Strategic Planning

Snapshot A series of high-profile breaches underscored the vulnerability of online records and the ability of cyber-criminals to quickly adapt their tactics. Providers and vendors are intensifying efforts to protect data from prying eyes.  
Recognizing the importance of social media is the first step in taking your hospital into the digital world. Understanding the value and the potential of this medium can help to leverage your community benefit programs and patient engagement in a way never possible before the advent of the Internet.
Hospitals are making greater use of new technologies to improve emergency department throughput. Digital registration kiosks and bedside registration systems streamline the process, allowing patients to be treated more quickly. Electronic patient tracking boards can reduce wait times and improve…
Hospitals can build stronger connections to the community through popular social media sites and apps. Some hospitals are hiring full-time and freelance journalists to write stories and produce videos on health trends, news of the day and the hospital itself. “We’re updating the site with two to…
Fundraising at U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals increased more than 7 percent in 2014, continuing a recovery trend from the low-giving years of the recession, according to a survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges. The 2014 Annual Development Survey analyzed…
Penny Wheeler, M.D., was barely into her tenure as CEO of Allina Health and fresh from a transition period earlier this year with retiring CEO Kenneth Paulus when the topic turned to who might replace her.
Half of the nation’s primary care physicians say the increased use of quality-of-care metrics to assess provider performance is having a negative impact on patient care, according to a survey report from The Commonwealth Fund and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Twenty-two percent see quality metrics…
Snapshot As inpatient utilization declines, outdated rural hospitals can meet their community’s changing needs by building or converting to ambulatory-driven life enhancement centers that combine health and wellness under one roof.
Many large employers plan to keep health care coverage cost increases to 5 percent for the third consecutive year by making plan changes, adopting consumer-directed health plans and expanding wellness initiatives, according to the National Business Group on Health.
Primary care physicians, followed by psychiatrists, topped a list of 20 most in-demand medical specialists, according to a report from physician search firm Merritt Hawkins. The firm tracked its physician and advanced practitioner recruiting assignments and found that it was retained to conduct…