Governance Effectiveness

U.S. hospitals are embracing tried-and-true sustainability methods and launching new initiatives tailored to their individual budgets and staffing needs. Here’s a sample of initiatives underway, from the Health Facilities Management/American Society for Healthcare Engineering/Association…
Trustee Talking Points Trustee Talking Points Sepsis is a leading cause of death and the most expensive condition treated in hospitals. Nearly half of patients who die in the hospital have sepsis. Many hospitals have given sepsis control less attention than other types of patient harm.…
Hospitals are making “substantial progress in improving safety,” according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report that found a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2014. That saved 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in health costs. HACs include adverse…
More than 40,000 health care information management professionals, clinicians, executives and vendors from around the world will attend HIMSS annual conference and exhibition Feb. 29-March 4 in Las Vegas. Peyton Manning, the National Football League’s five-time most valuable player, will…
As a kid, I remember that the best roller coasters were the ones that were both terrifying and exhilarating. You knew it was really awesome when you couldn’t tell the difference between screams of joy or fright. It was fun to look at the pictures the amusement park would take at the same spot…
The American Hospital Association last month awarded its 2015 Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award to Vince Oliver, CEO and superintendent of Island Hospital in Anacortes, Wash. The award honors small or rural hospital leaders who have improved health care delivery in their communities through…
Deeply held beliefs can blind boards to the true nature of change. It’s time to challenge the orthodoxies. In the early 2000s, the Nokia board debated creating a smartphone. The company’s wireless handset was the global best seller. Management believed consumers would not use a touch…
American Hospital Association leaders like to say that every day is advocacy day, and that there is no better advocate for your hospital than you, the hospital trustee.
After 40 years in health care, eight as top executive at the American Hospital Association, RICH UMBDENSTOCK, 65, concluded his career at the end of August. He’s meeting some final commitments for the association through this month, but plans to step away from the field to spend some time…
Trustee Talking Points Trustee Talking Points Population health management techniques are taking hold in different ways across the country. Technology is playing a big role in population health management, but so is maintaining the human side of the equation.…