Hospital Management

How One Hospital Uses Advanced Analytics to Drive Savings and Improve Outcomes

Geisinger Health System, a leading health system in Eastern Pennsylvania, has begun realizing tremendous benefits from a data analytics program established in 2015. The hospital’s Unified Data Architecture (UDA) collects and stores data from electronic medical records and other data sources to provide a holistic view of a patient’s health. Benefits of the UDA so […]

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OIG Audit of Abbott Northwestern Hospital Turns Up $8 Million in Medicare Overpayments

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released the report of its findings from an audit conducted at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, MN.  Based on a review of 162 claims from 2013 and 2014, the OIG found a potential of $933,991 in over payments.  Extrapolated over the 2-year

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How Physician Feedback Can Save Millions In Your OR

Putting surgeons in the know regarding their OR spend can help hospitals reduce costs drastically. This is the main finding from a study published in JAMA Surgery by a study team at the University of California, San Francisco. A test group of surgeons who received monthly feedback on their OR costs reduced their spend by

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How Operating Rooms Are Throwing Millions of Dollars Away Each Year

Disposable medical supplies are responsible for over 2,000 tons of physical waste per day, and they are making a huge impact on OR profits. A recent study by University of California, San Francisco noted that an average of nearly $1,000 of disposable medical supplies per procedure were wasted in their neurosurgical department. This equated to

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How Will Recent FDA Guidance On Endoscope Reprocessing Impact Hospitals?

With all the recent outbreaks related to flexible endoscope usage, proper cleaning of scopes continues to be top of mind for hospitals and patients. The FDA has recently released guidance on mitigating the risk from cross-contamination of scopes, which can be found here. Whether or not this guidance will help reduce the likelihood of a

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Moving to the ‘Rep-Less’ Model For Medical Devices to Save Money and Reduce Risk

Moving to buying medical devices direct from manufacturers can yield huge financial benefits for hospitals. Loma Linda University Medical Center in California drastically eliminated reps in orthopedics after a long internal struggle to do so. They reported savings of about $1 million annually, or 50 percent on the cost of the devices, without affecting outcomes.

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Increase Surgical Revenue – Part 3 of 3 (Case Mix Index)

What is Case Mix Index (CMI)? Medicare and Medicaid created a CMI score to help properly reimburse hospitals for services provided to inpatients (CMI doesn’t apply to outpatients). The CMI is an attempt to measure the resources needed to provide proper care for patients. An article from Health Leaders Media titled CDI Programs Drive Up Case

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Move it or Lose It!!

If you haven’t yet attended one of Scott Becker’s “CEO/CIO Roundtable” Conferences, do try to make one of his next semi-annual meetings.   Becker assembles a disparate group of speakers and powerhouse hospital luminaries to share best practices in a rather intimate environment, and attendees are absolutely unafraid to challenge moderators and speakers during sessions. After

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Increase Surgical Revenue – Part 2 of 3 (Documentation Improvement)

Why is documentation so important for proper reimbursement for surgical procedures? In order to get properly reimbursed for a surgical procedure, you must be able to prove through documentation what you’re are trying to get reimbursedfor.  If you can’t prove it, then you will not get paid for it. Government programs such as Medicare and

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