Category Archives: managed care

managed care

To Avoid Readmissions, Hospitals Trying Post-Discharge Clinics

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

In recent years, hospitals have been under increasing pressure to keep their readmission rates low. The next bump in the road comes in October 2012, when Medicare will begin cutting back on reimbursement for facilities whose readmit rates are too … Continue reading →

Posted in health information exchange, hospital administration, hospital operations, managed care, Medicare, primary care, Research, Telemedicine | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hospital M&A Getting Tough (But Misguided) Scrutiny From Lawmakers

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

As us in “the biz” know, the pace of hospital M&A isn’t going to slow down anytime soon. Hospitals are huddling together to scale up for countless reasons. The reasons for hospital consolidation are just about unstoppable, of course, as … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, EHRs, EMRs, health information exchange, health it, health plans, hospital M&A, hospital operations, managed care | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Big hospital chains have outlived their usefulness

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Katherine Rourke

Regardless of what Community Health Systems execs may think, big, massive, overstuffed hospital mergers aren’t going to work in the next decade.  No amount of economies of scale will make up for the dollars health systems will lose if they … Continue reading →

Posted in accountable care organizations, hospital administration, hospital finance, hospital M&A, hospital operations, hospital transformation, managed care | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

Data from the Kaiser rollout – better than expected?

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Katherine Rourke

A few years ago, Kaiser caught a lot of heat for what was reputed to be a $3 billion EMR installation. Today, after four more years, Kaiser’s EMR rollout is old news. But even though it hit full stride in 2006 or so, it was such big news that the echoes still remain. So here you have what may be some data from those tumultuous times. Continue reading →

Posted in EHRs, EMRs, health it, hospital administration, managed care, physician relations | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

Possible Kaiser data, tomorrow, straight from the whistleblower's mouth

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Katherine Rourke

OK, guys, if you know anything I don’t about the machinations around the $3 billion (or $5 billion, name your number) installation of Kaiser’s Epic EMR, now’s the time to share.  I say that because tomorrow, I’m going to pull … Continue reading →

Posted in EMRs, health it, health plans, hospital administration, managed care, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

Kaiser, the whistleblower and the $3 billion EMR

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Katherine Rourke

If you had to guess, Kaiser’s $3 billion EMR a good investment? Do you believe that the Kaiser HealthConnect system will be a greater success with patients than clinician? And if clinicians are still using it at gunpoint, should Kaiser shift gears entirely and focus on patient access? Continue reading →

Posted in EHRs, EMRs, health it, health plans, hospital transformation, managed care | Comments Off

Health plan doctor ratings: Will they ever be fair?

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Katherine Rourke

Here’s a tough assessment of doctor-ratings schemes by my buddy Joe Paduda of blog Managed Care Matters: “Some physicians and physician groups are quite upset about insurers’ recent moves to offer employer customers tight, small networks of providers based on quality and … Continue reading →

Posted in managed care, physician relations | Comments Off

Video/satire: The real health plan business model

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Katherine Rourke

The following song, by brilliant social and political satirist Roy Zimmerman, offers his view of health plans’ real business model. His take? As far as health plans are concerned, sick patients would be (far) better off dead. Continue reading →

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