Last fall, the Family Medicine Education Consortium (FMEC) launched the first of what it hopes could become an annual event, a Healthcare Executive Retreat, titled “Global Leadership: Becoming a Better Human Being.”

Led by Dr. Barry Kerzin, Family Physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the retreat was held October 28 to coincide with FMEC’s annual conference, Oct. 28-30, 2016 in Pittsburgh.  The retreat was a natural initiative for the FMEC (www.fmec.net), which is described on its website as “an incubator, convener and catalyst that connects those interested in improving the health of the community by strengthening Family Medicine/primary care services and medical education.”

Initiated by FMEC Executive Director Larry Bauer with support from UPMC Health Plan, the inaugural retreat was conducted in the world-renowned Manchester-Bidwell Center in Pittsburgh.   

“FMEC was thrilled to be able to bring together many local and regional leaders to hear Dr. Kerzin’s message of holistic health and how that contributes to the wellbeing of individuals and, by extension, the organizations they lead,” Bauer said. [Read more…]

On December 7, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) Board of Trustees approved grants totaling $1.5 million, including grants to: improve quality of life for homebound elders by launching the Virtual Senior Center in Pittsburgh; provide startup funding for a program to identify and treat perinatal depression; establish the Stuart Altman Endowed Chair at Brandeis University; renew its block grant to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh; and renew its contribution to the United Way of Allegheny County’s Impact Fund.

A Virtual Senior Center: Transforming Lives of Vulnerable, Homebound Elders in Pittsburgh

There are approximately 211,000 older adults (age 65+) in Allegheny County, and about 35,000 of those seniors are at risk for becoming isolated – a scenario that can damage physical and mental health, diminish quality of life, and even lead to premature death. To prevent isolation among seniors who are homebound due to physical limitations or caregiving responsibilities, JHF has partnered with technology experts and local elderly-serving organizations to bring the Virtual Senior Center to Pittsburgh.

The Virtual Senior Center is a web-based, touch-screen platform that allows seniors to interact via virtual groups and field trips, social activities, classes, and games. The Virtual Senior Center was developed by Selfhelp, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the independence of seniors that was originally founded to support Holocaust survivors. The platform has been tested and proven effective in New York, with the majority of the 200-plus elders using the Virtual Senior Center reporting improved quality of life and health status. JHF, which is providing up to $240,000 for the Virtual Senior Center in 2016 and 2017, will remain closely involved in the development and expansion of the platform locally. [Read more…]

By Craig Standen

Healthcare executives are facing an increasingly complex operating environment, where growing pressure on margins is resulting in greater reliance on investment performance of various asset pools to maintain a stable financial profile. Healthcare providers must take risks to grow and add value. At the same time, since the 2008 financial crisis, many organizations are focusing more time and attention on developing strategies to better withstand the impact of macro, systemic shocks, and respond appropriately should similar events occur in the future. 

Risk is inherent in the pursuit of business objectives, and effective risk management is a key success factor in today’s volatile market environment. The traditional asset-only approach to portfolio decision-making does not take into account the correlation among and impact of risks present across the organization. As such, the financial dynamics of healthcare systems and hospitals necessitate comprehensive, proactive and ongoing review of broader enterprise risks and more specifically the impact that asset allocation decisions and investment returns have on financial and operational performance. 

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By David Braun

With so many new laws and regulations raising the pressure on hospitals and healthcare institutions, more consolidation in the industry can be expected. Every merger or acquisition brings challenges of integration.

As you start putting the two entities together, it’s essential to look out for the teams of people responsible for operations and patient care.  So what does it take to meld two companies into a single thriving entity that improves relationships and builds confidence?

Bridging two workforces requires identifying and integrating their approaches to short and long-term operations and, just as important, their day-to-day working styles.  The fact that both companies are in the healthcare industry isn’t enough to guarantee an easy fit.

Needless to say, there are as many cultures and business strategies in this industry as there are companies. Common ground has to be discovered, explored, built and tested. Even with the best-matched companies, integration can still be tricky. below are 5 tips to ease your path:

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Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) and Highmark Inc. today announced a scholarship program aimed at increasing the supply and retention of physicians in rural areas of Pennsylvania. The five-year, $500,000 initiative will be funded by Highmark and support LECOM students in their four years of medical school.

“The shortage of physicians in rural areas of the state has serious implications for the access to quality care and health of people living in these communities,” said William Winkenwerder Jr., M.D., Highmark’s president and CEO. “This scholarship program is directly aligned with Highmark’s 75-year vision of providing access to affordable, quality health care and will encourage and support LECOM students to practice medicine in areas where they are most needed.”

[Read more…]

By Jason Piatt

Here’s what we know. In manufacturing, Six Sigma methodologies aim at improving overall quality by eliminating defects and achieving near perfection by restricting the number of defects to less than 3.4 defects per million opportunities.  It has become a very popular and widely utilized quality improvement methodology in manufacturing environments.  So, how can we expect what works on an assembly line to be effecitve in a healthcare setting? Improved systems, methodologies and better accuracy and faster patient response.

The concepts and methodologies of Six Sigma are increasingly being used in the healthcare industry for improving quality of services rendered, increasing efficiency, and eliminating human errors that can often prove fatal.  Expectations for improved medical care are ever increasing.  Due to a lack of rigorous quality management systems, inefficiency is increasing, which often leads to congested emergency rooms, customer complaints, and lost revenues.  A proper Six Sigma implementation helps to resolve these issues through a strategy of continuous improvement.

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By Steve Jacob 

Regardless of how reform plays out, the traditional tension between hospitals and physicians is melting out of necessity. Hospitals need physician buy-in as they enhance quality to meet health reform’s imperatives. Physicians are abandoning independent practice in droves as they face decreasing revenue and government imperatives for electronic health records.

In many states, hospitals cannot directly employ physicians because legislators fear that hospital executives with profit imperatives might influence physicians to compromise patient care. Therefore, physicians act as independent contractors who autonomously care for patients, using hospital equipment and staff as their “workshop.”

Hospitals increasingly have been contracting with “hospitalists,” or physicians who work exclusively at the hospital to handle admitted patients. Physicians visiting patients in hospitals are becoming a relic of America’s medical past. Many community-based physicians do not mind this, because the travel time between the office and hospital is time they cannot bill. However, they are becoming disengaged with their hospitals. They are less likely to serve on hospital committees or cover emergency-department shifts.

[Read more…]

By John Chamberlin

As partner and owner of Professional Specialized Pharmacies, LLC, which operates five Hometown Pharmacy stores in the Pittsburgh area, Shawn Nairn has been in the retail pharmacy business for 12 years.  Additionally, he is a partner of a long-term care pharmacy called Mission Pharmacy Services.

Given his success in the retail pharmacy industry and the strong desire to provide more convenient, secure manners of distributing medications to patients, Nairn has now concentrated his focus into personalized packaging of multi-dose medications.

[Read more…]