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April 17, 2006
HMC's Steve Lothrop and Sarah Nickerson discuss, in For The Record, "Is it possible to reduce expenses and improve the quality of care? Acute care hospitals need to address both if they expect to succeed in today’s environment."
Excerpt from the For The Record article:
"Hospital systems in the United States face two significant problems—decreasing productivity and neutral changes in quality outcomes. Starting in 1997, the Budget Reconciliation Act began reducing scheduled Medicare reimbursements to hospitals. Suddenly, responsibility for healthcare expenses began shifting to acute care hospitals, where management still finds itself grappling with the need to develop strategies to reduce hospital costs and improve the quality of patient care.
In 2006, the ability to maintain a competitive cost position will become more challenging. A portion of reimbursements will be at risk based on hospital performance as measured by quality outcomes. In addition, there are new threats to reduce Medicare reimbursement. Mixing decreased reimbursement with the need for improved quality outcomes puts more pressure on the system and places a concomitant squeeze on a hospital’s financial resources."
Read the article at For The Record |
