer readmissions, more outpatient work and improved quality. Comprehensive chronic disease management and post-acute care help people stay at home longer, perhaps for their lifetime, whereas before those at-risk and elderly populations consumed many admissions and inpatient days.
In August 2011, the California Hospital Association (CHA) surveyed facilities statewide to assess the use of hospital emergency codes to quickly convey urgent information to hospital personnel during emergency situations. Findings show significant growth in code standardization among the 240 respondents since the last survey conducted in 2009.
September 28, 2011Jeffrey Hall, Keenan HealthCare, and Scott Ponaman, Ponaman Healthcare Consulting
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act improvements in community-based primary care will have dramatic effects on the sustainability of the nation’s non-profit safety net hospitals. Starting in 2014, the Act imposes across the board 25 percent reductions in Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) funding and over $144 billion of reductions in state Medicaid DSH allocations. Affected hospitals must find immediate solutions to reduce the loss of revenue and increased costs if they will survive. Significant cost savings for qualifying not-for-profit safety net providers exist today under the Federal 340B drug discount program.
With the many changes brought on by health care reform, clinical
process redesign is at the forefront. Hospitals are doing what
they can to reduce costs while improving quality—and the results
have been impressive. Quality scores are increasing,
readmissions are declining, LOS is dropping, complication rates
are falling, and ICU stays are shorter. These clinical
process improvements increase patient satisfaction, and they
often result in lower costs to the hospital. But what can you do
about the negative impact on revenue?
Earlier this year, the American Hospital Association (AHA) delivered a call to action for hospitals and their employees to be leaders in creating a culture of health, a working environment that promotes healthy behaviors. Creating an environment that values health and fosters engagement requires hospitals to incorporate some key supportive actions in wellness initiatives. Find out more by reading this week’s Briefs Focus, “Creating a Culture of Health in Your Hospital.”
June 3, 2011Jennifer Wortham, Dr.PH, MPH, guest author
Lean management practices have become a primary method of
maximizing customer value while minimizing waste across functions
within an organization. In health care, Lean strategies have
improved patient throughput, decreased supply costs and increased
customer satisfaction. Learn more about what Lean can do for your
organization in this week’s Briefs Focus, Creating Value through
Lean Transformation, by guest author Jennifer Wortham, Dr.PH,
MPH.
ReddiNet is a flexible emergency medical communications network
that links hospitals, EMS agencies, paramedics, dispatch centers,
law enforcement, public health departments and other health care
system participants within local and regional communities. 2011
marks ReddiNet’s 25th anniversary. From its humble beginnings as
a voice radio system to its current fifth generation software,
ReddiNet has indeed had a strong impact on emergency medical
communications over the last quarter century.
December 1, 2010Michael A. Dowell, Esq., Guest Author
Co-management is a hospital/physician alignment strategy to elevate hospital service line performance. Health care reform promotes payment models that are designed to focus on improving the value of care by improving quality and reducing costs. Guest author Michael A. Dowell, Esq., Partner and member of the Health Care Law Group in the Los Angeles office of Hinshaw & Culberton, LLP, shares his insight on the co-management model in this month’s Briefs Focus.
The HASC Contracting Committee and Blue Shield have engaged in a
claims adjudication process improvement collaboration that has
produced positive results, such as faster claim payments, reduced
accounts receivable, and reduction of waste and inefficient
practices.
October 1, 2010Barbra Z. Riegel, MBA, Vice President, The Camden Group, guest author
Healthcare reform will require a significant change in the way
many healthcare organizations are currently structured and paid
for services. Hospitals will need to reexamine strategies to
improve service line performance in an accountable care world.
Click here to read this week’s Briefs Focus, authored by Barbra
Riegel, The Camden Group: Are Your Service Lines Ready for
Healthcare Reform?
Paradoxically, chaos and uncertainty seem to be the most stable features in today’s health care marketplace. Some elements have been with us since we can remember—reimbursement changes, quality report cards, and pay-for-performance, to name a few. Now, health care reform portends changes to these elements and adds more levels of financial uncertainty.
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