on August 29, 2012 |
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Topics: Women's Services, Service Lines
Chris Canary
In the U.S., patients have increasingly sought out alternatives to the typical maternity ward stay in favor of care settings that emphasize patient comfort. One option that has been growing in popularity in recent years is the freestanding birth center, also known as a maternity or midwifery center.
These centers are staffed by providers—typically nurse midwives, as well as OB/GYNs with an interest in low-tech deliveries—committed to providing holistic, patient-centered care that is less medically-intensive than the typical hospital maternity ward stay. Doulas or health coaches may also be involved in patient care in non-clinical roles, leading the laboring mother in breathing exercises and therapeutic massage.
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The Goldilocks problem in obstetrics: High tech? Low tech? Just right.
on August 22, 2012 |
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Topics: Surgery, Service Lines, Strategy Development, Planning, Strategy, Technology Assessment, Bariatric
Charlotte Tsui
Perhaps not. This was the answer that a group of researchers recently arrived at after studying a group of surgical and non-surgical weight loss patients from 12 Veterans Affairs medical centers.
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Does bariatric surgery actually reduce health care costs?
on August 22, 2012 |
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Topics: Budgeting, Finance, Cost Management, Margin Performance, Technology Assessment, Planning, Strategy, Imaging, Service Lines
Matthew Morrill
While demographic trends are placing a larger burden on hospital resources, capital budgets continue to tighten in the wake of reform. Administrators may seek to control costs by extending the useful lives of clinical technology and equipment, which could save millions of dollars if done prudently and deliberately. However, hospital administrators must be cautious to find the balance between conserving capital and meeting the clinical standard of care by offering key innovations. Ultimately, administrators must balance several factors—such as cost of maintenance, downtime, and tradeoffs in technological advances—when making decisions to extend the lifecycles of their imaging equipment.
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Maximizing your imaging equipment lifecycles
