Care Delivery
In the early 1990s, Jack McConnell, M.D., was struck by the number of poor individuals who had no access to health care on Hilton Head Island, S.C., where he had retired.
One in three of those who live in the coastal town don’t have health insurance, a level about twice the…
There is a general consensus that the current level of health care spending is unsustainable. Yet, such spending is expected to continue to grow faster than the U.S. gross domestic product over the next 10 years.
An organization's success often comes down to leadership. And it's not just top executives who provide it — trustees have a pivotal role to play, too. Even as they fulfill their oversight obligations, board members can set direction, often with the help of lessons…
He was a healthy 15-year-old boy living in St. Louis, wasn’t in a gang, got good grades and stayed out of trouble. But violence swirled around him, and the teen was so fearful of being shot that he contemplated suicide, with the thought of ending life on his own terms. Less than a…
As they always do in times of crisis, the women and men of America’s hospitals and health systems showed selfless dedication, honed skills and compassionate caring in dealing with the natural and manmade disasters that rocked the nation in 2017. For example:
Imagine a care setting in which psychiatric patients can move to music with guidance from a principal dancer in a ballet company; in which a cellist plays in outpatient waiting rooms, distracting those within from the burdens of illness. Imagine a place where patients and their families take part…
Hospital radiologists and pathologists are on the receiving end of orders for scans and tests. But they can’t do their work alone.
With that in mind, they are building relationships with ordering physicians and working with them to ensure that patients get the right tests at the right…
Telehealth is changing health care delivery. Through videoconferencing, remote monitoring, electronic consults and wireless communications, telehealth expands patient access while improving patient outcomes and satisfaction. As hospitals and health systems continue to redefine what it means to be a…
Potential new health care legislation, cybersecurity, electronic health records, apps and wearables, consumerism, chronic disease management ... these are only a fraction of the issues facing our field today. In addition, an unsettled political landscape with regard to the fate of the Affordable…
Burnout takes its toll on physicians. It can also take its toll on health care, and it’s become a growing concern for hospitals and health systems across the country.
Physician burnout — marked by emotional exhaustion, “depersonalization” and a lack of feeling of accomplishment — has a…