MHA's Executive Briefing

Save the Date: MHA's 81st annual Leadership Conference

More information is available here! Register online here. All members who register online and pay with a credit card are eligible to win a free iPad! This drawing will be held during the keynote session of the Conference. You must be present to win. REGISTER & PAY TODAY!

 

For more information contact Judith Forshee at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3216 or jforshee@mhanet.org.

Docs win most malpractice suits, but study says road is long

But even when a case is dismissed, the road is typically long for both doctors and the patients suing, researchers said. Medical malpractice claims have become a hot-button issue in the U.S., coming up repeatedly in debates about healthcare reform.

Some specialists must pay a couple hundred thousand dollars a year in premiums for insurance against malpractice claims—though rates vary by state. But not much has been known about how long malpractice claims take to resolve, or what proportion of them actually end in a payment to patients.

Read more from the Chicago Tribune here.

New MedPAC commissioners announced

The Government Accountability Office on May 24 named five new members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, who will serve through April 2015. They are: Alice Coombs, M.D., critical care specialist and anesthesiologist at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA; Jack Hoadley, research professor at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute in Washington, DC; David Nerenz, director of the Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit; Rita Redberg, M.D., professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center; and Craig Samitt, M.D., president and CEO of Dean Health System in Madison, WI.

In addition, MedPAC Chair Glenn Hackbarth was reappointed to the commission through April 2015.

Senate approves drug shortages legislation

The U.S. Senate on May 24 voted 96-1 to approve the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which includes American Hospital Association-supported provisions to help alleviate critical drug shortages. The bill reauthorizes the law permitting FDA to collect user fees from makers of prescription drugs and medical devices, and allows the agency to begin collecting user fees for generic drugs.

The White House has said it "strongly supports" the legislation, which must be reconciled with a similar measure in the House.

 

Why do adults go to the ER instead of other outpatient or office-based care sites?

A study was conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics [NCHS] to better understand why people go to hospital emergency rooms instead of less costly outpatient facilities or office-based sites for care. In 2011 NCHS interviewed adults aged 18-64 who had visited an ER within the previous 12 months but had not been subsequently admitted to the hospital.

The top reasons given for the ER visits are here.

Video: Driving Value With Technology Investments

From meaningful use to mobile health, hospitals have no shortage of IT needs, but limited budgets to fulfill them. Tim Zoph, CIO of Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in Chicago, talks to H&HN Senior Online Editor Haydn Bush about getting the most out of technology in an era of cost containment.

Learn more  here.

Social Leadership in Health Care

When IBM (NYSE: IBM) conducted its study of 1709 CEOs around the world, they found only 16% of them participating in social media. But their analysis shows that the percentage will likely grow to 57% within 5 years.

Why? because CEOs are beginning to recognize that using email and the phone to get the message out isn’t sufficient anymore.

Read more here.

Better Patient Satisfaction – Which Model to Follow?

Patient satisfaction is an important element of medical care. It was always important, but it has taken on a new significance since hospitals and physicians will be graded on their bedside manners.

Read more here.

Hospitals accelerate cost-cutting efforts

With a push from private insurers, employers and government officials, the industry is seeing hospitals and health systems step up efforts to control escalating healthcare costs, reports The New York Times. Read more here.

How Mobile Devices Are Transforming Healthcare

A new report from the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation examines the global growth in mobile devices and how it's impacting health care. It estimates there are over 40,000 mobile health applications that have been downloaded by 247 million people. Mobile applications already help manage chronic disease through remote monitoring, remind the elderly about medications, share information about care with expectant mothers as their pregnancy progresses, and extend rural access.

Read more here.

Key Developments and Strategies for Medicare Reimbursement

In a session at the Becker’s Hospital Review Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 18, Ken Perez, senior vice president of marketing and director of healthcare policy at MedeAnalytics, discussed key developments in Medicare reimbursement and strategies to deal with pending changes. Learn more here.