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Hospitals begin using UR on their own employees As a hospital executive, you face quite a predicament. On one hand, you are an employer trying to control your own employees' [...]

New imaging tool developed by researchers A small boy falls off an elevated train platform and cracks his skull. At the hospital, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan shows tissue [...]

Illinois coalition to develop referral service The indigent in northern Illinois may soon be able to take advantage of a new referral service for health care services. The Rockford (IL) [...]

Software aids marketing efforts With a new emphasis on finding out who their real customers are, where they come from, and what they want, hospitals are equipping their marketing departments [...]

Life-styles of the not-so-famous key: Swenson Americans over 50 years old own 77 percent of the nation's financial resources and account for more than 50 percent of all discretionary income. [...]

Milwaukee businesses unite to create PPA Traditionally, hospitals, insurers, and physicians have sponsored preferred provider arrangements (PPAs). But businesses in Milwaukee have taken matters into their own hands and formed [...]

Businesses' aggressive search for data pays off It began as a simple request for price information. Hospitals tried to fight it; but as the business sector's interest in these data [...]

Reporters look for candor from hospital officials A patient at your facility dies unexpectedly from an injection that apparently should not have been given. The local press gets hold of [...]

Proact--don't react--to PRO data disclosure You walk into your office, and there are 26 telephone messages on your desk--25 from local and national news reporters and one from the head [...]

Employees audit their hospital bills for cash No matter how stringent an employer's utilization review program is, only John Shaw really knows whether he really did receive that fourth bottle [...]

COBRA takes bite out of business sector The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 was appropriately named: COBRA will take a bite out of employers' wallets. On the other [...]

Catherine Meyers, 31, Mundelein, IL, receives health-related information most frequently from the media, not from her family physician. In this respect, she is a typical American woman. This finding comes [...]

Controversy over the type of care provided at freestanding emergency centers (FECs) has prompted industry movement away from use of the term 'emergency.' The National Association of Freestanding Emergency Centers [...]

'Hotel service' directors gain professionalism Food service and housekeeping directors are becoming more sophisticated in providing services at lower costs. At least one person credits contract management companies as the [...]

Nearly 50 percent of physicians believe that advertising is an effective means of informing the public about hospital services. More than 17 percent currently advertise their practices. And about 5 [...]

High insurance rates prompt self-insurance If your insurance premiums increased 40 percent this year, wouldn't you be tempted to drop insurance company coverage? Employers across the country are doing just [...]

Negotiating life-style: an employer trend? Your automobile insurance premium is lower if you've had no accidents or moving violations. Auto insurers regard you as less of a risk, so they [...]

MD influence on consumers waning slightly True or false? When selecting hospitals, consumers give more weight to physicians' recommendations than to courtesy of hospital staff. If you answered true, keep [...]

Lithotripsy on wheels: a passing fad? There's nothing new about a group of hospitals sharing a lithotripter. But have you ever heard of hospitals housing the kidney stone-crushing machine on [...]

Quality, not ads, increase physician loyalty These are real physicians with real concerns that typify the attitudes of physicians nationwide. What this means to you as a hospital executive is [...]

Strategic blindness plagues hospitals During the late 1960s, the U.S. auto industry chose to ignore the influx of foreign imports. 'American like big cars,' the automakers said. Years later, after [...]

Coalition educates employees about AIDS When big companies such as Bank of America, Pacific Bell, Levi Strauss & Co., the Chevron Corp., and Wells Fargo Bank join to fight the [...]

Emergency department wait too long: consumers The emergency department (ED) is in its usual bustle on Saturday night. Nurses and physicians rush past without hesitation. And waiting patiently with a [...]

Rasmussen brings sales to Catholic multi His resume is riddled with titles such as sales promotion manager, director of sales, and sales training instructor. So what is Dennis Rasmussen doing [...]

Consumers snub freestanding surgical centers In 1984, Sarah H. needed a D&C. She elected to undergo the surgery at a freestanding surgical center. But in 1985, when Sarah was scheduled [...]

Corporations whittle mental health benefits Corporate America is looking to cut its health care bill, and as a result, there is fear that mental health benefits will diminish. But mental [...]

HMOs' quality comes under GM's watchful eye HMOs, watch out. It's no longer enough to offer to maintain employees' health in a cost-efficient manner. And hospitals are no longer the [...]

Professional patients drain hospital funds The man, in his late 40s or early 50s, came to the hospital emergency department complaining of a headache. He asked for a shot of [...]

Hospital challenges auditor's findings; urges others to do so When a service bureau audited 143 bills from Lutheran General Hospital of Park Ridge, IL, it found $246,091 in overcharges. That's [...]

Physician DRGs? PhysPRC's Ginsburg says no While various groups gear themselves up for battle against a possible physician DRG payment system, one man says it may be all for naught. [...]

Segment marketing: less costly, more efficient When Inter-Community Medical Center, Covina, CA, wanted to start a marketing campaign, it had two choices: attempt to reach every health care consumer or [...]

Business/providers synonymous? '87 will tell XYZ Corp. Location: Portland, OR. Employees: 20,000. Business: Paper products, health care. Does it seem farfetched that a paper product manufacturer would also specialize in [...]

Health data: the name of the game for HDI Paul Gertman, M.D., is a specialist, but not in anesthesiology or internal medicine. His specialty is corporate illness: high health care [...]

Classified advertisements, similar to this fictitious one, may begin appearing more often as hospital executives look beyond the health care industry for marketing talent. But beware: it's expensive. 'Experienced marketers [...]

What do the local widget factory and a 129-bed community hospital have in common? The battle against malpractice. And it just may make a friend out of hospitals' traditional foe--business. [...]

Fact: The U.S. corporate world is in the midst of merger mania. Fact: Two merged companies give less in philanthropy than the sum of the companies' independent programs. Conclusion: Corporate [...]

The real AIDS epidemic may be one of fear. Despite repeated statements that AIDS is transmitted only through exposure to the blood or sexual secretions of infected people, rumors and [...]

Attention hospital marketers: More than half of health care consumers do not see your hospitals' advertisements. Indeed, of 1,000 consumers nationwide, more than 60 percent indicate that they have not [...]

States are beginning to loosen the reins on hospital capital spending controls. Most notably, Utah recently allowed its certification-of-need (CON) program to expire without agreeing to perform capital expenditures reviews [...]

A new selective contracting program for Blue Cross coverage in the Cleveland area is splitting the hospital industry. The program first sparked controversy in late November, when Blue Cross and [...]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Alan C. MacMillan's comments on culture of safety and the Annual State of Safety Report that highlights the National Safety Council's annual report of injury data.

The article looks at the topics published in the 2006 issues of the magazine. These topics include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report that businesses should prepare for an imminent pandemic, the release of data that showed 44,100 workers died from off-the-job injuries and President George W. Bush's signing of the MINER Act into law.

The article provides an overview of events at the National Safety Council's 94th Annual Congress and Expo in San Diego, California in November 2006. The opening session will feature management expert Jack Groppel who will discuss about his theories on the "Corporate athlete". The event will feature about 150,000 square feet of exhibits showcasing products and services.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including the column "Injury Facts," which outlines data from the bureau showing growth in the number of women entering professions requiring protective equipment.

The article focuses on the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the National Safety Month by the U.S. National Safety Council (NSC). NSC created the campaign in order to increase public awareness of safety and health risks. It aims to ultimately decrease the number of accidental injuries and deaths. For 2006, aside from disseminating safety information, the council is presenting the results of a survey about what people across the nation are really afraid of.

People that the editor would like to thanks for the success of their publication are mentioned.