Quality and Outcomes

Acute Care Telehealth: A Lifeline for Struggling Hospitals?

Teresa Rincon, RN, PhD, FCCM, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Graduate School of Nursing, and senior telehealth consultant with Blue Cirrus Consulting

Acute care telehealth expands access to care by connecting community hospitals with specialized experts, which helps to close gaps in knowledge and keep care local. When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have Read More

Expanding Access to Health Care in the Face of Provider Shortages

Cheryl L. Serra

By using technology and expanding the care team, Renown Health is increasing capacity and giving patients more ways to access health care. // By Cheryl L. Serra // Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada is a 650-bed facility and the region’s only Level II Trauma Center. Renown serves over a million people across 100,000 Read More

Improving Access to Care: How Health Systems Can Overcome the Obstacles

Lindsay Resnick headshot

Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame game over cost and access must end. Customers are listening, and so are competitors. Recent market moves are making care more widely available than ever before. Read More

Acute Care Telehealth Expands Access in Community Hospitals

Jane Weber Brubaker

Telemedicine technology connects community hospitals with specialized experts, closing gaps in knowledge and keeping care local.  // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have experts on-site to Read More

Access Will Be Profitable — If Health Care Movers and Shakers Are Right

Access Will Be Profitable — If Health Care Movers and Shakers are Right

Retail providers are expanding, and health insurers are profiting, but timely access to needed care remains elusive for many. // By Lindsay R. Resnick, MHA // Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame Read More

10 Ways to Make Virtual Care Visits Senior-Friendly

Caitlin Brandon, MSc, project manager, Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto

Virtual care visits have become a new normal for many health care patients and providers in the aftermath of the pandemic. But for some patients, adapting to the technological advancements is not so simple. Technology is great — unless it’s a barrier. We don’t have to look back very far for a good example. When Read More

Improving Access: Making Video Visits Senior-Friendly

Jane Weber Brubaker

Most of the guidance on how to prep for video visits is directed to patients. Here, we look at what providers can do to set up older patients for success. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Technology is great — unless it’s a barrier. We don’t have to look back very far for a good Read More

What to Expect From WebMD’s Acquisition of Mercury Healthcare

Jeff Herman, senior vice president of product management, Mercury Healthcare

When WebMD announced its acquisition of Mercury Healthcare in June 2022, the press release focused on patient engagement solutions. The headline reads “WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Mercury Healthcare, Building on Leadership in Patient Engagement Solutions.” But we learned that WebMD’s strategic vision is broader, also encompassing provider engagement. In a video explaining the vision, Ann Read More

WebMD and Mercury Healthcare: What the Acquisition Means for Physician Strategies

Jane Weber Brubaker

WebMD Provider Services seeks to align physician and consumer strategies holistically, using data and analytics to guide the journey from both sides. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When WebMD announced its acquisition of Mercury Healthcare in June 2022, the press release focused on patient engagement solutions. The headline reads “WebMD Health Corp. Acquires Mercury Read More

Has Your Health System Adopted Person-Centered Care?

Marcia Nelson, MD, chief medical officer, Enloe Medical Center

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: Health care is complex, dysfunctional, and slow to change. But one person can still make a difference. For Angelica Thieriot, it took a horrific experience as patient in a U.S. hospital in 1978 for her to imagine how different things could be if patients Read More

Remote Patient Monitoring: Improving Outcomes and Reducing Costs

Richard Milani, MD, chief clinical transformation officer and vice chair of Cardiology, Ochsner Health

COVID escalated implementation of remote patient monitoring (RPM). Now, with the door pushed open, healthtech companies are competing to burst through and build clinical partnerships that stretch the boundaries of digital health. The potential for mobile health, which includes smartphone apps, wearables, and other monitoring devices, is massive. The percentage of physicians who feel digital health Read More

Ochsner Health Expands Remote Patient Monitoring to New Patient Groups, with Improved Outcomes and Reduced Costs

Marcia Simon

Connected care solves access and convenience issues for patients; real-time data from mobile devices allows physicians to monitor patients at home and intervene when necessary. // By Marcia Simon, APR // COVID escalated implementation of remote patient monitoring (RPM). Now, with the door pushed open, healthtech companies are competing to burst through and build clinical Read More

How to Set Your Health System Apart From Competitors? Try Niche Marketing

Jeff Bean, vice president for system marketing & brand, Geisinger

If niche marketing is defined as the business of promoting and selling a product or service to a specialized segment of a market, then Geisinger has powered its expertise for a specific population and area that is expected to grow going forward. Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) is rapidly becoming a distribution and shipping hub for e-commerce Read More

Geisinger 65 Forward Senior-Focused Primary Care Is Pure Niche Marketing

John Marzano

The over-65 population in northeast Pennsylvania is expected to double in the next decade. Geisinger is ready. // By John Marzano // Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) is rapidly becoming a distribution and shipping hub for e-commerce to reach roughly 60 percent of the U.S. within a day’s drive. Think Amazon Prime for a 1-to-2 day delivery Read More

The Strategic Marketing and HR Approach to Enhancing Nurse Recruitment

Susan Williams, vice president of talent management, LifePoint Health

Nurse recruitment is vital to the growth and survival of every health care organization today. A successful nurse recruitment effort requires that departments break down the silos and come together to ensure that best practices from operations, human resources, internal communications, marketing strategy, and analytics are brought to the table. So what does it look Read More

Marketing and HR Join Forces to Elevate Nurse Recruitment

Susan Dubuque

It’s not news that nurses are in demand. Here’s how one health system combined the talents of two disciplines — marketing and HR — to tackle it together. // By Susan Dubuque // Nurse recruitment is vital to the growth and survival of every health care organization today. A successful recruitment effort requires that departments Read More

Better Health, One Haircut at a Time

Althea Fung

Barbers across the country are helping their customers identify and prevent health problems. For Black men, these trusted relationships can be a lifesaver. // By Althea Fung // We all know the trope — men don’t like to visit the doctor. Unfortunately, for Black men, the cliché has all too real consequences. Black men avoid Read More

Remote Patient Monitoring: Has the Tipping Point Arrived?

Chintan Prajapati is a Senior Solutions Architect at Apexon

Remote patient monitoring — inside and outside the four walls of a hospital, with real-time connections between patients and providers — offers benefits to both. During the pandemic, hospitals needed to efficiently provide care to more patients without compromising safety, doctor-patient engagement, quality of care delivery, and patient satisfaction. Higher consumer expectations, increased digitization, and Read More

How to Improve Outcomes and Exceed Patient Expectations with RPM and IoT

apexon-logo

Real-time connections between patients and providers — inside and outside the four walls of hospitals — offer benefits to both. What are the strategic implications? // By Chintan Prajapati // Higher consumer expectations, increased digitization, and the Covid-19 pandemic have all contributed to the trend toward monitoring patient health remotely. This new frontier has ushered Read More