Posts Tagged ‘healthcare’
Recent economic figures show the current recession is not letting up. Pain has spread to all sectors, and hospitals have been no exception.
The perfect storm of 2009 has meant less access to credit, softening patient volume, and decreased state funding for distressed Medicaid programs. “Batten down the hatches” might seem like a plausible tack. But In the midst of trouble, there is a better management strategy.
Hospitals should position themselves for better days ahead. And that strategy is plotted out in the cover story of the June H&HN magazine.
Preserve Cash on Hand
A recent AHA survey showed 59 percent of all hospitals are reporting moderate to significant decreases in cash on hand. That means CEOs and CFOs must be even more vigilant in watching income statements. Money out the door means of a buffer against current challenges.
Pare Back Capital Costs
It’s a given that major capital projects have been postponed. But even smaller capital expenditures should be minimized. Cut backs are rarely popular. Officers need to be effective communicators, consistently making the frugality case to medical staff and employees.
View Future Opportunities
Administrators should think about the right way to grow service lines. The key is recruiting clinicians for existing services, thus negating the need for expensive capital outlays. It helps that private physicians are weathering their own crises with their own private practices. In fact, a recent healthcare employment trend has shown a rising doctor preference for hospital employment.
Revisit Strategic Plan
Any plan will have to adjust for the ongoing effects of the nation’s credit crisis. To be sure, tough decisions can’t be avoided. But tough decisions today means some hospitals will emerge from the credit crisis of 2009 in an even stronger position.
Which of these – or other strategies is your organization implementing or considering?
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Jack Stenger on July 20, 2009 at 10:54 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: healthcare
Now, now, that would be “pain in advance” not “pain in the a$$.”
Most folks who suffer from arthritis, asthma or heart disease are all too aware that how they feel can be affected by the weather.
Developed to warn them in advance, MediClim emails registered users when changes in humidity, pollen count, barometric pressure and temperature might change “where it hurts.”
Back in the eighties, Dr. John Bart noticed his patients complaining of the same ailments on the same days. He paired up with a weather man, okay, a meteorologist to devise an index that maps weather conditions and related health problems.
In 2008, the doc and the weatherman added functionality to the index and created an email alert system.
Simply sign-up. Complete a brief medical questionnaire. And on days when conditions are expected to trigger certain health problems, subscribers receive an email, or an alert through MediClim’s Facebook application.
MediClim is a free service currently available to anyone in North America and the UK.
While the service may seem “needless” at first glance, please consider the success of farting applications for the iPhone.
Now, those apps are what I call P-I-A.
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Donna Bowling on April 6, 2009 at 8:45 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Ramblings
Tags: advance warning system, health, healthcare, PIA
Just a quick reminder post of some of the available healthcare-related opportunities happening this month.
Month-long Observances
- Alcohol Awareness Month
- Autism Awareness Month
- Cancer Control Month
- Child Abuse Prevention Month
- Counseling Awareness Month, Donate Life Month
- Facial Protection Month
- Foot Health Awareness Month
- Humor Month
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month
- March for Babies
- Minority Health Month
- Occupational Therapy Month
- Relay for Life
- Sarcoidosis Awareness Month
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases Awareness Month
- Sports Eye Safety Month
- Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month
- Youth Sports Safety Month
Other Health Observances
5-11 Healthcare Access Personnel Week
6-12 Public Health Week
7 Health Day (World)
7-14 Health in the Americas Week
8 Radiology Nurses Day
8 Sexual Assault Awareness Month Day of Action
9 Alcohol Screening Day
12-18 Health Information Privacy and Security Week
12-18 Heimlich Maneuver Week
12-18 Patient Advocacy Week
13-17 Cancer Registrars Week
14 Moment of Laughter Day
18 YMCA Healthy Kids Day
19-25 Electroneurodiagnostic Week
19-25 Healthcare Administrative Professionals Week
19-25 Healthcare Volunteer Week
19-25 Medical Laboratory Professionals Week
20-26 Medical Fitness Week
24-26 Youth Service Day
25-May 2 Infant Immunization Week
26-May 3 Safe Kids Week
29 Noise Awareness Day
Have fun planning. If you’d like to brainstorm, just holler.
[By the way, electroneurodiagnostic (END) technology is the allied health care profession that analyzes and monitors nervous system function to promote the effective treatment of neuropathological conditions. Technologists record electrical activity arising from the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, somatosensory or motor nerve systems using a variety of techniques and instruments. So there. Thank you aset.org.]
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Donna Bowling on April 1, 2009 at 7:05 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: electroneurodiagnostic, healthcare, healthcare marketing, hoidays
Just a quick reminder post of some of the available healthcare-related opportunities happening this month.
Do something different with your marketing in March. Stop yakking about the same topics your competitors are yakking about and have a little fun.
What sorts of atypical efforts could you embrace while celebrating the following holidays?
- American Red Cross Month
- Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Month Link
- Employee Spirit Month
- National Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Month
- National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
- National Eye Donor Month
- National Multiple Sclerosis Education & Awareness Month
- National Kidney Month
- National Nutrition Month
- Poison Prevention Awareness Month
- Save Your Vision Month
- Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month
Come on. You can do it. Just use a little “mindpower.” (Yours or ours.) Holler if you’d like to brainstorm.
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Donna Bowling on March 2, 2009 at 9:03 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: healthcare, holidays, innovation
Healthcare is obviously a hot topic these days. Too often, though most of us think about it from an individuals perspective and not the employers perspective. As a business owner, many options have to be weighed when making decisions about healthcare issues and how those issues affect my business, my staff — and as an employee — me.
I really appreciated a short video link I received from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce discussing issues affecting Georgia employers like:
- stabilizing and improving the state’s trauma care network
- opposing insurance mandates, which can drive up health care costs for employers by as much as 40 percent
- providing all Georgians with access to accurate, timely information on the cost and quality of health care products
- services reducing the ranks of uninsured and underinsured
See the short clip for yourself. Georgia Chamber Healthcare Video
Whether or not you agree with the Chamber’s positions, kudos to them for sharing the information in an informative way.
The Mission of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce: The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is the unified voice of the business community, aggressively advocating the business viewpoint in the shaping of public policy, encouraging ethical business practices and ensuring the state’s future as economically prosperous, educationally competitive and environmentally responsible. Visit the Chamber’s website.
Share this article | Permalink | One comment
Posted by Donna Bowling on November 27, 2008 at 8:20 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Ramblings
Tags: Georgia, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, healthcare
It’s taken as a given that Americans should improve their health. But what if everyone followed doctor’s orders and exercised regularly and stopped smoking, among other good habits?
A recent article HealthLeaders magazine (September 2008) posed that provocative question in an article titled “What if People Actually Start Taking Care of Themselves?”
According to the article, only 3 percent of Americans follow the four basis wellness goals:
● Don’t smoke
● Remain close to ideal body weight
● Exercise three times a week for 20 minutes
● Eat fruits and vegetables regularly
If only 9 percent of Ameicans did the above, there would be radical shifts in our wellness – and economic – landscapes.
First, individuals would benefit from better health. Also, employers would immediately see lower health care costs. (That alone might make our beloved Mastermind, Donna a bit happier!) But hospitals and health care providers might suffer. Healthier Americans would mean fewer facility admissions and fewer sickness-borne appointments.
The above culture-changing shift would mean big changes for hospitals – and hospital marketing.
A more preventative, health-maintenance approach would result in a large drop in admissions for bronchitis, upper respiratory problems, heart attacks and strokes, along with diabetes. Currently, those ailments are common – and profitable to treat.
So, a better health scenario might force hospitals to completely change from the current “episodic” (sickness-focused) model to a “wellness center” model.
It’s a change many say is long overdue. But it can only happen if everyone follows basic health guidelines – and doctor’s orders!
What are you doing to be promote wellness – and profits?
Share this article | Permalink | One comment
Posted by Jack Stenger on September 29, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health
Tags: health care, healthcare, HealthLeaders, hospitals
Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana did it. Why can’t you?
With a dedicated budget of up to 1% of annual revenues, Philip Newbold, CEO leads the first community hospital in the US with a dedicated innovation budget. Since implementing Newbold’s innovation initiative, reported related operating profits are as much as three times the hospital’s annual investment.
Very clearly stated on the hospital’s website, “everyone and everybody within Memorial is expected to participate fully in making innovation a core competency” with the goal to see outcomes in:
- Operational and Product Line and Customer Service Differentiation
- New business Start-Ups and New Revenue Sources
- New Innovations in the Community that Create Health and Improve the Quality of Life
Of particular interest to me, and perhaps the easiest for you to execute: Memorial’s Innovation Cafe.
Mr. Newbold converted a nearby out-of-business deli into a brainstorming venue. His staffers and even other business leaders can use the cafe, outside patio and innovation menu to boot, as a place to learn to innovate. While you probably don’t have the financial resources to buy a nearby restaurant, I’m betting there’s an unused room somewhere on your campus that could be made a little less boring – if you’re willing to be, well, a bit more innovative.
To read more about Memorial’s Innovation Cafe, see Joann S. Lublin’s article that appeared in the 9/2/008 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Donna Bowling on September 15, 2008 at 7:30 am
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Wish we'd thought of that!
Tags: healthcare, innovation, Memorial Hospital
Yesterday (Sunday, July 28th) The New York Times published the second in a series of articles about the growing number of people having cosmetic surgery — or in The Times words, “medical treatments designed to improve appearances.” The series is called the Price of Beauty.
The article reveals the growing trend among dermatologists who are creating a two-tiered business model: One for cosmetic patients; the other for medical patients. Some examples:
- Two office telephone numbers. One for “skin conditions” that more often than not, go to voicemail. The other number, for “improvement” is answered by a full-time staffer.
- Comfortable waiting rooms for the medical patients and lounges for the cosmetic procedure clients.
- Treatment rooms with paper sheets for psoriasis-sufferers and cotton sheets for collagen-seekers.
- In some offices, doctors even allocate more time for the out-of-pocket payers.
Not a whole lot different from flying first-class. Or is it?
Here’s my dilemma: As a “woman of a certain age” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve considered visiting my dermatologist for both medical and cosmetic reasons. (Lucky for him, I’m physician-averse, but we’ll save that post for another day.)
As a marketing strategist, I can’t tell you how many times I, or someone here at Mindpower have recommended a two-tiered marketing strategy. You know, premium pricing for premium service. We also tout, “the experience is the marketing” so I completely agree that the “upgrades” for cosmetic patients are quite necessary, especially given the price they’ll be paying. Our recommendations and strategies make perfect sense most of the time.
This time isn’t “most of the time.” I see absolutely nothing wrong with a doctor specializing in, or having, a cosmetic surgery practice. Lots of folks want (and some even need) those “services.” I don’t even see a problem with lounges and upgraded treatment rooms. I, like most business owners, am all about turning a profit.
However, I do take issue with offering a two-tiered system, one for the afflicted and another for the affluent. Particularly from one location. Either offer the same upgraded services to everyone — or be honest with regard to mission. Physicians may even find that their medical patients come back and pay out-of-pocket for elective procedures if well taken care of when insurance was paying.
End of rant. Don’t go getting all mad at your dermatologist. They’re not all “bad.” (My doc’s great, actually. That reminds me. I need to make an appointment.)
Share this article | Permalink | No comments
Posted by Donna Bowling on July 28, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Filed under: Brain Candy for Health, Ramblings
Tags: affluent, experience economy, health care, healthcare, marketing
