The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and its European equivalents are currently conducting a real-world pilot aimed at bringing unique device identifiers (UDIs) one step closer to reality. UDIs have been a long-term dream for many in healthcare, who view the ability to track and trace medical devices using unique item-level codes as […]
UDI One Step Closer To Reality Read More »
The Advisory Board recently shared the results of its Annual Health Care CEO Survey. The survey asked hospital CEOs to rank their concern over a wide range of topics across the healthcare spectrum. In a break from prior years, both of the top 2 concerns revolved around cost structure and management. While growing their hospitals
Cost Control Takes Top 2 Spots In Survey Of Priorities For Hospital Executives Read More »
There are many reasons why hospitals choose to consign the expensive implants and supplies that they use in surgical settings. However, deciding to consign a product without continuously analyzing that decision can be costing your hospital millions of dollars each year. Read on to find out some best practices when it comes to reducing the
How A Periodic Evaluation Of Your Consigned Inventory Can Save Your Hospital Millions Read More »
HonorHealth, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based health system with over $1.7 billion in annual revenues, recently undertook a process to identify cost savings opportunities across the system. Early on, the joint-replacement service line jumped out as a prime candidate for cost savings. An early analysis by the five hospital system and their group purchasing organization pointed out
A medical supply rep from Maryland was recently charged in the theft of expensive medical kits from area hospitals that he later sold on eBay. Each of the medical kits were sold for approximately $33,000 each, netting the man nearly $200,000. As this article from The Washington Post explains: “Burke Slater, 52, of Gaithersburg, was
Expensive Medical Supplies Stolen From Hospitals Read More »
The first quarter of 2018 included 343 medical device recalls by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This was the highest for a first calendar quarter of any year on record and was up 126% from 2017. Experts point to the proliferation of software on medical devices as a primary driver for the record
Medical Device Recalls Reach Historic Highs In 2018 Read More »
Due to the nature of how hospitals and health systems acquire supplies, product prices are constantly changing. Different hospitals in the same health system, and even different departments within the same hospital, may be paying different rates for the same items, and those prices are typically in flux. With supply chains and individual departments within
How Supply Price Inaccuracies Can Affect The Bottom Line Read More »
Historically, the cost of a surgical procedure has been a difficult equation to solve. As the US healthcare system moves more and more toward a value-based system, hospitals require now more than ever an accurate understanding of their procedure costs. These accurate procedure costs then need to be compared to outcomes in order to perform
The Key To Figuring Out Your Cost Per Case Read More »
As we head into 2018, there appears to be a lot of headwinds facing hospitals and healthcare systems: regulatory uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act, slowing patient admissions, accelerating costs and shrinking margins. Moody’s Investor Services predicts bad debt to grow 6-7% in 2018 and operating cash flow for non-profit hospitals to shrink 2-4%. In
3 Cost Containment Ideas For Hospitals Heading Into a Challenging Environment In 2018 Read More »
With the constant shift in the payor environment, and the continuing consolidation of the hospital market, many healthcare providers are having to search for new ways to cut costs and increase revenues just to stay profitable. There are so many places that hospitals can unlock additional dollars, but where should they start? The management team
How To Close A $25 Million Budget Gap In 10 Days Read More »