Supply Chain

While hospitals historically have focused on driving down costs by making improvements in their revenue cycle, nurse productivity and supply chain management efficiency, one area that hasn't received as much attention is the costs associated with the number of assets hospitals own and maintain, said John McCarthy, general manager of asset management professional services at GE Healthcare. McCarthy shares four initiatives to help healthcare organizations reduce overall inventory and drive down costs.

Accountable care organizations are complicated, but the ins and outs of the care model have been discussed long enough. Healthcare organizations are now at a point where they have to focus on specific areas of ACOs to reduce cost and benefit patients say two healthcare consultants.

By implementing evidence-based blood transfusion guidelines and industry-wide standardizations at hospitals, there is an opportunity for hospitals to save millions annually in blood purchasing costs alone.

From intake to the back end, healthcare providers need a revenue cycle management system that will provide a seamless workflow for each episode of care. From the moment a patient registers in the facility, it is imperative that the correct information follow along each point of care so that accurate billing information can be processed and sent, RCM vendors say.

One of the comments I hear often from healthcare financial executives is that they are continuously being pushed to "do more with less." I hear this in relation to workforce management, revenue cycle process improvements, changing reimbursement models, automation efforts and IT projects.

The global market for infertility drugs and devices will reach nearly $4.8 billion in 2017, said a recent report from Transparency Market Research.

Relationships between healthcare organizations and physicians are a growing trend within the industry as more doctors become employees of hospitals. Building healthy working relationships between the two factions is important.

A recent report from J.D. Power and Associates indicates that customers are becoming less satisfied with purchasing prescriptions through mail-order pharmacies as compared to brick and mortar locations, especially in the area of cost.

For the first time in decades, sales of vaccines declined in 2011, due in large part to a weak flu season, said a recent report from healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information.

Global competition and the impending medical device tax, set to begin Jan. 1, 2013, are creating challenges for the U.S. biomedical device industry, according to a new study by tax advisory firm WTP Advisors.