Operational Excellence
Foresight and planning by a Florida hospital prevented a random shooting from escalating even further. Patient Cynthia Zingsheim, 92, and health care aide Carrie Rouzer, 36, were shot and killed July 17 for no apparent reason by an armed man who entered Parrish Medical Center in Titusville,…
Governance
AHA seeks to strengthen services for trustees
The American Hospital Association board of trustees in July approved a plan to strengthen the AHA’s role in supporting good governance in a changing health care environment. The plan is intended to broaden opportunities for…
Trustee talking points
Collaboratives or alliances of neighboring health systems are an alternative to formal consolidation.
They provide a way for systems to gain efficiencies of scale without losing independence through a merger.
It’s the proverbial match made in heaven for Northwest Community Hospital, northwest of Chicago in Arlington Heights, Ill., and Little City Foundation in nearby Palatine. For the past 20 years, the hospital has hired residents with disabilities from Little City to fill jobs in environmental…
Hospitals and health systems throughout the country face many of the same challenges. One of the most dangerous — and almost always overlooked (if an organization is even aware of it) — is the persistent use of inconsistent terminology.
When there are a lack of rules guiding…
AHA Resources
Understanding board’s role in hospital–physician relations
The American Hospital Association's Center for Healthcare Governance invites hospital executives, board members, clinical leaders and others to view a three-part webinar to help health systems continually…
In her book Notes on Nursing, originally published in 1859, Florence Nightingale stressed the importance of a number of environmental factors that are now understood to be critical to patient care, such as cleanliness, noise control, natural light and views of nature. Nurses have long…
Trustee Talking Points
Trustee Talking Points
This is the second in a three-part series on the rise of health insurance exchanges and what they mean for hospitals and health systems.
Innovation can fuel the organizational agility necessary to achieve breakthrough levels of value and performance in health care. This Workbook describes a four-step process that health system boards and leaders can use to develop a sustainable innovation capability. Drawing techniques and…
For years, Caitrin Houlihan sought solace in drugs and alcohol. She started smoking marijuana at age 12 and gravitated toward painkillers, angel dust, cocaine and heroin in her teens. “Where I grew up, it was very acceptable,” Houlihan, 38, says of her Boston neighborhood. “That’s how I knew how to…