The MetroHealth System is expecting a $20 million surplus this year -- which, though laudable in a tough revenue environment, is a "thimbleful in the ocean, in terms of what we really need if we're going to be able to sustain the kind of growth and vitality that we want this system to represent," trustee Donna Kelly Rego said during a late afternoon board meeting on Wednesday.
John Carroll's guilty plea to taking bribes in exchange for construction contracts could bring an end to an ugly time for the hospital, considered the safety net for much of Greater Cleveland. The case, which began more than a year ago, has played out as MetroHealth has struggled to get out of the red, and experienced rounds of restructings and layoffs.
How to turn analytics into actual policy outcomes.
An IRS audit lead to the discovery - and now indictment- of former MetroHealth executive John Carroll. But rival contractors say they complained about corruption five years ago to MetroHealth's former chief executive, its general counsel at the time, and Donna Kelly Rego, a trustee who at the time was the chairwoman of the board.
The MetroHealth System has appointed a well-known Northeast Ohio health care attorneyas general counsel and senior vice president. Thomas J. Onusko replaces William West, who retired from MetroHealth at the end of June.
Cleveland's primary charity hospital has gone from red ink to a razor-thin profit margin, thanks in part to smarter (and tougher) policies, as well as smart use of consultants.
MetroHealth System began its largest fundraising campaign -- for its Senior Health & Wellness Center in Old Brooklyn -- December 2007 with a $1 million challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation. One thousand fifty gifts and $3 million later, the fundraisers have met their goal.
Zelis highlights how employers, payers, and consumers are integrating digital tools to manage healthcare costs.
The five-year study will look at Alzheimer's patients who also have cataracts and document how better vision improves their quality of life. People with dementia lose their ability to see objects that are of lower contrasts to the areas around them.
Many people in Northeast Ohio who lose their jobs in the ongoing economic recession also lose their health insurance, according to a Better Health Greater Cleveland report. But a government-sponsored health care plan and a requirement to have health insurance -- both part of the nation's ongoing health care reform debate -- might help stabilize the situation.
Dr. Kevin Stepp recently performed the first-ever single-incision hysterectomy using a French robotic device rather than surgical technicians at MetroHealth Medical Center. The device, called ViKY, guided the laparoscopic video camera and light that "saw" inside the patient's abdomen, as well as positioned her uterus during surgery. Stepp used the device like a couple extra pairs of hands.
Hugo Urizar says the Cleveland area's Hispanic community fears the loss of MetroHealth Medical Center's presence at the West Side Thomas F. McCafferty Health Center. The City of Cleveland, which owns the center, has asked for new bids to run the facility. "Many people familiar with the quality and quantity of services provided by the McCafferty-MetroHealth Clinic think that a change in management could disrupt services and unnecessarily break up a team of bilingual professionals that have been together for more than 18 years," he says.
Small practices play a critical role in healthcare delivery, but they cannot continue to absorb ever-increasing administrative demands without consequences.
Altogether, there are easily $50 million in health-related federal earmarks from Ohio legislators that could fund projects from the James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State University to a Youngstown company whose device is ideal for victims of battlefield trauma. Votes in Senate and House committees are expected this month to determine whether the institutions would get some, all or any of their requests.
Angeline M. Marano was also the senior operating officer at University Hospitals in Cleveland for seven years before leaving in 2004 to become the senior vice president and chief operating officer at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Vermont. At Metro, she'll manage the operating and capital budgets; oversee benchmarks in quality, customer service, productivity and cost.
Dr. Christopher Brandt, this year's winner of the Kaiser-Permanente Excellence in Teaching Award from Case Western Reserve University medical school, talks about the independence of the modern medical student, his own style of "pimping" and the pros and cons of the digital era.
MetroHealth has laid off 50 workers in the last several weeks and is meeting today with another 194 whose jobs will be cut, it stated in a system-wide memo. The health system will eliminate more than 130 open positions. Most of the jobs are "administrative and support positions," according to the hospital.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan plans soon to designate about 1,000 doctors in primary-care practices as part of its medical homes program. It's likely the largest medical homes effort nationwide and one of hte first to go beyond the pilot stage.