Facilities Management News

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High performance translates to high profits

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Hospitals with high performance scores in patient care are more profitable, according to the 2011 Pulse Report from Press Ganey, which serves hospitals that represent 66% of U.S. hospital admissions.  Analyzing public data on hospital profitability and the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey scores, the report found that the top 25% of U.S. hospitals with the highest scores on the HCAHPS question about performance were, on average, the most profitable and had the highest clinical scores. Taken together, the data suggest that excellence in patient experiences, clinical outcomes and financial profitability often occur together.

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Women hit health care’s glass ceiling

TREVOSE, Penna.—The health care workforce consists of 75% women, but women are not in leadership roles. According to two recent surveys, i.e., a state survey and a survey of the top 100 US hospitals, women hold only about 12% of chief executive officer positions in U.S. hospitals, notes a study in the Journal of Healthcare Leadership.

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AHRQ to fund research centers

ROCKVILLE, Md.—The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded three-year grants totaling $4.5 million to support research in three centers that will focus on improving clinical preventive services and practices such as screening, counseling, and use of preventive medications for patients. The project will be led by three universities and includes a separate award for coordination and evaluation of the research.
The centers are located in Chicago, Chapel Hill, N.C., and Aurora, Colo.

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DeKalb Medical works with Walgreens

DECATUR, Ga.—DeKalb Medical has teamed with Walgreens pharmacists to help patients understand and comply with medication therapies following treatment at the hospital—a collaborative relationship that has improved patient care and satisfaction just three months after implementation.  DeKalb Medical improved its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) top box scores pertaining to patient communications on medication from 50% to 63% over the 90-day period following the program’s launch. HCAHPS scores have continued to trend upward.

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Nursing facilities tighten belt buckles

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Skilled nursing facilities are in danger of falling into the red, finds a study by The Moran Company. The analysis commissioned by the American Health Care Association (AHCA) affirms what previous studies have shown—that nursing homes are already operating under razor-thin margins.  Additional cuts to the sector, which are plausible through end-of-the-year budget bills currently being debated in Congress, would result in a negative margin for facilities, threatening America’s seniors and individuals’ with disabilities access to skilled nursing care, notes the AHCA.

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Uninsured Americans increase

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fully 45% of American adults reported getting their health insurance from an employer in January through May of 2011, according to Gallup Polls. This is down from 45.8% in 2010, and has been steadily declining since Gallup and Healthways started tracking health insurance sources in 2008.

The 25.3% of adults who so far in 2011 say they have government health insurance –Medicare, Medicaid, or military/veterans' benefits—is unchanged from 2010, although still significantly higher than in 2009 and 2008. The percentage of uninsured Americans –which initially increased in 2009—continues to creep up and is at 16.6% in 2011.

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HFI releases log reduction fact sheet

BOISE, Idaho—Concerned individuals can help lower infection rates by understanding log reduction (i.e., how well sanitizing and disinfection products reduce pathogens and other microbes). The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) has produced a Log Reduction Fact Sheet to explain and simplify this complex topic.

For more information, see www.healthyfacilitiesinstitute.com

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ER boarding time boosts costs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A one-hour reduction in the average emergency department boarding time could result in millions of additional dollars per year in revenue for hospitals that implement active bed management strategies. 

The results of a financial analysis and simulation model using real hospital data were reported online yesterday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("The Financial Consequences of Lost Demand and Reducing Boarding in Hospital Emergency Departments").

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