Chief Healthcare Executive

In the latest episode of our Data Book podcast, we talked with Michael Hamilton, founder and chief information security officer at Critical Insight. He talks about cyberattacks on hospitals and health systems, emerging threats, what government should be doing, and how hospitals can protect themselves and their patients.

Hospitals face evolving threats from cyberattacks | Data Book podcast Michael Hamilton, founder and chief information security officer of Critical Insight, talks about trends in attacks and emerging threats in the coming year.

Nonprofit hospitals continued to struggle with weak margins in 2023, and Fitch Ratings expects health systems to see more difficulties in 2024. Kevin Holloran of Fitch Ratings talked with us about why he expects many hospitals to have "a very tough year" in 2024.

Nonprofit hospitals face ‘another tough year’ in 2024, Fitch Ratings says Many health systems will continue to wrestle with staffing challenges, volumes, and debt concerns. Kevin Holloran of Fitch Ratings tells us why he expects another difficult year.

In May, Inova Health Sytem received a $75 million gift to improve cardiac care. We talked with Shashank Desai at Inova about some of the ways they want to expand patient care in Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia. “We've been talking about bringing real cardiovascular prevention in an organized fashion to this community,” Desai says.

How Inova Health System plans to use $75M gift to expand cardiac care The northern Virginia system has high hopes for the donation. Shashank Desai of Inova talked with us about improving care and expanding prevention efforts.

Several months after signing a letter of intent to come together, BJC HealthCare and Saint Luke's Health System say they have a definitive agreement on a merger. The combined system will have 28 hospitals and $10 billion in revenue. They hope to complete the deal by Jan. 1.

BJC HealthCare, Saint Luke’s Health System reach agreement on $10B merger The two Missouri-based systems will form a combined system with 28 hospitals. The deal is expected to close by Jan. 1.

Hospitals are increasingly growing frustrated with denials from Medicare Advantage plans. The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals are pushing CMS to ensure that MA plans adhere to federal guidelines.

Hospitals push back against Medicare Advantage plans Health systems say they are seeing more denials, and they worry the plans are going to skirt federal regulations in reviewing hospital admissions.

A ransomware attack has affected hospitals in several states. Ardent Health Services confirmed Monday that the system has suffered a ransomware attack. Patient care is continuing, but hospitals have had to delay some elective surgeries and temporarily divert ambulances in some cases.

Ransomware attack affects hospitals in several states Ardent Health Services says patient care is continuing but some surgeries have been postponed. Some hospitals diverted ambulances to other facilities.

Seeing more children and teens battling depression, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders, Northwell Health has launched a $500 million pediatric mental health initiative. We talked with Northwell's Charles Schleien about the ambitious campaign and kids in crisis.

Inside Northwell Health’s $500M pediatric mental health initiative The campaign calls for a new building connected to Northwell's children’s hospital. Northwell’s Charles Schleien talks about the effort and the crisis affecting kids.

The Mount Sinai Health System has named its next chief executive officer. Brendan Carr will take over as CEO early next year. Kenneth L. Davis, who has led Mount Sinai for two decades, will become executive vice chairman of the system's board. Carr has been Mount Sinai’s head of emergency medicine since February 2020. "I am honored and deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead this preeminent institution and dynamic team of people," Carr says.

Mount Sinai Health System names next chief executive officer Brendan Carr will take over as CEO early next year. Kenneth L. Davis, who has led Mount Sinai since 2003, will become executive vice chairman of the system’s board.

The March of Dimes released a report card today, and America is doing a dismal job in healthcare for babies and Moms. The nation gets a D+ in preterm birthrates, with many of America's largest cities getting failing grades. Elizabeth Cherot, March of Dimes, CEO talks about the report card with us.

March of Dimes report card: High preterm birth rates, troubling disparities by race Morbidity and mortality for mothers and infants continues to be far too high. Elizabeth Cherot, March of Dimes CEO, talks about the new report and what can be done to improve outcomes.

In the latest installment of our series, "Lessons for Leaders," Rami Karjian, CEO of Medically Home, talks about the importance of building the right team, because business models can change. "The who is more important than the what," he says. He also discusses focusing on the company's mission, or "the why."

In healthcare, ‘The who is more important than the what’ | Lessons for Leaders Rami Karjian, CEO of Medically Home, talks about the importance of finding the right team, because business models can change. He also stresses focusing on the ‘why.’

Aiming to expand healthcare to patients at home, Best Buy Health and Mass General Brigham have announced a partnership. The initial focus will be on expanding Mass General Brigham's hospital-at-home program, but will go eventually go into other areas as well. The collaboration also includes initiatives to train workers to care for patients at home.

Best Buy Health, Mass General Brigham partner to expand care at home Mass General Brigham has been operating one of the nation’s largest home hospital programs. Best Buy has been teaming with more health systems.

It's time for greater investments in the health of children, says R. Lawrence Moss,the president and CEO of Nemours Children's Health. And he says it's time to focus beyond medical care and on the other factors affecting the health of kids. "Medical care is an important but a relatively small part of health for all of us, especially for children,” Moss says. In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, he talks about improving the health of kids as a vital step to improving the health of everyone.

Nemours Children’s Health CEO talks about improving the health of kids, and everyone else In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, Lawrence Moss discusses helping kids get and stay healthy, investing in the right areas, and strengthening children’s hospitals.

In it latest look at hospital safety, The Leapfrog Group found that hospitals had made substantial progress in reducing infections. But the organization also found that patient experience scores tumbled for the second year in a row. Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, talked with us about the encouraging and disappointing findings for hospitals.

Leapfrog Group Fall 2023 Grades: Hospitals reduce infections, but slip in patient experience Leah Binder, the group’s CEO, says she was relieved to see improvement in infections. But she says health systems have work to do to protect patients.

After a nurse was attacked, the Lifespan health system launched a public campaign to prevent violence in hospitals. The campaign is aimed at keeping health workers safe. Cynthia Danner and G. Dean Roye of Rhode Island Hospital talked with us about the effort. "We are asking the public and everyone who walks through our doors or of our hospitals to take a pledge to keep our healthcare workers safe," Danner says. This is the first of what will be an ongoing series exploring what health systems are doing to protect healthcare workers and patients.

After assault of nurse, Lifespan launches public campaign to protect workers: Safer Hospitals The Rhode Island health system is aiming to make a difference with its campaign, "ScottStrong: Keep Healthcare Workers Safe."

Last chance to register! Engaging digitally demanding patients can feel like a daunting task, but prescription portability can be a powerful tool. Hear from industry experts on the power of emerging technologies to remove barriers and improve outcomes on Thursday, November 2 at 1 p.m. ET. Register now! https://globalmeet.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1635790&tp_key=7beced6945&sti=social

There have been important steps in the fight against breast cancer this year, including recommendations that women begin screenings starting at age 40. “In some ways, this has been a really great year for breast cancer awareness,” says Nina Vincoff, the chief of breast imaging at Northwell Health. But doctors say they'd like to see other steps to help more women.

There have been big steps in the fight against breast cancer this year, and more are needed A national task force has lowered the recommended age to begin screenings, but doctors say some opportunities to help more women are being missed.

Hospitals are struggling to deal with a difficult problem. They continue to board many patients who are ready to be discharged, but they have nowhere to go. Due to a lack of available beds at nursing homes or other post-acute facilities, hospitals are keeping some patients for days or weeks longer than necessary. It's been a problem for years, but it has exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Discharge delays: Hospitals are forced to keep patients who could be released Due to a lack of beds at nursing homes and other post-acute facilities, hospitals are keeping patients longer than necessary. The delays add to financial woes and prevent other patients from getting the care they need.

With many hospitals struggling, health systems are searching for executives with experience in turning around troubled systems. Sonia Millsom, CEO of Oxeon, which works with health systems on executive searches, says hospitals should look beyond recognizable names when they're seeking new leaders.

What health organizations are seeking in leaders, and what some are doing wrong Sonia Millsom, the CEO of Oxeon, discusses trends in executive searches, some missteps companies are making when they recruit leaders, and getting diversity in the C-suite.

Join Prescryptive Health and Chief Healthcare Executive on Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. ET for a live webinar on prescription portability – the gateway to better patient care. Explore how to:

✅ Improve medication adherence
✅ Reduce administrative burden
✅ Empower patients at the point of prescribing

Hear from and engage with former health system leaders and industry experts as they share their insights and perspectives about how mobile technology is transforming the patient-prescriber experience. Register now! https://globalmeet.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1635790&tp_key=7beced6945&sti=social

As chief medical officer of Advocate Health, Gary Stuck is excited about the future. It's been nearly a year since the merger of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health and the formation of Advocate Health. In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, Stuck says he's looking forward to advancing work in value-based care, emerging academic and research opportunities, and making more progress in health equity. “These are huge opportunities for us to advance care around improving quality, population health, and even research and health equity. And some of this is landmark leading research in the entire country,” he says.

Advocate Health’s chief medical officer is ‘excited about the future’ Gary Stuck talks with Chief Healthcare Executive about the merger of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health, value-based care and working to improve health equity.

Several healthcare leaders shared their perspectives on the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas. Yes, AI was a hot topic, but there were other engaging discussions as well.

Takeaways from HLTH 2023: AI ‘hope and hype’, using the right data, and attention on women’s health Several healthcare executives shared their perspectives from the annual conference in Las Vegas.

In a joint venture, Henry Ford Health and Ascension Michigan are planning to form a new organization with $10.5 billion in revenue. Several Ascension hospitals in southeast Michigan will join with Henry Ford in a new organization with more than 550 sites of care and 50,000 employees. The systems hope to complete the transaction in the summer of 2024. Robert Riney, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health, would lead the new organization. “We share a deeply-rooted dedication to providing world-class healthcare that everyone deserves, regardless of geographic, demographic, or socioeconomic status," Riney says.

Henry Ford Health, Ascension Michigan plan to form $10.5B system Several Ascension hospitals will be combining with Henry Ford in a joint venture. The combined organization would operate more than 500 sites of care.

A few months after announcing plans to come together, Aspirus Health's acquisition of St. Luke's is moving closer to reality. The two systems say they have a definitive agreement. Aspirus also detailed plans to invest substantially in St. Luke's, including $300 million to support strategic projects at the Minnesota system.

Wisconsin hospital system moves closer to acquiring Minnesota system Aspirus Health in Wisconsin and St. Luke’s in Minnesota have signed an agreement to come together. Aspirus will invest $300 million over eight years to fund projects at St. Luke’s.

It's a partnership aimed at improving health equity and training healthcare workers. SSM Health and Siemens Healthineers leaders talked with us about their work to expand services and help nurture more workers to take on hard-to-fill jobs.

SSM Health, Siemens Healthineers look to bolster workforce and health equity Leaders of the health system and technology company talk about training workers, breaking the cycle of poverty and creating healthier communities.

Just weeks after 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike, and days after union leaders warned of the possibility of a second strike, labor and management reached a tentative deal. Here are the details on the agreement, and how it came together.

The Kaiser Permanente contract: 21% raises, and other details of the deal A week after a strike, the California-based system and union leaders say they have a tentative agreement. Both sides called it “historic” in terms of compensation and in addressing staffing levels.

Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions say they have reached a tentative deal on a new contract. The news comes after more than 75,000 employees went on strike last week.

Kaiser Permanente, unions reach tentative deal More than 75,000 employees engaged in what labor leaders called the largest healthcare worker strike in American history last week.

Safety net hospitals have seen some steep losses as they've had to provide more charity care. A new report from America's Essential Hospitals shows the losses. Hospitals are also dreading the potential loss of billions of dollars in a Medicaid program that offers critical funds.

Safety net hospitals suffer steep losses, fear prospect of $8B in Medicaid cuts A new report by America’s Essential Hospitals sheds more light on the difficult financial environment. The scheduled reduction in a key federal program would make things worse.

Apparently, UnityPoint Health and Presbyterian Healthcare Services won't be uniting after all. The two health systems have dropped their plans to merge and form an organization that would have had $11 billion in revenue. UnityPoint also announces that the Iowa-based system has a new CEO.

Merger plans dropped: UnityPoint Health, Presbyterian Healthcare Services go separate ways The systems issued a joint statement saying the deal won’t move forward. UnityPoint also announced the departure of its CEO.

The first physician to serve as CEO of the March of Dimes, Elizabeth Cherot is disheartened to see maternal mortality rates rising, even after years of increased attention on the issue. "We're not prioritizing Moms, who are the entryway into the healthcare system,” Cherot says. In a wide-ranging interview with Chief Healthcare Executive, she discusses the need to improve care for women during and after pregnancy, maternity care deserts, and the role racism has played in maternal mortality.

March of Dimes CEO: ‘We’re not prioritizing Moms” Elizabeth Cherot, the first physician to lead the organization, talks about the rise in deaths tied to pregnancy, maternity care deserts, and structural racism.

More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike last week, and while the strike is over, the two sides have yet to reach a deal. The California system and unions are set to have more talks this week. Union leaders have suggested that another walkout is possible if they can't reach an agreement.

The nation’s largest healthcare workers strike is over, but there’s still no deal More than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente employees walked off the job last week, and the two sides remain apart on key issues.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced this week that he’s going to examine the planned merger of Essentia Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System. He says he’s also going to review the planned merger of St. Luke’s in Duluth, Minn. with Aspirus Health, a Wisconsin-based system. Minnesota recently passed a state law giving the attorney general's office more power to review hospital mergers.

Two planned hospital mergers face review from Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison says he’s going to look at the deal involving Essentia Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System and the proposed merger of St. Luke’s Duluth and Aspirus Health.

Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike Wednesday. Union workers say they're looking for commitments to address staffing shortages and better compensation. Union leaders say it's the largest healthcare workers' strike in U.S. history.

On strike: Kaiser Permanente workers begin walkout More than 75,000 employees are beginning a walkout that is slated to last for three days. Union leaders say it’s the biggest healthcare workers strike in American history.

McLaren Health Care confirms that it has suffered a ransomware attack. The Michigan-based system says its systems remain operational and is working to determine how many people may be affected. Scores of hospitals and health systems have suffered cyberattacks this year.

Michigan hospital system says it’s suffered ransomware attack McLaren Health Care confirms the attack and is working to determine how many individuals have been affected.