| This week's sponsor is Sybase. |  | Mobility Advantage: Becoming an Unwired Enterprise
You see new smartphones and tablets everywhere. But are you still wondering what the benefits of mobilizing could be for your business? In this new white paper, we've outlined a few ways that mobility can transform how your business operates and competes. Get your copy now, compliments of Sybase. |
Today's Top Stories
1. Prime Healthcare accused of Medicare fraud, seeking legal action against press
2. Cost savings in ACOs winning provider support
3. Foreign-trained physicians tapped to end shortage
4. Hard times for hospitals call for more donations
5. Tips for patient data security: Policies, education, funding Also Noted: Fierce ACO eBook
Spotlight On... Little difference between for-profit, nonprofit hospitals
Hospital fires workers for sharing deceased patient's photo; Mail-order prescriptions linked to better outcomes; and much more... News From the Fierce Network:
1. CHIME wants government to reconsider rule on data access reports
2. HHS proposes new nonprofit CO-OP plans
 | Forrester Analyst on Mobile Insights for Health Insurers – Drive Adoption and Improve Access to Care
Thursday, August 18, 2011, 2pm ET/ 11am PT Join Liz Boehm, principal analyst for Customer Experience in Healthcare and Life Sciences at Forrester Research, and Aaron Kaufman, general manager and vice president of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Kony, as they discuss current mobile adoption and ongoing mobile initiatives being driven by health insurers. Register today! |
| FierceLive! Webinars > Forrester Analyst on Mobile Insights for Health Insurers - Thursday, August 18, 2011, 2pm ET/ 11am PT
Events > Advance your Healthcare Career with Top Online Degrees
> Mayo Clinic's Conference on Systems Engineering and Operations Research in Health Care - Aug 10-12, 2011 - Rochester, MN
> 2nd Annual Medical Management in Medicare Advantage: Payer/Provider Collaborative Care Summit - August 25-26, 2011 - Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, San Diego, CA
> AdvaMed 2011 - Register Now and Save 300! - September 26-28, 2011 - Washington, DC
Marketplace > Mobility Advantage: Becoming an Unwired Enterprise
> eBook: ACOs: The Game-changing Lessons That Payers & Providers Have Already Learned
Jobs > Decision Support Administrator
> Client Services Director
> Interface Analyst Team Lead
> Epic – Business Systems Analyst – Ambulatory Electronic Medical Records
> Epic Tester – Senior BSA
> Epic Orders and/or ASAP (ED) - Clinical Business Systems Analyst
> Certified Epic Bridges – Interface Analyst
> Epic Clarity Reporting Analysts
> Epic Program Director
> EPIC Professionals: Over 150 Opportunities
> Epic HIM Business Systems Analyst
> Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceHealthcareJobs
* Post a classified ad: Click here.
* General ad info: Click here |
Today's Top News 1. Prime Healthcare accused of Medicare fraud, seeking legal action against press
In a heated battle between Prime Healthcare and California Watch, the Southern California hospital system is accused of admitting an unusually high number of emergency Medicare patients to reap the financial benefits. California Watch on Friday reported that past patients and former employees said Prime Healthcare intentionally is keeping insured emergency patients, mostly elders, in the hospital as part of business strategy for increased Medicare payments. In addition, the publication reports Prime is currently under investigation for its billing practices by the U.S. Department of Justice, having been accused of upcoding for extra Medicare revenue; however, Prime said it is unaware of any such federal investigation. According to the California Watch article, Prime Healthcare's percentage of Medicare patients admitted from the emergency room to hospital beds jumped from 45 percent to 63 percent after 2005 when Prime added 11 hospitals to its network. Prime, disputing the claims, said "Taking the state average is not a fair way of reviewing admission rates as admissions patterns vary widely based on a lot of factors such as geography, average age of the seniors, how sick the seniors are, whether the patients come from nursing homes and board and care, belong to Medicare HMOs or not, and how busy the ER is and how often it closes," in a Saturday press release. Futhermore, the CEO of Shasta Regional Medical Center, under parent company Prime Health Services, refuted any wrongdoing regarding the high rate of admitted Medicare patients. "Most of our business comes through our emergency room," said CEO Randall Hempling in a Record Searchlight article. "We focus on our emergency department, and we are proud of that."
Prime Healthcare denies the accusations, calling California Watch "nothing more than a mouthpiece for SEIU," and the "propaganda" report as "flawed," according to press releases. Prime Healthcare is planning on suing California Watch for "repeated fraudulent and defamatory statements," according to a Friday press release from Prime. "It is unfortunate that California Watch continues to rely on manipulated data and unsubstantiated allegations fed by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to publish fraudulent and defamatory statements about Prime Healthcare," said Prime in the Saturday press release. At press time, California Watch's "Editor's Note" mentioned the publication had not been served and could not fully comment, but the publication stands by its reporting. "[T]he company has yet to present to us a single factual error that has merited correction or clarification," said the California Watch editor about Prime. To learn more:
- read the California Watch article
- read the California Watch methodology
- read The Record Searchlight article
- here's the Prime Healthcare press release on Friday
- here's the Prime Healthcare press release on Saturday Related Articles:
Why hospitals must approve big premium hikes
Investigation shows hospital erroneously billed Medicare for infections
High malnutrition rates at Prime Healthcare hospitals raise doubts
Read more about: medicare fraud, Prime Healthcare, upcoding, SEIU
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2. Cost savings in ACOs winning provider support
Although healthcare executives may be split on their support or opposition to accountable care organizations (ACOs), the touted costs savings attached to ACOs may be winning over the provider groups, reports USA Today. Between 60 and 80 healthcare organizations currently use private accountable care models, according to Elliott Fisher, director of Dartmouth's Center for Health Policy Research, according to the article. By, next year, that number will rise to 100 ACOs. According to Dartmouth and the Brookings Institution, by 2013, there will be 200 ACOs and soar between 500 and 1,000 within three years. Why the surge? Some organizations believe there's more to be gained with ACOs. "It's a risk, but the payoff is better," said Judith Rich, president of TMC Healthcare in Arizona, in the article. "It's like the stock market." Mayo Clinic, who will be notably absent from the ACO program, said the program might not be the best move for some institutions. "If you're already a high-quality, low-cost facility, it's really hard to move up," said Patricia Simmons, medical director of government relations at Mayo. "So what's the incentive? If you have less quality, you've got a great opportunity." For more:
- read the USA Today article
Related Articles:
MGMA: HIT, ACOs top medical practices' struggles
Why ACOs are still a hard sell
Step-by-step quality improvement measures can ease ACO implementation
McClellan: ACOs difficult but possible Read more about: Mayo Clinic, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)
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3. Foreign-trained physicians tapped to end shortage
With the cloud of a physician shortage looming over the heads of healthcare executives, many organizations may find the solution to filling in the workforce gap with foreign-trained healthcare professionals. For instance, the Welcome Back Initiative is a free-of-charge, nonprofit organization, aimed at helping foreign-born healthcare professionals gain credentials to work in the U.S. Many healthcare professionals already exist in the country but are untapped and working below their education level, according to an American Medical News article. "I'm a doctor from my country, and I want to do it here. I love medicine. I love my patients," said Dr. Maria Montenegro in the article. "I don't care if I have to go to Alaska to practice medicine, I want to do it." The existing pool of healthcare professionals may be one solution to the workforce crisis, although there may be language, educational, or cultural challenges with immigrant healthcare professionals. The Welcome Back Initiative helps them market their skills and obtain further education when necessary, in addition to attaining cultural competency and language skills, according to the Welcome Back Initiative website. How successful is the program? Out of the 4,022 physicians in the program, about 100 have entered residency training, according to American Medical News. Aside from only numbers, the program and foreign-trained professionals might add another benefit to the healthcare industry--diversity. According to the Welcome Back Initiative website, the program helps add diversification to the medical profession. "Having those who speak the language and have the cultural competencies is important," said Migration Policy Institute Director of Communications Michelle Mittelstadt, in the article. "The health care system is already taxed and will be taxed even more as health reforms move forward. This is about taking advantage of the pool of people already in this country." For more:
- read the American Medical News article
- check out the Welcome Back Initiative
Related Articles:
Work hours to affect primary care shortage
Looming physician, APN, PA shortages call for more training
Children hospitalized longer when parents aren't fluent in English
Med students taught outside U.S. may be denied domestic training Read more about: Physician Shortage, Cultural Competency, foreign physicians
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4. Hard times for hospitals call for more donations
As many hospitals continue to hemorrhage money or worse, announce layoffs and closings, facilities are looking for ways to curb Medicare and Medicaid payment reductions and uncompensated care. One way might be to focus efforts on philanthropic donations. For example, Shriners Hospitals will end its 89 years of free care, a move that comes from reduced donations, reports UPI. Shriners' endowments have been hard hit by the economic downturn. The hospitals, instead, will bill insurance companies and charge families that can afford the copayments. "We're not a poor organization," said Doug Maxwell, president and chief executive officer of Shriners Hospitals for Children, based in Tampa, Fla., in the article. "But if we don't make wise decisions now, we won't last." University of California, San Francisco, on the other hand, recently has received an outpouring amount of donations though heavy philanthropy efforts, reports the San Francisco Gate.
After a complicated pregnancy and the birth of his daughter at UCSF, Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff and his wife, Lynne, initially committed to donating $20 million anonymously to the hospital. However, after a meeting with UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret, Marc Benioff donated $100 million toward the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, at the urging of Laret to use their name to encourage other donors.
The donation had a ripple effect with others donations of $90 million dedicated to UCSF, according to the article. Donation solicitations came from innovative marketing methods. For example, Lynne Benioff began advising the UCSF Foundation board on ways to improve the patient experience, having gone through it herself. She also raised $1 million through Facebook and Twitter. Marc Benioff organized a celebrity benefit concert with Neil Young that brought in $3 million in donations.
"If you really want to have a company that has a philanthropic orientation, it needs to not be a bolt-on," Marc Benioff said in the article about his company philosophy. "It needs to be integrated." To learn more:
- read the UPI article
- check out the SF Gate article Related Articles:
Hospital friend-raising makes fundraising personal
Healthcare donations grow, along with fundraising costs
Healthcare fundraising fared better in 2010 Read more about: Donation Program, UCSF Medical Center, fundraising, Healthcare Philanthropy
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5. Tips for patient data security: Policies, education, funding
Recent news broke of patient data breaches across the country, including one at Beth Israel that could affect more than 2000 patients. FierceHealthcare caught up with Andrew Lenardon (pictured), director of indirect and solution sales for North America at Shred-it International, an information security and document destruction company that works with 1,500 hospitals and thousands of clinics, to discuss patient data security challenges faced by hospitals. FierceHealthcare: What are the patient data security issues at hospitals? L enardon: There's a lot, to be blunt. Some of the security issues are employee awareness and management support. If your employees aren't aware of the security issues or the security protection requirements, that's a big problem. If the management isn't supporting those policies or creating those policies in the first place, that's a huge issue, as well. Some other areas that hospital executives need to think about is how they're handling the hard drives in copiers, laptops, and external storage devices, as well as confidential paper and disposing of that information in a secure manner. You have to think about things like patient records being sent to the wrong places. You also have to think about non-paper issues, such as patient health information that is on plastic--like patient cards--that gets misplaced. You also need to think about medical files that are left unattended. Having a complete lack of security on some hospital floors is a big issue, where you've got people coming and going within a hospital setting that are not background checked and not employees of the organization, and they can walk right into those environments. That's a very large physical access issue that leads to breaches. --> READ THE FULL Q&A Read more about: patient data, data security, data breach
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Also Noted
SPOTLIGHT ON... Little difference between for-profit, nonprofit hospitals Despite the tax-exemption status, there may be little difference between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals. People can't predict quality based on a business structure, according to John Santa, who manages the hospital rating department for Consumer Reports magazine, in a Citizens' Voice article. What differences do exist may be subtle, he said, in that for-profit hospitals care more about patient experience, facility design, and shorter wait time; nonprofits are more concerned about community ties and putting money toward care rather than appearance. Article > John Halamka, who serves as the chief information officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, will be leaving the latter post as soon as the school can find a replacement, according to FierceHealthIT. Article > University of Michigan Hospitals & Health Centers has reappointed Douglas Strong for a second five-year term as CEO, effective Aug. 1, reports Crain's Detroit Business. Article > Less than a week after the House passed the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, the Senate rejected the bill 51-46, reports NPR. Article > Three hospital workers were fired from a New Haven, Conn., facility for violating patient privacy when a photo of a dead teen taken with a camera phone was shared with others, according to the Associated Press. Article > Patients who use mail-order prescriptions have better cholesterol outcomes compared to patients who only used the local Kaiser Permanente pharmacy, according to a study in the current online issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Kaiser press release And Finally... Get a good night's sleep in this hotel's snore-proof room. Article > Forrester Analyst on Mobile Insights for Health Insurers - Thursday, August 18, 2011, 2pm ET/ 11am PT Join Liz Boehm, principal analyst for Customer Experience in Healthcare and Life Sciences at Forrester Research, and Aaron Kaufman, general manager and vice president of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Kony, as they discuss current mobile adoption and ongoing mobile initiatives being driven by health insurers. Register today!
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> Advance your Healthcare Career with Top Online Degrees No time to commute to class? No problem. Drexel University Online offers quality programs you need to succeed - all with 24/7 online convenience! A 130-year leader in nursing education, Drexel's College of Nursing & Health Professions offers a variety of online degrees and certificates. For a listing of programs visit: http://www.drexel.com/ > Mayo Clinic's Conference on Systems Engineering and Operations Research in Health Care - Aug 10-12, 2011 - Rochester, MN > 2nd Annual Medical Management in Medicare Advantage: Payer/Provider Collaborative Care Summit - August 25-26, 2011 - Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, San Diego, CA With over 200 attendees at our launch event, our Collaborative Care Summit has established itself as one of the premier Medical Management conferences. Our 2011 program will continue to provide the "next generation" medical management tactics that Health Plans, Hospitals and Physician Group's require in the current economic climate.As the chronically ill make up more of the Medicare Advantage population, hospital readmissions have become a significant financial challenge. Learn more. > AdvaMed 2011 - Register Now and Save 300! - September 26-28, 2011 - Washington, DC Whether you focus on compliance or business development, marketing, finance or regulatory affairs, AdvaMed 2011 is where medical device and diagnostic industry stakeholders come to do business, share best practices, and influence policy. Don't miss out. Early registration ends Aug. 5th. www.AdvaMed2011.com
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> Mobility Advantage: Becoming an Unwired Enterprise You see new smartphones and tablets everywhere. But are you still wondering what the benefits of mobilizing could be for your business? In this new white paper, we've outlined a few ways that mobility can transform how your business operates and competes. Get your copy now, compliments of Sybase. Download now. > eBook: ACOs: The Game-changing Lessons That Payers & Providers Have Already Learned This eBook from FierceHealthcare delves into the many unknowns surrounding the controversial model of accountable care – from startup costs and IT requirements to care coordination and payer involvement. Click here to download this eBook now!
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> Decision Support Administrator The Decision Support Administrator is responsible for working directly with the Revenue Cycle Director and practice leadership to identify and advance strategic initiatives for the ambulatory arm of the health system. The Analyst works closely with the practice leadership to provide support related to decision support tools, analytic techniques, data nuances, and methodologies of analysis. Learn more. > Client Services Director The Client Services Director is responsible for leading the improvement strategies for Cleveland Clinic. This is accomplished though applying proven quality improvement strategies and methodologies. The Client Services Director will bring expertise and experience to the organization, partnering with system and hospital senior leadership to improve organizational outcomes and meet strategic goals. Learn more. > Interface Analyst Team Lead This position will provide leadership and direction for the implementation of the Epic Inpatient Environment. This role will leverage the existing Ambulatory and ASAP Epic Systems and OpenLink environment to integrate the new Epic Inpatient Clinical, Pharmacy, Operating Room Systems. Responsibilities of the project will include developing the technical specifications and components of the interfaces, testing, documentation, outlining the data flows and the implementation and support of the Epic Integrated Environment. Learn more. > Epic – Business Systems Analyst – Ambulatory Electronic Medical Records Duties will include workflow analysis, building, training, troubleshooting, go-live & post go-live support & optimization. The successful candidate will be able to manage their daily duties while offering exceptional on-site customer support. This position will be required to work on & off-site and have the ability and experience to interface with a wide variety of personalities, as well as understanding the complex office and clinical workflow structure. It is imperative that the candidate is able to thrive on a tight schedule and have the proven ability to complete projects on time. Learn more. > Epic Tester – Senior BSA The Senior Business Systems Analyst/Epic Tester is primarily responsible for management of the EPIC EHR testing process by applying project management discipline to the entire project lifecycle. This position will identify critical success factors, establish goals and objectives, manage and meet the expectations of stakeholders, as well as manage the scope, timeline, cost and quality factors associated with the testing initiatives. Learn more. > Epic Orders and/or ASAP (ED) - Clinical Business Systems Analyst We are currently looking for full-time Clinical Business Systems Analysts (BSA) to join our Epic Inpatient EMR teams. Prior experience implementing clinical applications or one of the following areas is required. Epic experience and certification is strongly preferred - Orders, HOD or ASAP. Learn more. > Certified Epic Bridges – Interface Analyst The Interface Analyst will provide support for new interfaces and the maintenance of the interfaces currently supported by the Interface Team. Additional responsibilities of the Interface Team include assessing the organizational needs, troubleshooting, supporting and recommending solutions to integration issues as they arise in a 24/7 environment. Learn more. > Epic Clarity Reporting Analysts We are seeking individuals that will be active participants in the development and implementation of the full suite of reports for Epic Inpatient Project. A variety of skills including Epic Reporting Workbench, Epic Clarity, Chronicles, and Crystal Reporting writing will be utilized on the Reporting Team. A background with the full cycle deployment of Business Intelligence tools will also be utilized. Learn more. > Epic Program Director This position reports directly to the CIO and directs the work of the project leadership and staff in their respective applications/departments. The Epic Program Director maintains the scope and work plan and ensures that all milestones and deliverables are on time and budget, as well as tasked with the internal communication of project strategies, high level deliverables, plans, and schedules. Learn more. > EPIC Professionals: Over 150 Opportunities Kelly Healthcare and Kelly IT Resources are collaborating with an esteemed North Carolina Academic Medical Center Implementing the EPIC Electronic medical record system offering 150 employment opportunities. These Direct Hire positions will provide qualified IT and Healthcare professionals the opportunity to work on a cutting edge system and gain valuable experience they will be able to use for the rest of their careers. Candidates will actively contribute to design, development, implementation and analysis of the EPIC System. Learn more. > Epic HIM Business Systems Analyst The Epic HIM Analyst is responsible for the building, testing, training and support of Lee Memorial Health System's Epic HIM systems. The HIM Analyst reports directly to the HIM Team Leader and implements the work of the project as directed by leadership. The Epic HIM Analyst will ensure the optimal system build and use functions to support the HIM department and workflow. Learn more. > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceHealthcareJobs |
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