By David Thill ‘Cancer’ and ‘chronic’ were rarely used in the same breath … until now Editor’s note: Demographics are changing. Venues of care are changing. Reps’ call points and the products in their bags are changing too. In this issue, Repertoire continues its series of articles on chronic care management. Chronic diseases and conditions – such as heart disease, … [Read more...]
AllSpire Health GPO: Bending cultures
Five mid-Atlantic health systems Bringing about profound change within one organization calls for time, deliberation and ultimately, hard decisions. Now multiply that by five organizations. Five years ago, a group of mid-Atlantic health systems began exploring a virtual network to accomplish things they couldn’t do independently, including group purchasing. In October … [Read more...]
Insights for the 2018-19 Flu Season
HIDA Government Affairs Update By Linda Rouse O’Neill, Vice President, Government Affairs The 2017-18 flu season was one of the worst in recent memory, with more than 700,000 hospitalizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned the public to prepare for another potentially bad flu season this year. For the 2018-19 season, manufacturers are … [Read more...]
Diabetes Screening and Monitoring
Physician Office Lab By Jim Poggi A word of caution regarding this month’s lab article: it’s about diabetes, and the statistics are not pretty. So, if you’re squeamish, or you think we are doing a great job diagnosing and monitoring diabetes, or just believe “it can’t happen here”, turn the page. But, if you believe we have all the right tools to diagnose and monitor … [Read more...]
Hospital-acquired conditions are down
National efforts to reduce hospital-acquired conditions, such as adverse drug events and injuries from falls, helped prevent an estimated 8,000 deaths and save $2.9 billion between 2014 and 2016, according to a report released this summer by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ estimates that 350,000 hospital-acquired conditions were avoided and the rate was … [Read more...]
RepCorner: Day and Night
John Kenny: Cool head by day, cool hair by night The three and a half years John Kenny toured and made records with his Dallas-based band, The Spin, were some of the most amazing – though poorest (from a dollar perspective) – days of his life. He wasn’t happy when The Spin disbanded, because he thought they still had some good things left to accomplish. But Kenny, who is … [Read more...]
Fall Prevention
As the population ages, the risk for falls rises Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among persons aged 65 and over, and the age-adjusted rate of deaths from falls is increasing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its most recent statistics this spring. Advanced age is an independent risk factor for falls. But so are related factors … [Read more...]
‘Why Not Us?’
Health systems increasingly look to initiate innovation, instead of being on the receiving end Where will the next great medical technologies come from? A Fortune 500 company? A mom-and-pop start-up? Silicon Valley? How about one of your customers? If it feels like you’ve been reading more news about health-system-operated technology incubators, accelerators and … [Read more...]
MVPs: Most Vulnerable Patients
Home visits are key to DaVita Health Solutions’ patient-centered approach to chronic care management Editor’s note: Demographics are changing. Venues of care are changing. Reps’ call points and the products in their bags are changing too. In this issue, Repertoire continues its series of articles on chronic care management. Chronic diseases and conditions – such as heart … [Read more...]
A New Wrinkle
Two IDNs acquire multistate LTC providers Perhaps it was bound to happen. In the past half-year, two health systems have acquired large, multistate providers of long-term care services. It’s too early to tell whether this could mark a new trend in caring for patients with critical needs. In April, Toledo, Ohio-based ProMedica health system announced plans to acquire HCR … [Read more...]