The CMS Acute Care Episode Demonstration
Will the new CMS Acute Care Episode Demonstration Project address the patient’s concern that their interests are being subordinated to the physician’s or the hospital’s financial interests?
Category: Featured Articles
How would Dr. King have influenced healthcare reform debate?
It is difficult to guess the position of such a leader and revered figure but it takes little insight to predict his position: one of concern for the 44 million Americans who go without health insurance.
Jan 15, 2010 | 0 comments | View Post
Early Detection: Stop Small Problems before they are Big Problems
Bringing minor regulatory problems to light before they have a chance to grow is the most important step toward preventing big problems that could diminish quality and patient safety .
Nov 04, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
What Is a Hospital Near-Death Experience?
Can a hospital have a near-death experience? If so, what would that look like?
Nov 02, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Health Care Reform and The Elephant in the Room
There is an elephant in the room that is not being discussed – personal responsibility for health. For years, studies have shown that up to 70% of disease is influenced by …
Oct 25, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Sitting Ducks Get Shot … Especially While Waiting for the Inevitability of Healthcare Reform
By Kate Fenner, RN, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Compass Clinical Consulting.
Oct 15, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
How Could This Happen?
By Cary D. Gutbezahl, MD, President, Compass Clinical Consulting. Although many factors may contribute to an avoidable injury, investigations often reveal that the policy and procedures were in place, the staff was trained on and understood the policy and procedures, staffing was adequate to do the work, but people didn’t follow the policy.
Why Do Some Hospitals Tolerate Poor Performance?
By Cary Gutbezahl, MD, President, Compass Clinical Consulting: Our experience says that while hospitals sometimes overlook indications of problems, more often, CEOs and boards tolerate a series of ineffective attempts at fixing the problem.
How Easily Overtime and Premium Pay Drive Healthcare Costs Up
Labor Productivity Consultant for Compass Clinical Consulting: Paying overtime to employees can never be cheaper or save the hospital money than having staff deployed according to: Right person, Right role, Right Time, Right place (R4).
Hospitals Facing Three Changes from Healthcare Reform
It’s difficult to predict the specifics of what health care reform will bring, but it is clear that it won’t be business as usual. We believe that three things will be certain results of the current public debate. First, reimbursement changes are going to increase the importance of managing the cost of delivering services. Second, coordinating care will become more important. Third, increased accountability for patient safety and treatment plans consistent with best practices and evidence-based medicine will require cultural change.
Aug 28, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Hospital Readmissions: Federal Policy Must Stop Interfering with System Thinking
In our experience in case management, both in hospitals and in managed care organizations, we have found many reasons why patients are readmitted to hospitals.
The Ill Effects of Shutting off Constructive Healthcare Reform Debate: First, Do No Harm
The Reconciliation Process can do nothing but shut off oppositional thinking before the best possible healthcare reform is designed and implemented. Cognitive conflict can yield stronger programs that assure hospitals and doctors are in a position to provide quality care for patients. I hope they don’t repeal “First, do no harm”.
Aug 21, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
A Cure for ER Diversions
Diversions are when ambulances are sent to another ER because the nearest ER is too busy and does not believe they can safely provide care. I thought it might be useful to understand that the hospital goes on diversion because it has determined that patient safety might be at risk if more critical patients were added to those already at the hospital. Adding more work beyond the capacity of the ER not only jeopardizes the new patient but puts all the other patients at risk.
Aug 17, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Hospital Leaders — Cut Waste Out Before Regulatory Reform Hurts
By Kate Fenner, RN, PhD: The smart leaders understand that regardless of how healthcare reform looks when it becomes law, the real truth is that we’ll all be getting less. Knowing this is the end-point gives us all the freedom to take action now.
Aug 07, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Private Philanthropy — Another Key to Hospital Financial Stability
By Jim Mahon, PhD: Colleges and universities have traditionally placed a much higher premium on generating both annual and planned gifts than the majority of hospitals. Rather than expounding on the many legitimate reasons why this is the case, let’s focus on steps the Board, the Executive Suite, and the Chief Development Officer (CDO) can take.
Jun 09, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Trying to confirm what you already believe is a dangerous practice
By Cary Gutbezahl, MD: The issue is the misuse of research findings and extending conclusions beyond the conditions of the research. That this research is publicized is evidence of the failure of our educational system! It’s time to stand up and scream “Foul!”
May 22, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Two Trillion Dollars in Healthcare Reform is a Game Changer for Hospitals
By Kate Fenner, CEO, Compass Clinical Consulting: Taking $2 Trillion out of the healthcare system in the next decade is going to force everyone to change how they do business – hospitals, doctors, pharma manufacturers and retailers, medical equipment manufacturers – everyone.
Facts Dispute Opinions on Healthcare Reform
The primary rule of medicine is “first, do no harm”. Why can’t health care policy makers adopt the same principle? Otherwise, in the not too distant future, we’ll be scrambling to replace the next broken healthcare system. Will we be the butt of the old joke?
Apr 21, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Flawed Logic = Flawed Healthcare Reform Policy Decisions
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine implies that because 50% of re-admitted patients had no outpatient physician visits their care was sub-optimal and that somehow hospitals are responsible and should be financially punished for high rates of re-admitted patients. This logic is flawed.
The Emergency Room has its own Emergency
You can’t blame the problems in our Emergency Departments on any one part of the system. You can’t say this is the ER’s fault, or the inpatient service department’s fault, or primary care physician’s fault. If we keep pointing fingers and blaming people, we’re not going to change anything. This is a system wide problem. If we reform healthcare without looking at our national problem with Emergency Department care delivery, we will be missing a huge opportunity.
Apr 04, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Patient Re-admissions Call for Thoughtful Healthcare Reform
The president’s budget calls for $26 billion in savings from patient re-admissions over 10 years, which includes lowering payments to hospitals with high numbers of patients who are re-admitted. Such a kneejerk reaction simply penalizes hospitals for following the rules — get patients out of the hospital according to DRG rules.
Apr 02, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Preventing Unintended Consequences from Change
We all need to make sure that unintended consequences of reform do not tear down what is still – with all its room for improvement – the best healthcare system in the world. Hospitals, like all businesses, are in a race to become much more efficient, accomplishing more with the same, or even fewer resources. Stagnant or declining hospital revenue increases motivation to eliminate activities that bring little value, or even undermine quality outcomes, delivery and service.
Is Medical Overtreatment the Magic Bullet?
Sharon Begley, senior editor of Newsweek, sees doctors as having long resisted using science to guide their practice, thus leading to a chronic pattern of overtreatment and using more expensive techniques than necessary.
Mar 06, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Reinventing Hospitals for a New Reality
As never before, the medical profession will be challenged to find new ways of delivering effective care more efficiently. This does not have to be doom and gloom unless we choose to see an empty glass. Instead, it calls on all of us who work in and support the nation’s hospitals to become more innovative in how we deliver clinical care.
Feb 28, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Clinical Improvement Leads to Financial Stability
When the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word healthcare systems in Houston and San Antonio merged to form Irving, TX-based CHRISTUS Health in 1999, the new leadership team faced a host of challenges. The system was plagued by financial losses, discouraging results in clinical quality measures, and low satisfaction rates among its patients and employees. The system introduced a program to generate marked improvements–not only in their day-to-day operations, but also in patient and employee satisfaction
Feb 27, 2009 | 0 comments | View Post
Case studies to learn more about ways in which Compass Clinical has worked to create better American hospitals.