A recent press release from Fitch Ratings noted that not-for-profit hospital operating margins fell for the second straight year. The median operating margin in the not-for-profit hospital space was 1.9% in 2017, down from 2.6% in 2016. Even though balance sheets strengthened for the not-for-profit hospital sector in 2017, the drop in operating margins from […]
US Hospitals Suffer Profit Drop For Second Straight Year Read More »
A recent research report from Moody’s Investors Service noted that not-for-profit hospital revenue growth rate have been increasing at a slower rate than expenses, leading to shrinking profitability margins. While there has been a slowdown in the growth rate of costs at not-for-profit hospitals, the reduction in the revenue growth rate was even faster in
The Dangerous Trend Of Hospital Costs Outpacing Revenue Growth Rates Read More »
Several recent studies have shown that despite best efforts to follow manufacturer reprocessing guidelines, bronchoscopes deemed ready for patient use are still contaminated at a high rate. Some of the most recent research highlighting the difficulties of disinfecting bronchoscopes was published by Cori Ofstead, MSPH. In a recent presentation at the annual meeting of the
Study Reveals Bronchoscopes Ready For Use On Patients Are Still Dirty Read More »
Academic medical centers (AMCs) play a prominent role in America’s healthcare system. They provide a disproportionate share of charity care, medical research and medical education when compared to non-academic medical centers. It has been assumed for a long time that AMCs also provide higher quality care than comparable non-academic medical centers, however there has been
As hospital executives look for new opportunities to reduce costs in an era when value is taking over for volume, the supply chain is increasingly coming in to focus. For too long, hospital supply chains – more specifically the procedures for managing surgical implants and supplies that make up a large share of supply costs
The Key Inventory Management Metric For Hospitals To Track Read More »
PAR levels (or periodic automatic replenishment levels) have been used in industry for decades to help businesses of all kinds keep just the right amount of inventory on hand without suffering from excess. Many hospitals solely rely on “gut feel” in order to understand how many items of each product type they should keep on
How A Periodic Update Of Your PAR Levels Can Save Your Hospital Millions Read More »
The healthcare supply chain is increasingly being looked at as a new frontier in hospital cost containment. With the supply chain making up the 2nd largest expense category for healthcare providers, there is ample opportunity to drive costs out of the supply chain to boost profitability at hospitals. What if there was a way to
How To Turn Supply Chain Waste Into A Revenue Opportunity Read More »
As hospitals grapple with increasing costs and declining reimbursements, reducing expenses has become an important tool for hospital CFOs to use to improve profitability. This contrasts greatly with hospital strategies from a decade ago that relied solely on increasing revenues to increase profitability. Key areas that hospitals have been focusing on are their labor and
Hospital Inventory Management In A Data-Driven World Read More »
With the numerous reports coming out lately about the difficulty in cleaning endoscopes and ensuring complete disinfection, the mainstream media has started to coach patients on how to select a hospital that’s right for their scope-related procedures. With the concern for scope safety increasing every day, facilities must now prepare to answer tough questions about
How Patients Are Being Coached To Question Their Hospital’s Scope Cleaning Practices Read More »
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 »