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Guest Commentary

Guest Commentaries

Magazine
Healthcare at home | Doctor, home-care partnership ensures superior post-acute clinical service
By Dr. Michael Fleming | August 10, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
For a long time, many of us healthcare professionals have operated largely within our own comfort zones. We do just as we've always done, acting independently of each other, as if in our own private universe. We saw little incentive to change, least of all soon. That's happening less often now, thanks mostly to pressures for healthcare reform from the federal government and private sector alike. But our approach to caring for patients remains fragmented. We're still going to have to break free of those comfort zones.
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Magazine
Fix is needed for subsidies | Reducing the minimal amount of coverage may be best way to tweak ACA
By Donald Susswein | August 03, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Four key reforms to expand insurance coverage were intended to fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; in reality, they fit like pieces from four different jigsaw puzzles.
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Magazine
The relative worthlessness of relative value | Needed changes include more representation for primary-care doctors, lower payments for standardized procedures and pay for results, not methods
By Dr. Joel Shalowitz | July 27, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
In 1989, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act mandated use of the resource-based relative value scale methodology for physician payments under Medicare Part B. It's time for review.
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Magazine
Home is where the hazards are | Support workers should be prepared when working in clients' homes
By Steve Bills | July 20, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
When addressing healthcare workplace safety concerns, most executives immediately think about hospital safety. They rarely think about one of the most hazardous professions in healthcare—the home healthcare aide.
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Magazine
Win the battle, lose the war? | Intergenerational differences among docs may define future of healthcare
By Sean K. Murphy | July 13, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
If you believe the critical battles over implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) are being fought among politicians, you're wrong. The real fight is taking place in doctors' lounges at hospitals across the country. The outcome will determine the future quality of healthcare in the U.S. because it will define for the next generation the very essence of what it means to be a physician.
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Magazine
The importance of basics | Seventeen essential questions for outpatient oncology clinics
By Dan Shapiro | July 06, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Since writing a cancer memoir in 2000, I've given talks at more than 150 hospitals and oncology clinics. I learned that many centers and clinics invest far more in their coffee stations, light airy infusion rooms and brochures than on the basics that make a difference to patients.If cancer centers truly want to improve the patient experience, here are 17 questions clinic managers might want to ask themselves:
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Magazine
Wellness now, value later | Workplace programs have benefits, though not in the short run
By Soeren Mattke and Kristin Van Busum | June 29, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Across the country, workplace wellness programs are making Americans healthier, paying quality-of-life dividends for millions of participating workers now and into the future. Employers are screening workers for diseases, paying for health club memberships and providing incentives to encourage healthier lifestyle choices.This is a good thing. But it's just not good for the reason many employers and lots of other people think it is.
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Magazine
Even in healthcare, quality is free | By focusing on patients, their satisfaction and your income will improve
By William M. Jennings | June 22, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
As the healthcare industry prepares for the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known affectionately or derisively as “Obamacare,” the issues that preoccupy top hospital and system managers range from cost-cutting to increased paperwork and perhaps most importantly, maintaining patient satisfaction and excellent care during an era of diminishing resources.
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Magazine
Steps toward transparency | Health organizations need to be open with consumers about pricing
By Joseph Fifer | June 15, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
From industry media to your hometown newspaper, news about the push for transparency in healthcare pricing is hard to miss these days.
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Magazine
Danger in the skies | To curb emergency helicopter crashes, focus on pilot haste, experience
By Scott Brooksby | June 07, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
In comparison to nearly every other type of commercial aviation, there is an inordinate rate of accidents within medical helicopter aviation.
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Magazine
Oregon study a wake-up call | Medicaid needs to change as it expands to improve outcomes
By Dr. Glenn Steele | June 01, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Recent findings from the Oregon Health Study have resulted in headlines intended as a warning for next January's planned expansion of the Medicaid program (as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act): “Bad news for Obamacare: A new study suggests universal healthcare makes people happier but not healthier” “Oregon study throws a stop sign in front of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion” “Giving people government health insurance may not make them any healthier”Overall,...
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Magazine
Eating better for less | To treat the obesity epidemic, why not lower prices on healthier food
By Roland Sturm and Derek Yach | May 25, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Since the early 1980s, federal dietary guidelines have urged Americans to eat more nutrient-rich foods and cut back on fatty foods and highly processed “empty calorie” snacks such as cookies and chips. But those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. It's time to start thinking differently about how to encourage Americans to make smarter food choices—and a fine place to start would be cutting the costs of healthy foods in our supermarket aisles.
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Magazine
Transforming care delivery | Doctors, patients, families acting as a team can lead to improved healthcare
By Dr. Benjamin Chu | May 25, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Deepening engagement among patients, families, physicians and providers will produce higher-quality health results and lead the way to answering the question: “What is best for the patient?”Our healthcare world is rapidly evolving. Among those changes is a cultural one that affects those who provide care and the people who receive it. When I began my medical career, patients rarely questioned their doctor's recommendations or gave their own opinions. Conversely, doctors did not want their patient's opinion and seldom were concerned about the patient's world outside of the medical...
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Magazine
Cost sustainability | If payment reform fails, tie spending per beneficiary to GDP
By Dr. Manoj Jain and Dr. Bill Frist | May 18, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of healthcare. Let us explain. For three decades (1980–2009), the cost of healthcare has been increasing each year at an average rate of 7.4%—double the rate of inflation. However, over the past three years, the increase in healthcare expenditures has remained at a low 3.1%.Is this decline the desperately needed bend in the healthcare cost curve or just the impact of the depressed economy?
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Magazine
Geographic disparity | Excluding some of the poorest from health reform shouldn't be an option
By Dr. Patricia Gabow | May 11, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
One of the most disturbing challenges faced by American healthcare is the enormous geographic variability in both access and quality. We are one nation, and no matter which state we live in, we are all Americans. But (to paraphrase Bono) where we live actually determines if we live.A poor person living in Massachusetts is more likely to have access to health insurance and healthcare than one who lives in Texas. Given what we know about the relationship of healthcare and health, this means that a poor resident of Texas faces the possibility of a less healthy, shorter life.
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Magazine
A model for reform | Medicare must be changed to survive; Part D offers a solution
By Grace-Marie Turner | May 04, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided over how best to improve Medicare, a program that covers nearly 50 million Americans and that will spend almost $600 billion this year.
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Magazine
Target providers' sense of entitlement | Americans are paying more for Medicare, but where is that money going?
By Rosemary Gibson | May 04, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Springtime in Washington brings the annual federal budget ritual. This year, President Barack Obama's budget for 2014 included a proposal to increase Medicare premiums for higher-income seniors. Other ideas to sustain Medicare are cross-pollinating across the political aisle. Both Republicans and Democrats have discussed raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. Whatever the White House and Congress decide, Americans need to be prepared for sticker shock when they enroll in Medicare.
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Magazine
Focus on value | Hospitals, patients benefit when providers treat quality like a financial report
By Leah Binder | April 27, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
"Of all the transformations reshaping American healthcare, none is more profound than the shift toward value.”
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Magazine
HIPAA as a hurdle | Family members are often barred from becoming engaged in patients' care
By Carol Levine | April 13, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Every hospital and healthcare facility has some variation of this sign: “It's the law. Be careful not to discuss patients in public.” Like World War II posters warning that “Loose lips sink ships,” these notices stress that information falling into the wrong hands can lead to disaster. Staff training that emphasizes the punitive consequences of improper disclosures of protected health information reinforces this caution.
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Magazine
Power to the patient | Shared decisionmaking improves care and reduces costs
By Dr. Peter D. Goldbach | April 06, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
People's lives today are full of choices. They know what they like. They know what matters to them. They trust their judgment and check with their gut. But when it comes to choices related to their health, they could use a little help. There's nothing quite as personal and important to patients as their health. However, they are not experts in navigating the healthcare maze. While there is no shortage of ideas and advice, it's often confusing. They are looking for the best care possible, and need help with the questions as much as the answers.
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Magazine
Time for a new 'vital sign' | Providers should monitor patients' physical activity in battle against obesity
By Dr. Elizabeth Joy | March 30, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Half of all adult Americans are expected to be obese by 2030, and already more than 40 million adults do not meet appropriate physical activity levels. The challenge of addressing obesity and physical inactivity requires new thinking and monitoring by healthcare providers.Intermountain Healthcare in Utah and Idaho has recently implemented both. It added a new “Physical Activity Vital Sign” to its electronic medical records. This simple tool is designed to nudge patients toward better health while encouraging providers to offer better care at lower cost.
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Magazine
Medicaid's role in preventing crime | Expansion will help mentally ill offenders, but barriers to care will persist
By Harold Pollack | March 23, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Here's another reason for states to expand Medicaid: preventing crime by mentally ill offenders. In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, many Americans wonder how we might do a better job preventing violence by disturbed, violent offenders. This is a huge challenge because it is almost impossible to predict that a specific individual will commit a mass atrocity.
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Magazine
Breeding innovation | Unlikely partners are tackling tough problems by setting aside rivalries
By Mike Alkire | March 16, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Desperate after a decade of trial and error to make the connection that could usher in a new generation of anti-HIV drugs, University of Washington researchers threw the scientific version of a Hail Mary pass.
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Magazine
The value of continuous learning | Healthcare leaders, organizations benefit from lifelong educational pursuits
By Diana Smalley | March 09, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”I like to interpret Ford's use of the word “young” to mean “relevant and innovative.” Being relevant and innovative in our industry is an absolute must, and that is why the American College of Healthcare Executives is committed to educating all of its members—leaders in healthcare management—in a variety of topics and venues.
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Magazine
Bringing it all together | Interoperability, meaningful use will be the stars at HIMSS13
By H. Stephen Lieber | March 01, 2013 | Print Magazine Print Magazine Subscription Details
As the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition opens in New Orleans on March 3, I think of HIMSS07, our last conference in the city, less than two years after Hurricane Katrina.
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