HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS

INAUGURAL PRIMUS ISSUE:

Volume 1, Number 1

Fall 2006

LAUNCHING AN INTERPRETIVE CD-ROM JOURNAL FOR HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS IS HARD.

But, it must be done!

As Dr. Malcolm T. MacEachern, Director of Hospital Activities for the American College of Surgeons, presciently observed:

... "Our hospitals are now involved in the worst financial crisis they have ever experienced. It is absolutely necessary to all of us to put our heads together and try to find some solution. If we are to have effective results we must have concerted and coordinated immediate action. Repeated adjustments of expenses to income have been made. Never before has there been such a careful analysis of a hospital accounting and study of financial policies. It is entirely possible for us to inaugurate improvements in business methods which will lead to greater ways and means of financing hospitals in the future. It is true that all hospitals have already trimmed their sales to better meet the financial conditions of their respective communities. This has been chiefly through economies of administration. There has been more or less universal reduction in personnel and salaries; many economies have been affected. Everything possible has been done to reduce expenditures but this has not been sufficient to bring about immediate relief in the majority of instances The continuance of the present economic conditions will force hospitals generally to further action. The time has come when this problem must be given even greater thought, both from its community and from its national aspect" ...
  

No doubt many CEOs, CFOs, physicians, comptrollers, healthcare organization administrators and policy-makers would agree that Dr. MacEachern accurately describes today’s healthcare environment. Although they might be startled to learn that he made these observations in 1932.

Current healthcare statistics suggest that the financial crises are much the same for today’s healthcare organizations as they were for hospitals during the Great Depression. The American Hospital Association (AHA) recently reported a number of gloomy statistics for hospitals:

• 30 percent of hospitals had negative total margins thru 2009.
• Hospitals provided approximately $175 billion of uncompensated care since 1997.
• Uncompensated care increased 16 percent annually since 1997.
• Emergency departments in 62 percent of all hospitals report operating at, or over, capacity.

• 33% of hospitals reported liability premium increases of more than 100 percent, since 2002.

• The average hospital facility age has increased 21%, from 7.9 to 9.6 years in just a decade.

• Hospital bond downgrades outpaced bond upgrades by 5 to 1 since 2006.

• Costs are soaring as traditional technology like X-rays are replaced by CT and PET scanners.

Indeed, launching a new interpretive financial e-journal for health organizations is necessary.

And, it has been done!

After two years of preparation, Healthcare Organizations: [Journal of Financial Management Strategies] is ready to reshape the hospital and healthcare organizational management landscape.

First, we have assembled a world-class editorial advisory board and independent team of contributors. Like many of our subscribers, each member of the team has struggled mightily with the decreasing revenues, increasing costs and the high consumer expectations of today’s competitive healthcare marketplace. They have turned their practical experience and applied operating vision into a source of objective information, informed opinions and crucial information for the Guide and its quarterly updates.

Second, our plain language writing style allows us to distill much information for the Journal. We integrate explanatory prose with case models, add charts, tables and diagrams as necessary, and offer detailed checklists as a way to renew the material. The result is a comprehensive oeuvre of practical financial management and operational strategies.

Third, we recognize the need to sort through the clutter of information that besieges us all. The exponential increase in health economics and financial management literature, instant messaging, and high-speed connectivity, and the plethora of unregulated Internet information make a dependable and up-to-date Journal all the more valuable. Oh, it should provide some personality and wit, too! Don’t forget, beneath the authoritative text are colleagues who understand your needs.

Healthcare Organizations: [Journal of Financial Management Strategies] is designed to advance your working knowledge and to disseminate research information and best practices in our field of health economics, policy and administration. In the years ahead, we trust these principles will enhance utility and add value to your subscription. More importantly, we hope to increase your financial return-on-investment in some small increment.

If you have any comments or would like to contribute material or suggest topics for a future update or new chapter, please contact me.

Fraternally,
Hope Rachel Hetico; RN, MHA 
[Managing Editor]

To order your copy, including quarterly updates, contact:
Institute of Medical Business Advisors, Inc
Suite #5901 Wilbanks Drive
Norcross, GA 3092-1141
1-770-448-0769 VM

MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

http://www.HealthcareFinancials.com 

Documents/TABLE OF CONTENTS.pdf