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 […]
Be Transparent With Physicians on Pricing to Drive More Value Read More »
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
How To Make Your Scopes Tell You When They Need To Be Washed Read More »
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
How Big Data In The OR Saved One Health System Nearly $10 Million Last Year Read More »
In talking with our hospital customers, case mix index (CMI) often comes up as a source of confusion and misunderstanding by clinical staff. CMI is widely tracked by employees on the financial side of the hospital, but not monitored nearly as closely on the clinical side, so its impact is widely misunderstood. CMI is an
Why Case Mix Index Matters To Your Hospital And How To Maximize It Read More »
In recent surveys, The Joint Commission has scrutinized the entire endoscope management process. Everyone understands this is because of the serious patient safety concerns and media attention, as well as the manufacturers of scopes and reprocessors having their own product challenges. So why is The Joint Commission so hung up on how scopes are hung
Why The Joint Commission Is Hung Up On Scopes Read More »
A recent survey conducted by Cardinal Health showed that 24% of hospital staff have seen or heard of an expired product being used on a patient during a procedure. This comes as no surprise, as we have witnessed the usage of expired inventory at hospitals first-hand. Without the proper processes and vigilance to prevent these
3 Dangers of Expired Medical Devices Read More »
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
The Cost of Hospital Waste Read More »
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
Using Surgeon Scorecards To Drive Down Costs In the OR Read More »
As adoption of EMRs at hospitals reaches saturation, hospitals and health systems are now trying to figure out how to make the most of the vast amounts of data being collected by their information systems. Focusing on data analytics in the perioperative setting can drive significant value for a hospital, given the large share of
How Hospitals Can Drive More Value From Data Analytics Read More »
On December 20, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the roll out of the Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), the Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG), and the Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) incentive payment models. With these programs scheduled to go live in July 2017, they will join expanded Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement
Opposition to Medicare Bundles is Growing Read More »