Issues & Trends
American Hospital Association content on issues and trends in the health care field.
An operational indicator used by financial analysts, this ratio is a measure of how efficiently hospital assets are converted to revenue. The ratio’s numerator is net patient revenue plus total other income, and the denominator is total assets. A higher ratio is generally viewed as a positive…
Hospitals continued to see a high rate of CEO turnover in 2014, with 4,501 hospitals reporting a rate of 18 percent, according to a report recently released by the American College of Healthcare Executives. Although lower than the 20 percent CEO turnover rate reported in 2013, last year’s…
The volume of data security breaches occurring in health care has captured hospital and system trustees’ attention and forced them to investigate their respective organization’s plans and policies to protect patient information. While directing senior leaders to shore up vulnerabilities…
The typical hospital's electronic health record system represents a sizable sunk cost on which executive managers normally would want to get a long return on investment. But in a merger with another health system, writing off the IT might be the right thing for the overall merger goals.
The number of emergency department visits also grew by 6 percent, according to AHA DataViewer. At the same time, rural hospitals boosted their workforce: the number of FTEs increased by 7 percent. Although rural hospitals had more than 4 million inpatient admissions in 2013, that number represents…
Snapshot As Americans live longer, many endure unnecessary interventional treatments at the end of life, driving up spending while overlooking patients’ desires to die peacefully at home. However, new thinking on mortality and the growing use of hospice and palliative care may make a…
Twice a year, the American Hospital Association’s Center for Healthcare Governance convenes board and C-suite members for education and discussion and, twice a year, governance consultant Jamie Orlikoff throws icy water in our collective faces with his provocative opening presentations. He…
Snapshot Faced with growing financial responsibility for their health care, individuals are behaving more like consumers when making care decisions. They want more information, more convenience and better service than many hospitals currently provide. Forward-thinking health systems already are…
While we were finishing up this issue of the magazine, Jonathan Perlin, M.D., the chair of the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees, and president of clinical services and chief medical officer of HCA, visited our Chicago office for the annual meet-the-chair event. It’s an…
Snapshot Patients' ability to pay premiums and out-of-pocket costs is shrinking. They also need more convenient care. Are hospitals listening?