Archive for the ‘Hospital Systems’ Category

Lack of Healthcare Insurance = More Deaths

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Failure to pass healthcare reform legislation could result in 275,000 premature deaths over the next decade.  The real cost of failure to pass healthcare reform legislation could mean that 275,000 Americans nationwide will die unnecessarily over the next 10 years - simply because they lack insurance.  According to a new study by Families USA, “This is only the tip of the iceberg, and the most severe consequence, which is death,” said Kathleen Stoll, director of health policy at Families USA.

The states with the largest populations were found to be the ones where the majority of projected premature deaths would occur.  The top states are California (34,600 early deaths); Texas (31,700); Florida (25,400); and New York (13,900).  Families USA estimates that 68 adults under the age of 65 die every day because they lack healthcare insurance coverage.  Unless a significant change occurs, that figure will climb to 84 by 2019.

Research exploring the connection between a lack of health insurance and an increased risk of death has found that the uninsured are more likely to avoid screenings and preventive care.  As a result, their medical problems tend to be diagnosed later when they are advanced and difficult to treat.  “The bottom line is that if you don’t get a disease picked up early and you don’t get necessary treatment, you’re more likely to die,” said Stan Dorn, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and author of an earlier study of premature deaths.

Healthcare experts warn that the Families USA’s study’s premature death estimate errs on the side of caution, although the report calculated that a lack of insurance increases mortality rates by 25 percent.  More recent research found that people who do not have healthcare research are 40 percent more likely to die early.

Abandoned Cook County Hospital Ripe for Conversion to MOB

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

A gut rehab of the old Cook County Hospital will turn the historic building into medical offices.  The vacant 1914 Beaux Art Cook County Hospital will get a second life now that the Cook County Board has voted to spend $108 million to renovate the structure and convert it into medical offices. Real estate analysts Jones Lang LaSalle envision the county serving as developer while the Cook County Health and Hospitals System physicians would occupy space in the renovated building. The gut rehab could be completed as early as 2012 if construction begins this year.

Although the hospital at 1835 West Harrison Street has become rundown since it was replaced by the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in 2002, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Portions of the structure are wrapped in metal straps to keep the deteriorating stone and brick façade from falling.  Historic preservationists have proposed establishing a tax-increment financing (TIF) district to fund the conversion to medical offices.  Engineers have determined that the hospital’s steel and concrete structure is sound.

Landmarks Illinois points out that historic hospitals have been converted to new uses in other cities.  An example is the Amazon.com headquarters in Seattle, which previously was an Art Deco hospital.  The green angle to the conversion is that renovating Cook County Hospital will prevent approximately 900 semi truckloads of demolition waste from ending up in a landfill.

Designed by Cook County architect Paul Gerhardt, the two-block long building “is at once powerful and graceful, its pairs of three-story, fluted Ionic columns anchoring a composition that features all the hallmarks of the Beaux-Art style, from mansard roofs and dormers to sculpted faces of lions and cherubs,” according to Chicago Tribune architectural critic Blair Kamin.  “Put a small museum in the building, conduct tours and you’d have an attraction for archi-tourists on their way to Oak Park to see the wonders of Frank Lloyd Wright.”

Stimulus Bill Releases $1 Billion for Electronic Healthcare Records

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Federal government provides first $1 billion installment of $19 billion for electronic healthcare record funding.  The Obama administration has released approximately $1 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus bill. The money is a downpayment on funding access to health information technology for more than 100,000 hospitals and primary-care physicians.  Another goal is to train people for careers in healthcare and information technology.  A total of $19 billion for healthcare information is contained in the stimulus bill.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that $750 million of the initial $1 billion will be used to help hospitals and physicians convert to electronic health records.  “We are at a point in the United States where only 20 percent of doctors and 10 percent of hospitals have even basic electronic health records,” Sebelius said in a teleconference.  “These grant awards, the first of their kind, will help develop our electronic infrastructure and give doctors and other healthcare providers the support they need as they adopt this powerful technology.”

Britain’s National Health Service Plans Patient Cover-Up

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

British-based designer Ben de Lisi has created a hospital gown that assures patient modesty.  American-born and London-based fashion designer Ben de Lisi was commissioned by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) to design a hospital gown that solves the age-old problem of patient modesty.   The Design Council plans to introduce the redesigned hospital gowns in March as an effort to enhance patient dignity. The gowns will start being used early in 2011.

“The old hospital gown was hideous, embarrassing, ill-fitting and probably ill-making too,” de Lisi said.  “You are away from home, ill and in hospital and you have to wear this horrific garment with your arse hanging out.  I wanted the new gowns to feel fabulous and aspirational.  They are made from beautiful cotton shirting which is very smooth, cool and lux.”

De Lisi says his gowns give patients modesty, while doctors and nurses can have immediate access through cleverly located “entrance points”.  “It’s infinitely dignified, yet practical.  And Velcro doesn’t enter into the equation,” de Lisi said.  The gowns, which are in de Lisi’s signature printed fabric, are complemented by pajama bottoms, nightwear and slippers.

David Kester, chief executive of the Design Council, said “The new designs are going to be very competitively priced and within the current price range for the NHS, even with the designer connection.”  Britain’s Department of Health provided £25,000 pounds to design the new hospital wear.

Creating Quake-Proof Hospitals

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

New technologies may help California to build quake-resistant hospitals.California hospitals are just 21 years away from a requirement that they must be able to operate without interruption, even after a significant earthquake.

In response to the January, 1994, Northridge earthquake, the California Legislature passed — in November of that same year — SB 1953, the Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act to assure that hospitals meet seismic requirements. After the Northridge earthquake, 23 hospitals were forced to suspend some or all of their services.  Hospitals sustained more than $3 billion in quake-related damages.

SB 1953 required hospitals to meet three deadlines.  By 2002, they had to brace major non-structural systems such as backup generators, exit lighting and other features.  By 2008, all general acute-care inpatient buildings at risk of collapsing during a strong earthquake must have been rebuilt, retrofitted or closed.  By 2030, all hospital buildings must be operational following a major earthquake.

In the years since the legislation was passed, there has been an explosion in the use of quake-resistant technologies in Japan http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090708b3.html following a massive 1995 earthquake - technology that could be employed by California hospitals to meet the 2030 deadline.  The first quake-resistant system, known as “rubber bearing,” was created in New Zealand in 1977.

Nagahide Kani, of the Japan Society of Seismic Isolation, says the technology has already been implemented in a New Zealand office building and a U.S. courthouse.  Rubber bearings are comprised of layered thin rubber and thin steel plates, and their installation under a structure lets the building move flexibly in a horizontal direction and is highly resistant to quakes.  Additionally, Kani says the steel plates prevent the bearings from buckling even under a heavy structure.

Rubber bearing technology has been installed in office blocks, housing, and the administrative buildings of Japan’s central government.  Technologies introduced after rubber bearings are less costly and suitable for lighter buildings, according to Kani.

About 10 years after the rubber bearings’ introduction came the development of a “sliding isolation system” or slider.  This is made up of a bearing pad atop a curved surface.  During a quake, the pad slides on the curved surface to absorb tremors and support the structure.  Another base isolation system employs ball bearings that slide on parallel rails.  According to Kani, the current emphasis is the application of such quake-resistant solutions to existing buildings, including aged edifices.  He notes that development of quake-related technologies will be a never-ending process.

Sadly, California’s law is an unfunded mandate, so no state or federal funds were allocated to help hospitals pay for the improvements.  Hospitals that cannot afford to comply with SB 1953 by the deadlines will be forced to close or reduce patient services.

An Aging Population Drives the Wellness Revolution

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Jeff Newkirk, VP of Alter+Care, describes the wellness center phenomenon.By 2010 - that’s next year - 37 percent of the American population will be older than 55.  More than three million of these individuals already belong to medically based wellness centers, which are a proactive response by healthcare providers to help an aging population stay healthy longer.

In a recent interview for the Alter+Care Podcasts on Healthcare, Jeff Newkirk, Alter+Care Vice President, says that while wellness centers have certain similarities to health clubs, the primary difference is that all programming is medically based.  What’s more, wellness centers are an enormous driver for a hospital’s revenue.

In a typical wellness center, between 15 and 25 percent of the members have had previous exposure to the affiliated hospital - that’s a relatively low number.  Considering that the wellness center may attract 1,000 daily visitors, members become better acquainted and more comfortable with the healthcare system.  The chances are excellent that these wellness center members will then visit the hospital they have come to know when they need medical attention.

The wellness experience assures an uninterrupted continuum of care after a patient has undergone surgery, suffered an injury or been hospitalized for a medical condition to assure full recovery.

 
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Illinois Should Improve Healthcare Delivery Quality: Study

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Illinois places 44th in national survey on quality of healthcare delivery.  Illinois medical providers rank among the nation’s most ineffectual when it comes to providing cost-effective treatment  and avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations.

According to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund’s report, Illinois ranks 49th among 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of “avoidable hospital use and costs.” The study measures how often Medicare patients with chronic conditions such as heart disease are admitted to the hospital or how frequently nursing home patients shuttle in and out of hospitals.  New York came in 50th, with Louisiana occupying the last place.

Illinois also placed 44th in terms of how effectively hospitals deliver basic care that avoids complications.  Healthcare costs and volumes of tests and treatments were found to be unusually high, especially in metropolitan Chicago.

There was some good news for Illinois in the Commonwealth Fund’s study.  The state ranked 20th in access to care, quality in terms of income, race and ethnic background; 29th in quality-of-life measures such as infant mortality; and 32nd in death rates for colon and breast cancer.  The study places Illinois in 42nd place in terms of the quality of overall healthcare delivery.

Cathy Schoen, Senior Vice President of the Commonwealth Fund and a co-author of the study, noted that the findings underscore the need for wide-ranging healthcare reform.  “We need payment reforms with incentives to do well on outcomes and efficiency of care,” she said.

Why Did Joe Lieberman Kill the Public Option?

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Joe Lieberman claims to be a liberal, yet blocks Democratic healthcare reform.  Why did Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) threaten to filibuster and insist on dropping the public option and a Medicare buy-in for people aged 55 - 64 in the healthcare reform bill?  Even more puzzling is the fact that Lieberman had supported a public option as recently as this past September.  Lieberman, who may classify as a liberal, is pro-choice and supports some gay rights, angered Democrats in his home state of Connecticut when he openly campaigned for Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential election.

In The Guardian, Chris McGreal writes that “Now, in the view of some, he is plumbing new depths of betrayal by using his deciding vote as an independent member of the Senate to hold hostage Barack Obama’s reform of America’s dysfunctional healthcare system.   Lieberman’s tactics have upset Democratic party members of Congress who are asking why a popular president’s agenda is being stalled by a senator who has repeatedly turned his back on his old party.”

Critics see Lieberman’s opposition to the public option as a result of his acceptance of approximately $1 million in campaign donations from the medical insurance industry - many of which are headquartered in his home state — over his 21-year Senate career.  Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah, works for a lobbying firm as its health and pharmaceutical specialist.  Her previous employers include big pharma companies Pfizer and Hoffmann-LaRoche.  Lieberman’s supporters thought he was “genuinely an independent” who agrees “more often than not with Democrats on domestic policy.  I agree more often than not with Republicans on foreign and defense policy,” Lieberman once told Fox News.

According to McGreal, “Detractors paint a picture of a vain, bitter man still stung by his rejection by Democratic voters who came close to scuppering his Senate career three years ago and now reveling in the power he wields to block Obama’s first piece of major legislation.”  Lieberman says he is not acting out of spite.  “That’s just poppycock,” he said.  “If I had any sense of vendetta against the Democratic party, I wouldn’t be in the Democratic caucus today.”

Healthcare Reform Needs to Model Itself on Agriculture

Monday, December 28th, 2009

U.S. agricultural strategies applied to healthcare reform legislation could help rein in costs.The current healthcare fight is very much like efforts in the early 20th-century efforts to make food affordable to the common people.  In an important article in The New Yorker, Boston-based surgeon Atul Gawande talks about a time when more than 40 percent of an American family’s income was dedicated to paying for food; farming was a labor-intensive enterprise that employed nearly half the workforce; yet bringing the nation’s bounty to the table was a costly process.  The agricultural crisis - which prevented resources from flowing to other economic sectors - led to the United States Department of Agriculture appointing extension agents to teach modern farming methods to increase food production.  The strategies adopted by these agricultural extension agencies succeeded in lowering food cost to eight percent of income because the government proceeded by trial and error, continually adjusting their policies to respond to results.  Gawande suggests that similar local grass-roots strategies applied to healthcare reform legislation could help rein in costs.

The Senate healthcare reform bill does many good things - establishes insurance exchanges, mandates and tax credits to assure that at least 94 percent of Americans will have coverage.  What the legislation does not address is crucial - it has no mechanism to control spiraling healthcare costs.  Consider that healthcare accounts for 18 percent of every dollar Americans earn.  Between 1999 and 2009, the average yearly premium for employer-sponsored family insurance coverage soared from $5,800 to $13,400.  Medicare beneficiary rose from $5,500 to $11,900.

Gawande notes that “Where we crave sweeping transformation, however, all the current bill offers is those pilot programs, a battery of small-scale experiments.  The strategy seems hopelessly inadequate to solve a problem of this magnitude.  And yet - here’s the interesting thing - history suggests otherwise.”

“Getting our medical communities, town by town, to improve care and control costs isn’t a task that we’ve asked government to take on before,” Gawande writes.  “But we have no choice.  At this point, we can’t afford any illusions:  the situation won’t fix itself, and there’s no piece of legislation that will have all the answers, either.  The task will require dedicated and talented people in government agencies and in communities who recognize that the country’s future depends on their sidestepping the ideological battles, encouraging local change, and following the results.  But if we’re willing to accept an arduous, messy and continuous process we can come to grips with a problem even of this immensity.  We’ve done it before.”

Preserving Cash Helps Non-Profit Hospitals Prosper

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Twenty non-profit healthcare systems that preserved cash upgraded by Moody’s.  Non-profit healthcare systems and hospitals that received credit upgrades over the last year from Moody’s Investors Service  had deliberately - and wisely — taken efforts to preserve cash during the financial crisis.

In a recent report, Moody’s said that many of the 20 healthcare borrowers it has upgraded since October of 2008 experienced improvements in their operations and balance sheets.  Contributing to the gains were increased outpatient volume, efforts to contain costs and billing, as well as collection efforts.  Cuts to capital spending also had a positive impact on these healthcare systems’ bottom lines.  During the same timeframe, Moody’s downgraded 76 hospitals and healthcare systems.  The pace of downgrades has slowed over the last several quarters.

Healthcare systems and hospitals with upwards of $250 million in net patient revenue were most likely to receive upgrades.  One out of four with improved credit reported they had more than $1 billion in net patient revenue.