MHA's Executive Briefing

3 Steps Hospitals Must Take Now

With health care's transformation under way, hospitals have taken the reins in improving quality, safety and efficiency. Here's where we need to focus to keep the momentum going, Rich Umbdenstock says.

Top 10 issues in health care for 2013: PwC

PricewaterhouseCoopers has identified the top ten issues in health care for 2013 in their white paper. Here they are (paraphrased a little by the American Hospital Association Resource Blog):

1. How will states implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA)?
2. How to provide care for dual eligibles (patients who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid)?
3. Will employers continue to offer health insurance?
4. What role will consumers play?
5. How will consumer ratings affect providers?
6. How will providers transform care delivery?
7. Will population health management trend take off?
8. What role will mobile devices play?
9. How will cost-effectiveness play into treatment decisions, such as prescribing new drugs?
10. How will the excise tax affect medical devices?

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Is Your Hospital Ready to Play the Game?

With insurance exchanges about to start ramping up, how ready is your hospital for the growing wave of consumerism in the health care industry? Find out here.

Outpatient growth must keep pace with population

The No. 1 strategy health care leaders are embracing to fuel financial growth in the face of shrinking reimbursement is expansion of outpatient services, which presents opportunities for organizations of all size to accommodate the anticipated growth in patient volume under ACA. Read how two very different organizations are approaching this in two very different ways.

Read the full article from HealthLeaders Media.

Healthcare leaders expect big shift toward outpatient care

As the care delivery models of hospitals and health systems evolve, health care executives and materials and practice area managers predict a major shift in admissions from inpatient to outpatient settings. According to Premier healthcare alliance's spring 2013 Economic Outlook, 69% of the survey participants predict that outpatient volume will rise in 2013, as compared to last year's volume. And as outpatient admissions are projected to increase, nearly 24% of respondents suggest that inpatient volume this year will drop.

Read more from Modern Healthcare here.

Benchmarks: changes are afoot for clinical and business intelligence

A recent series of white papers from HIMSS Analytics looks at how hospitals and health networks are designing and deploying their own clinical and business intelligence programs in the pursuit of value-based care. One challenge is collecting the data, another is mining it, and a third is presenting it to physicians in a nonthreatening way. But there’s another challenge in clinical decision support technology that hospitals need to pay attention to: patients see physicians who use CDS as somehow less capable.

Read the full article from Healthcare IT News here.

19 metrics to measure hospitals' progress toward value-based care

Hospitals and health systems need metrics to determine their progress in moving toward a pay-for-performance model, according to a report by the American Hospital Association's Health Research & Educational Trust and Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence. The report, Metrics for the Second Curve of Health Care, suggests metrics to meet four value-based strategies prioritized in a previously released AHA report, "Hospitals and Care Systems of the Future," as health care transitions from fee-for-service to pay-for-performance.

Read more from Becker's Hospital Review here.

Guide helps health care leaders transform care delivery

A new guide from the American Hospital Association's Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence initiative helps health care leaders use metrics to evaluate their progress toward value-based health care delivery in four priority areas. Originally identified in the 2011 AHA report Hospitals and Care Systems of the Future, the priority strategies are: aligning hospitals, physicians and other providers across the continuum of care; using evidence-based practices to improve quality and patient safety; improving efficiency through productivity and financial management; and developing integrated information systems.

To further assist leaders in implementing these strategies, HPOE will launch an online self-assessment road map in the next couple weeks. For more information, contact hpoe@aha.org.

Hospitals Rethink the Service Line

While general surgery, cardiovascular care, and orthopedics still head the list of service lines with strong positive margins, more areas of specialization are popping up and providers of all sizes are reviewing their service lines. Read more here.

Physician-Hospital Co-management Arrangements

A hospital may decide to use a co-management arrangement as its business structure instead of forming an ACO or hiring physicians. When structured properly, the co-management arrangement should prove beneficial to both the hospital and physicians and, most significantly, to patients who will receive higher-quality care.

Read more from Hospitals & Health Networks here.