- Maryland: Johns Hopkins Hospital has opened its Judy Reitz Capacity Command Center, which provides real-time data from more than a dozen IT systems across the hospital. The center is designed as a central hub to help manage the hospital's resources and respond to emergencies. The command center receives about 500 messages per minute from 14 different IT systems. A staff of about 24 people monitors the center 24 hours a day. Since the center opened earlier this year, the hospital has improved its performance in several areas, including its ability to accept patients and the time it takes to assign patients a bed. Mary Margaret Jacobs, director of patient/family and visitor services, said, "The capacity command center brings the latest high-tech tools into a NASA-like control center here at our hospital" (Bowman, FierceHealthcare, 10/28; Rosin, Becker's Health IT & CIO Review, 10/27).
- New York/Tennessee: New York-based Blackstone, a private equity firm, has agreed to acquire Knoxville-based TeamHealth, a physician services organization, for $6.1 billion. TeamHealth's board unanimously approved the deal. Leif Murphy, president and CEO of TeamHealth, said, "Blackstone is focused on working closely with TeamHealth to achieve our strategic objectives and drive innovation and operational excellence in the context of the evolving U.S. health care marketplace." TeamHealth's stockholders would still need to approve the deal for it to move forward (TeamHealth release, 10/31; Rappleye, Becker's Hospital Review, 10/31).
- Washington:Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) will name its new state-of-the-art immunotherapy clinic The Bezos Family Immunotherapy Clinic after Seattle's Bezos family. The family, which includes Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, has given more than $30 million to FHCRC since 2009. The new immunotherapy clinic will allow FHCRC to more than double the number of clinical trials it conducts annually. FHCRC president Gary Gilliland said the Bezos family "believed in us at a time when we most needed support" (Aleccia, Seattle Times, 11/1).
What you need to know about the next era of health care reform
No matter the results of the November elections, one thing is clear: The health care industry is entering the next era of health care reform. Hospital and health system leaders must transform the delivery system to meet two profound and lasting market evolutions: population health and consumerism.
At this year's Health Care Advisory Board national meeting, we'll help you identify and prioritize the no-regrets investments that will support success toward these goals and more.
Register now to save your spot at a session near you.