Quality and Safety

A new study provides even more evidence that physician leadership is the key to success with accountable care organizations. Strong focus on patient needs is a key driver of success, but physician-led ACOs typically struggle with the care coordination piece.

Ugly stories about waiting lists and poor care in VA facilities are coming out in the press. But in truth, there is not enough information to say whether the VA system is worse or better than the private system as a whole, or even to compare the VA with individual private sector hospitals.

Patient satisfaction surveys suggest patients are unsatisfied and hospitals must do more to engage them. New technologies and techniques can help organizations find new ways to involve patients in their care and connect them with their caregivers.

As the Department of Veterans' Affairs scandal grows, scrutiny of wait times at civilian hospitals and clinics is bound to as well. Health systems might start reviewing their own access metrics.

Back in January, U.S. hospitals began to experience a serious shortage of intravenous saline solutions, caused mainly by a spike in demand during the beginning of the 2013 flu season. Fast forward to May, and hospitals are still struggling with the shortage.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced the first group of prospective winners of its Health Care Innovation Awards. The winners could receive receive $2 million to $18 million each over three years for trying innovative care models.

The healthcare industry recognizes the need to reduce its impact on the environment, yet sustainability isn't always a high priority among the decision makers at individual U.S. hospitals. Here are some ideas to help your facility get started.

Bundled payments represent a new and increasingly accepted form of reimbursement. They can work now, if applied in modest, manageable ways from which lessons can be learned and applied more broadly later.

Value-based purchasing introduces the potential for unintended consequences, and needs to be monitored to avoid disparities between hospitals. But it's too early to claim that VBP puts disproportionate share hospitals at a disadvantage.

Almost a third of all hospitalizations now treat diabetic patients, and cost more than average. Diabetic admissions may be a problem that regulators, ACOs and providers need to solve for the long-term.