NEW YORK — Health care mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity reached an all-time, record-high value of $388 billion in 2014, which was more than $136 billion higher than 2013 levels, according to a report released June 15.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Health care professionals, engineers and architects will gather in Santa Monica to network and discuss more than $1 billion in health care facility construction projects.
The Next Generation Healthcare Facilities Summit will take place Feb. 23 – 25. This is the second year for the event.
NEW YORK — New evidence shows that keeping patients in the hospital one day longer can significantly cut readmissions, save patient lives and reduce costs.
Research from a September 2014 Columbia Business School study titled, “Should Hospitals Keep Their Patients Longer? The Role of Inpatient and Outpatient Care in Reducing Readmissions,” compared the impact of a longer length of stay in the hospital to the effects of outpatient care for Medicare patients.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration awarded $35 million to 147 health centers to support patient-centered medical homes through new construction and facility renovations. The health centers are in 44 states.
Thirty years ago, predictors of innovations in health care delivery and communications included the widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs).
Inpatient units traditionally have been designed around a central hub consisting of a large communal nurses’ station, medication room, supply room and other support rooms.
There have been several shifts in the health care industry recently. The Affordable Care Act is most likely here to stay, which will drastically increase the number of insured people in need of care by 2014.
PHILADELPHIA — New provisions to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalize hospitals for an excess amount of preventable hospital readmissions, which cost Medicare more than $15 billion every year. However, in January, a study published in Medical Care says that improving nurses’ work environment can help reduce that number.
FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Fairfield University recently received $700,000 from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to help prepare health care providers of the future for the very busy industry they appear to be entering.
CHICAGO — The transition to electronic medical records (EMRs) has been less than seamless on a national level. Our last two presidents have been relatively unanimous in their support of the change. President George Bush signed an executive order in 2004, calling for all Americans to have their medical information stored electronically by 2014. President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act codified that goal into law. The medical community has been less united in embracing the change.
