Cost Reduction

Supply Chain Efficiencies and Process Redesign Top Survey of Cost Containment Strategies

August 30, 2017 / Cost Reduction, Hospital IT, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Purchasing and supply chain efficiencies continue to be viewed as the primary ways to drive cost savings at hospitals. This is according to the recent survey titled 2017 HealthLeaders Media Cost and Revenue Strategies: The Need for Transparency and Understanding True Costs. According to the survey, respondents aren’t seeing any signs of diminished returns from […]

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View From the C-Suite: There’s No Money in Linens

August 30, 2017 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, The Business of Surgery /

I visited a top academic hospital in the United States today. Working with the Chair of one of the departments, he provided an insight I hadn’t really heard of before. This addresses many of the management ideas that we have all learned about – setting priorities (as opposed to trying to do everything), the 80/20

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How to Use Data to Get Lean With Medical Devices and Increase Patient Safety

August 30, 2017 / Big Data, Clinical Documentation, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

We’ve all seen it (and maybe even done it ourselves) – thousands of dollars of medical devices tucked away in our desks, filing cabinets, ceilings, wherever we can find a secret space. This isn’t a practice intended to waste hospital dollars, it’s done with the best intention – patient safety. When a patient needs a

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How To Make Your Scopes Tell You When They’re Missing

August 30, 2017 / Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency /

All successful endoscopy practices within private practices and hospitals face the same dilemma – how do I track down scopes that have gone missing? With numerous docs, interns, techs and nurses all having access to all the scopes in your facility, it’s a near impossibility to keep track of all of your scopes with 100%

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Be Transparent With Physicians on Pricing to Drive More Value

August 30, 2017 / Big Data, Cath Lab, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, Radiology, The Business of Surgery /

One of the biggest obstacles to value analysis teams within hospitals is physicians who are reluctant to switch devices or vendors.  Physicians often grow attached to certain medical devices, with good reason – they have been proven to work for them and their patients.  Often times, showing evidence that a substitute item with similar functionality

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How To Make Your Scopes Tell You When They Need To Be Washed

August 30, 2017 / Cost Reduction, Hospital IT, Managing Endoscopes, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency /

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the number of days a flexible endoscope can safely be in storage before another cleaning is required. Different medical societies like SGNA, ASGE, AORN and APIC have come out with guidance on what the appropriate hang-time limits are. Some hospitals that we’ve talked to have listened

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How Big Data In The OR Saved One Health System Nearly $10 Million Last Year

August 30, 2017 / Big Data, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital IT, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Big data has been a buzzword in the healthcare industry for the past few years, but more often than not, the benefits of big data have been hard to quantify. Not so for St. Louis, Missouri-based Mercy health system.  Mercy has recently turned big data findings in the perioperative area of their hospitals into savings

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The Cost of Hospital Waste

August 30, 2017 / Cath Lab, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Radiology, Supply Chain, The Business of Surgery /

Each year, the US healthcare system wastes $765 billion according to a 2012 National Academy of Medicine study. According to the same study, that total eclipses the annual budget of the Defense Department and the amount could be used to cover the insurance coverage of 150 million American workers. While the numbers are staggering, there

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Using Surgeon Scorecards To Drive Down Costs In the OR

August 30, 2017 / Big Data, Cost Reduction, Hospital Finance, Hospital Management, Operating Rooms, Operational Efficiency, The Business of Surgery /

Recent studies have shown a strong link between sharing pricing data with physicians and a resulting drop in case costs.  The latest study to show this link was recently published in March 2017 in JAMA.  According to JAMA, the OR Surgical Cost Reduction (OR SCORE) project was conducted in a single health system with multiple

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