The Impact of Healthcare Reform on Urban & Safety Net Hospitals 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
“Patients must be moved efficiently from diagnosis to effective treatment with careful attention to their specific needs and unique circumstances,” says Mark Chastang, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Grady Health System. It is important to have caring and compassionate teams dedicated to creating new and more efficient methods of managing the total patient experience from admission to discharge.

A speaker at the marcus evans National Healthcare CXO Summit Spring 2012 in Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, Chastang discusses the need to create a seamless provision of care.

How can healthcare professionals improve patient care and lower length of stay? 

There must be full commitment and high priority placed on improving quality and lowering patient length of stay at the highest levels of executive leadership. 

Committed and engaged leadership will create an organizational culture supportive of safe, efficient and high quality patient care. The absence of broad institutional commitment will result in poor to mediocre quality.

Efficiency in hospitals can save lives, costs and time. What best practices would you recommend for increasing efficiency within the hospital environment?

Senior leadership must be open to new ways of improving organizational performance at every level. Learning from others and a willingness to adopt industry best practices is important for top performance. At a minimum, setting reach goals and adopting national benchmarks for quality, safety as well as financial improvement will drive institutional performance. Focusing on systems and processes, not single events, that support safe and efficient patient care will help tremendously.

Hospitals are under great pressure to treat uninsured patients. What do you believe can be done?  

The new healthcare legislation attempts to reduce the financial pressures created by large numbers of uninsured patients by offering coverage for a major segment of this population. This will go far in improving bottom lines for many urban and so called safety net hospitals. The challenge for these hospitals is to keep cost down and run competitive on a cost and quality basis. Not all will survive.

One piece of advice?

Stay committed to high quality. This will require motivated, committed and expert staff. Pay attention to the needs of staff and caregivers. This is critical to advancing your mission and meeting the needs of patients.

Contact: Stacey Melvin, Journalist, marcus evans, Summits Division

Tel: + 357 22 849 400
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

About the National Healthcare CXO Summit Spring 2012

This unique forum will take place at The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, 2012. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on continually finding ways to maximize budgets, developing an accountable care organization and ensuring compliance for upcoming transformations of our healthcare system.  

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

marcus evans group – healthcare sector portal

Please note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced. Kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com

The Criticality of Re-Designing Healthcare Delivery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Healthcare must be re-designed so that patients can get the right care, at the right time and at the right cost,” says Ninfa M. Saunders, President & Chief Operating Officer, Virtua. Healthcare executives should look at processes and tools to re-engineer care delivery and adapt to the dynamics of the current environment, she adds.

A speaker at the marcus evans National Healthcare CXO Summit Spring 2012 in Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, Saunders shares her view on why hospitals will not survive if they do not re-design.
 
How can healthcare executives navigate through the challenges of the current healthcare environment?

Healthcare executives must place more focus on the integration of strategies, processes and people. As we get into the changes of healthcare reform, thinking of new models that have a longitudinal view of population-based care as opposed to episodic is crucial. Look towards key measures such as people, growth, access, quality, cost and experience. 

What cost reduction strategies would you recommend?

The target of cost reduction is 20 to 25 per cent. To achieve this, organizations can look at three factors. Firstly, incremental cost reductions and reducing wherever possible, which will account for five to six per cent of reductions. Secondly, process improvement, looking at Six Sigma and Lean to remove waste and minimize variation. Thirdly, redesign the care delivery process, which should yield the highest cost reduction.  

Healthcare must be re-designed so that patients can get the right care, at the right time and at the right cost. This will involve developing new modalities. Healthcare providers will have to think outside the box.

How can healthcare delivery be re-designed? 

Healthcare executives must go back to the basics, look at adoption processes and identify where efforts are going. They can then start re-design by using processes and tools to re-engineer care delivery and adapting to the care dynamics of the current environment. If hospitals do not do this, they will not survive.

Virtua recently opened a new 358-bed facility from the bottom up, using Six Sigma. Our 213 patients were safely and efficiently moved from our old facility to the new one, without spending consulting dollars. Traditionally, facilities are built and organizations fit operations into a specific space; we however, designed the process and then built the facility around that. This saved us USD 14 million in change orders and allowed us to size appropriately in terms of total bed capacity. This has resulted in improvements in patient care, staff engagement and efficiency.

Contact: Stacey Melvin, Journalist, marcus evans, Summits Division

Tel: + 357 22 849 400
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

About the National Healthcare CXO Summit Spring 2012

This unique forum will take place at The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, 2012. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on continually finding ways to maximize budgets, developing an accountable care organization and ensuring compliance for upcoming transformations of our healthcare system.  

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

marcus evans group – healthcare sector portal

Please note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced. Kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com

Selecting Vendors for Better Long-Term Care

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Long-term care (LTC) facilities should select and work closely with providers that have a broad range of solutions, are reactive to changing market demands, and thus offer value added solutions rather than just products, says Jim Ankoviak, Chief Executive Officer, Winco Mfg., LLC.

From a solution provider company at the marcus evans Long-Term Care CXO Summit Spring 2012, Ankoviak discusses strategies for the vendor selection process and what would improve patient care in LTC facilities. 

What would improve patient care in the LTC sector?

We work to improve patient care by providing the type of seating specific to the resident’s and the facility’s needs. Seating must be comfortable and safe for the patient, while reducing caregiver effort, the potential for strain or injury and time spent on cleaning. It must be durable for the LTC environment, and demonstrate great value.

LTC executives need to partner with providers like Winco that understand and can meet these needs across a broad spectrum of applications.

How can LTC facilities ensure that budget cuts do not affect the quality of care provided?

By selecting and then working closely with providers that add value, who provide a broad range of solutions, are reactive to changing market demands and thus offer value added solutions rather than just products.

What strategies for the efficient running of LTC facilities could you share?

Consolidating seating and furnishing needs with a single provider can simplify the order process, lock in and stabilize pricing, and manage purchase schedules to meet project requirements as needed. This would allow for balanced purchasing, predictable budgeting and the flexibility to adapt to unexpected changes.

How can they stay up-to-date with changing demographics?

LTC facilities must seek vendors with an established track record, not only for providing quality products, but also known for innovating, improving and continuously adding new products to their portfolio. The vendor should strive to include their facilities in requests for market feedback and in presenting new ideas proactively for their consideration. We listen closely to our customers and work with them to develop and test their innovation in real world settings.

Do you have a final piece of advice?

Explore the options available. Do not be hesitant to share your concerns and special requirements with your vendors. Winco prides itself in being able to react to ever evolving customer and market changes.

A partner who is willing to be innovative to help reduce operating expenses in ways beyond just price, is critical to establishing a long-term, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship.

Contact: Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian, Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits Division

Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

About the Long-Term Care CXO Summit Spring 2012

Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on the Health Care Reform, innovative quality improvement, and staff recruitment and retention strategies.

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

marcus evans group – healthcare sector portal 

Please note that the Summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.

About Winco Mfg., LLC

Winco Mfg., LLC is an Ocala, FL based medical furnishings manufacturer whose Products are designed and assembled in an ISO9001/2008 certified facility and distributed worldwide. Winco established itself by providing innovative furnishings that enhance patient comfort, improve caregiver safety and convenience and exceed customer requirements for function, durability and aesthetics. 

For more information: www.wincomfg.com

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced – kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com

The number of cancer cases could surge by 45 per cent in the next 20 years, according to new research which may be of interest to people attending healthcare events.

The study which was published by Cancer Research UK, and published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that by 2030 there could be around 432,000 cancer cases a year, with male cancer’s rising by a staggering 55 per cent over the period.

The reason for this increase it says is down to the population aging. However, while the number of cancer cases is expected to increase the survival rate is also expected to get better.

However, the report does warn that the NHS risks being overwhelmed unless they start to take action now.
Marcus Evans presents business training events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

Upcoming healthcare conferences may discuss the state of food for those receiving healthcare in hospitals in Wales, which has been a hot topic lately.

A recent report by the auditor general for Wales found that the standard of food served to people in hospitals was low.

Steps have been made to improve the level of catering in hospitals, and most patients are satisfied with the standard, but the auditor said there was still much to be done, the BBC reported.

More work is needed to ensure those in hospital are getting the help they need at meal times.

Better records need to be kept, and more could be done to set up care plans for those with nutritional problems, the news provider reported.

The Daily Mail reported this week that often less than £1 a day is spent on food for hospital patients, but the Welsh report found that the amount spent can vary from £1.33 to £5.66.

Marcus Evans presents healthcare conferences, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Oncology discussions at healthcare conferences may touch on studies into extending remission for advanced lung cancer patients.

Two national trial programmes are taking place in the US, where patients are given a trial drug to help prevent the growth of tumours Island Packet said.

Sunitinib is given to advanced patients who have completed a course of chemotherapy. It is intended to inhibit growth factors which can lead to tumours and maintain or enhance the effects of the chemotherapy for longer.

It has already been trialled successfully on patients with other types of cancer.

Dr Jeffrey Crawford, principal investigator for clinical trials at Duke University Medical Centre, told the news provider: "If you can live a year, rather than eight months, that’s big, especially if we can improve your quality of life. Every month counts."

In October last year the American Cancer Society predicted there were around 371,000 people suffering from lung cancer in the US.

Mergers and acquisitions are often the talk of healthcare business events as firms look to expand into new markets. And the trend shows no sign of slowing after Scottish IT company Craneware bought a rival US firm in a multi-million pound deal.

The purchase of Nashville-based ClaimTrust is worth over £9 million initially, but could rise to £12 million if certain targets are met.

Craneware is a healthcare software developer which creates revenue calculating programmes for US hospitals. And while ClaimTrust is technically a rival company, it has a customer base of more than 275 hospitals in the US.

Through this purchase Craneware will now be able to expand its offering in the US. It also expects that revenue will increase significantly in the first full year of ownership.

Marcus Evans presents healthcare retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

The emergence of insurance broker CBG into the healthcare market is likely to be the talk of healthcare business events this year.

In the main because the group is looking to benefit from the rise in clinical negligence claims.

Dave Mackie from the CBG Group explained how "both the NHS and the private sector have seen the cost of clinical negligence rise sharply in recent years".

As a result, "corporate healthcare organisations are facing an increased threat of medical malpractice claims".

The products will protect all kinds of corporate healthcare organisations including private hospitals and clinics.

CBG claim that medical malpractice is an area "avoided" by many insurers and are hoping to fill a "worrying void" in the healthcare sector.

The move is part of an initiative between CBG and MPS Risk Solutions.

Marcus Evans presents healthcare business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Driving Healthcare Efficiency through People, Processes and Technology 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Healthcare organizations that focus on people, processes and technology will reduce costs and maintain a high quality of patient care while also meeting the demands of new healthcare operating models.” says Beverly Wallace, Retiring President, Parallon Business Solutions.

Ahead of the marcus evans National Healthcare CFO Summit Spring 2012 and the National Healthcare CXO Summit Spring 2012, both in Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, Wallace and O’Boyle discuss the tools that can help Healthcare CEOs improve efficiency. 
 
What can be done to improve workforce management in hospitals today? 

Beverly Wallace: Everyone is familiar with the fact that there are fewer and fewer nurses available, so hospitals are reaching out to contract labor companies to fill positions at a premium rate. The preferred way to look at the workforce is to increase the utilization of internal staff and reduce the use of premium labor by having the best people use processes and technologies to optimize their schedules and resources.

Healthcare organizations must focus on people, processes and technology in order to reduce costs, improve workforce satisfaction and maintain a high quality of patient care.

How can healthcare executives optimize inventories and distribution, so that physicians have access to the tools they need, when they need them?

Beverly Wallace: Healthcare executives must re-strategize their supply chains and take a closer look at their current inventory processes in order to remove waste. A key area is looking at the OR inventory process and streamlining it to remove and prevent waste with physician input, so that physicians have the devices and technologies they need to care for patients, but at a cost that also serves the facility and its well being. 

Pharmacists must also have the latitude to perform clinical interventions and tasks such as tactical order entries. Moving activities such as order entry into a consolidated shared services environment and allowing the pharmacist to focus on clinical intervention can reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals used in patient care while also improving the clinical outcome of the patient.

What piece of advice would you give to healthcare CEOs today?

Michael O’Boyle: I would say there are two things. One is to really understand healthcare reform and figure out how your organization will fit into the new paradigm. Secondly, knowing reimbursement will likely be reduced, start focusing today on ways to remove cost to match the new reimbursement levels to be ready for the full implementation of healthcare reform in 2016. Some executives are taking a wait and see attitude with respect to how reform shakes out but we all know that change has to happen so we should all focus on improving our costs and operating models without impacting patient bedside care in preparation for that change.

Contact: Stacey Melvin, Journalist, marcus evans, Summits Division

Tel: + 357 22 849 400
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

For more information on the National Healthcare CFO Summit Spring 2012 and the National Healthcare CXO Summit 2012, please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the website

marcus evans group – healthcare sector portal

About Parallon Business Solutions 

Parallon Business Solutions is committed to transforming the business of healthcare while maintaining a patient’s first philosophy. Over the last 12 years, Parallon has proven solutions in 250 hospitals and 2,000 non-acute care providers. Through its 21,000 people and four business units, Parallon provides revenue cycle and business process expertise, workforce management solutions, supply chain services and the purchasing power of HealthTrust Purchasing Group.

www.parallon.net

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced – kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com

Changing the Business of Healthcare:
Allocating After Hours Services �

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

To maintain and increase revenue in an era of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and bundled payments, healthcare Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) must find new ways of doing business, says Stephen C. Schoenbaum, MD, MPH. Hospitals could arrange after hour services and supports for coordinated care and sell those supports to physicians and practices in the area.

A speaker at the upcoming marcus evans National Healthcare CFO Summit Spring 2012, taking place in Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, Schoenbaum discusses new business avenues that healthcare organizations could exploit.

With so much focus on lowering costs, how can healthcare CFOs maintain quality of care?

Stephen C. Schoenbaum: The US is one of several countries in which healthcare spending increases chronically exceed increases in earnings and increases in GDP. Each has continuing pressure in improving quality of care and health spending. In the US, healthcare providers that have depended on non-essential practices are already seeing a drop in volume and revenue, and will eventually have to terminate those practices. They will also have to seek opportunities to do business that are aligned with the goals of improving care and decreasing costs. There is already a strong belief among healthcare executives that better care is less expensive care. More efficient processes, ones that eliminate unnecessary steps, create a platform for better quality at a lower cost.   

What can be done to maximize efficiency in healthcare delivery and administration?

Stephen C. Schoenbaum: The existing service payment system in the US encourages more care, not better care. Private insurers are trying to change the way payments are made to encourage better coordinated, more efficient care.

Accountability for the quality of care requires adoption of specific standards and measurements by the US government and others as well as transparency in reporting the results.

What role can hospitals play in assisting ACOs?

Stephen C. Schoenbaum: To increase revenue, healthcare CFOs must find new ways of doing business. There are numerous discussions surrounding the development of medical homes and ACOs. These require a variety of shared services so that they can meet their cost and quality goals.

Hospitals could set up after hours services which could then be provided to a number of practices and physicians. Physicians are not in the office 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but patients need around the clock care.

This will allow for better, less expensive care that decreases visits to the emergency room. While it decreases admissions, it also, assuming they are paid differently, creates a new business opportunity for hospitals. Healthcare executives must open their eyes and realize that they have all the components necessary for this.

How can hospital performance be measured? 

Stephen C. Schoenbaum: Medicare and Medicaid publically report measures online that focus on technical care and patient experience. Both are extremely important. Technical care looks at what is being delivered in accordance with various guidelines and patient experience is an aspect that care givers are not able to determine on their own. 

The overall performance of the US system has actually gotten a bit poorer in recent years. This appears to be related to the increasing number of uninsured people with no or poor access to care. Nevertheless, quality measures are improving, as this is the only area where we have national guidelines. The healthcare system is responding to the existence of guidelines and related measures by working on improving care in those areas. The positive message is that if you set up accountability by having standards and measures in place, you will get results.

Contact: Stacey Melvin, Journalist, marcus evans, Summits Division

Tel: + 357 22 849 400
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com

About the National Healthcare CFO Summit Spring 2012

This unique forum will take place at The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa, Hollywood, Florida, April 26-28, 2012. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The Summit includes presentations on strategies for improving the revenue cycle, preparing for healthcare reform, and being in a position to be able to take advantage of the impending changes in the healthcare system.

For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website

marcus evans group – finance/insurance sector portal

Complementing our summit format, the Finance Network – marcus evans Summits group delivers peer-to-peer information on strategic matters, professional trends and breakthrough innovations.

About marcus evans Summits

marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-on-one business meetings. For more information, please visit www.marcusevans.com 

All rights reserved. The above content may be republished or reproduced – kindly inform us by sending an email to press@marcusevanscy.com