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Ezine Articles
The following are our 10 most recent articles from our monthly newsletter. For a complete list of all the articles, visit the Articles Category Archive.
In Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun a demonstration grant process to look into global fees, in which CMS will contract with a group of providers to accept a single fee for all medical services delivered for a single episode of care.
In January 2009, approximately 20 cities will participate in the Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Project, where a single group of physicians and hospital(s) accept a global fee for Read more »
I agree that both physicians and hospital leaders feel that they are working in a state of siege and that the confluence of declining reimbursement amid rising expenses, complex regulations, and heightened consumer expectations make conflict inevitable. Occasionally the tensions between patient survival and organizational survival can make us forget that we agree on the “who” (patients) and “why” (to make a difference in patients’ lives) as we go through the iterative journey of the “how,” as I described in Read more »
When I teach graduate students in health administration, I pose the following question to them: “What is the most expensive device at your hospital?” Invariably, they reply the MRI scanner, CT scanner, or PET scanner. They look at me dumbfounded when I tell them that the physician’s pen dictates the majority of their hospital’s expenses.
Yet, if physicians can be viewed as the problem, they also can become the solution, as seen in the following examples:
1) Ask a physician advisory panel Read more »
Although many physicians may focus on advertising as marketing or promotion, they recognize the importance of understanding and meeting or exceeding the needs of patients in their communities. Patients often follow physicians’ advice regarding where to seek care. Physicians need to know what services other physicians offer to promote their services. Hospital leaders can play an important role in facilitating information sharing, as seen in the following examples:
1) Encourage practicing physicians to articulate future clinical priorities
“I can’t believe it,” roared Read more »
In response to a frequently asked question, “How can you engage physicians who do not want to have anything to do with the hospital?” a physician colleague responded:
“If they do not want to have anything to do with you, ask them why not!!…..that is a definable set of reasons and (mis)perceptions you might have to dig out of them, realizing that you might not like and may not want to hear what they say, but once understood gives you something Read more »
Overview
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Your ability to recruit and retain physicians is key to your organization’s ability to function in an increasingly competitive marketplace
Considering all specialties, physicians generate on average $1,500,000 annually
The longer it takes to fill key positions, the less revenue you have to fulfill mission-critical responsibilities
Put technology to your advantage
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Invest in a website that makes it easy to interact with people
Dedicated Physician Recruitment web pages
Job search function by specialty and location
Direct contact to the appropriate recruiter
Feature that allows candidates to apply on-line
Video Read more »
A Summary of Marc Halley’s New Book: The Primary Care-Market Share Connection: How Hospitals Achieve Competitive Advantage, by Marc Halley, Chicago, Health Administration Press, 2007, www.ache.org/hapShareOffer
Points to remember include:
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The true measure of market share is the number of primary care physicians (PCPs) who refer patients to a hospital and its affiliated specialty physicians.
Relationship management is key to attaining sustainable competitive advantage
Sustainable competitive advantage requires that successful organizations remember their fundamental purpose: to create and keep customers, which comes down Read more »
At a recent conference, a vendor remarked wistfully that the process of implementing an electronic health record is only 20% technology and 80% change management, process improvement, and physician engagement. On page 59 of their book, The Executive’s Guide to Electronic Health Records, Chicago: Health Administration Press, 2007, http://www.ache.org/pubs/smaltzoffer.cfm, Smaltz and Berner quote an article in Computerworld dated November 8, 2004 that states that only 29% of IT projects achieved their envisioned benefits.
Jha et al. wrote that only Read more »
A West-Coast internist wrote that health-care professionals could benefit from “interventional marriage counseling” because they talk at rather than to each other, not hearing what the other side is saying. Although the reasons are multifactorial, hot-button words, such as “but,” “just,” and “you” can stress relationships and interfere with collaboration.
But How many of us have at some point in our life felt damned by faint praise that begins, “You did a great job, but …” What do we remember? The next Read more »
In Chapter 3 of my book Better Communication for Better Care, I offered a 3-part strategy for dealing with competition:
1) Proactivity
2) Collaborative Conflict
3) Containment
I will address proactivity today and discuss the other parts of the strategy in subsequent ezines. Hospital executives bring considerable resources to the table. As a result, negotiations with physicians do not need to become defensive. Here are some examples of what hospital executives can offer:
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Access to capital at a lower rate of interest than physicians generally Read more »