Healthcare Strategic Growth Blog

Tips for Supporting and Encouraging Providers and Members

By Megan Reeves

Hospitals are looking to their state associations for help now possibly more than ever. They need reassurance as they navigate uncertainty about the future and the impact of COVID-19. They’re anxious to respond to changing legislation. They’re concerned with whether or not they’re equipped to sustain their current staff and grow in the future.

In this post, we’re highlighting the many ways we’ve seen hospital associations step up and support their hospitals in meaningful ways. We wanted to shed light on the work being done and offer inspiration to associations looking for fresh ways to provide value.

Tracking Care Patterns by Cancer Site

By Morgan Atkins and April Adams

Earlier this year, members of the Stratasan team conducted a study to determine if treatment care patterns differ for oncology patients by cancer site. The hypothesis was that the most common treatment path for cancer patients is to first seek surgical treatment, then medical, then radiological. Patients were grouped by their order of transition from surgical, medical, and radiological procedures. 

Below you will find the results of this study.

Respect meetings. Your time is valuable.

We all would appreciate more effective, productive meetings that lead to happier, more productive teams. Especially in a world where "Zoom fatigue" is a legitimate concern, managing how often and why meetings are booked is critical.

These days, people are meeting online for everything from work, to happy hours with friends, to therapy sessions or even working out. A Wundamail Work from Home 2020 Report found that 42% of remote workers found the continuous stream of virtual distractions on various apps "deeply distracting" and felt most productive when working for a long period of uninterrupted time. The overwhelm of unnecessary and poorly planned meetings can drain your team and breed cynicism.

6 Tips to Maximize Your Time

By Lee Ann Lambdin

Virtual conferences are one of the many realities of COVID life. Businesses like ours are finding out how to navigate this new normal one virtual event at a time, collecting new ideas like souvenirs and learning from our mistakes as we go. 

As we approach the fall and a season of back-to-back events, we’ve compiled a list of strategies for how to get the most out of each one we attend. Some of our tactics aren’t much different from how we’d approach an in-person event, while others are altogether new and intended to address the unique opportunities presented by online interactions. In the post below, you’ll find our top six tips for maximizing a virtual conference experience.

When entering payer/provider reimbursement negotiations, the need for data to back your position is critical. The right insights can show how your payer contracts compare to the market, how payer rates have changed over time from facility to facility, and highlight financial opportunity. This intelligence can equip you to more successfully navigate payer negotiations and leave with more favorable reimbursement rates.

The infographic below highlights a particularly helpful data-based insight called Fair Market Reimbursement. This is a reasonable range of reimbursement rates that all providers within a local market receive from a commercial insurer or payer. Created by our partner Ancore Health, the infographic below explains Fair Market Reimbursement in more detail, by answering several common questions.  

How to Be More Insightful and Strategic with Data-Based Findings

By Lee Ann Lambdin and Forrest Rich

At the close of each quarter, strategic planners in the healthcare industry have the opportunity to present quarterly findings and progress updates to executive teams and upper-level management. These quarterly meetings often provide critical insight necessary for continued advancement in planned growth-related projects. They could also be the ideal time to present new ideas.

These meetings present an opportunity to share key findings to leadership that can change the course of how a hospital’s planning, marketing, and business development departments will function in the weeks and months to come. Therefore, it is critical that you're prepared to tell the most compelling story possible with the data you have on-hand.

Tracking the Impact of COVID-19 Using All-Payer Claims Data

By Dave Sellers and Morgan Atkins

In a recent blog post, we took a data-based look at virtual care. We considered the importance of data for growth planning and how All-Payer Claims Data (APCD) provides unique insights that can inform hospitals and health systems as they prepare to respond to the growth of telemedicine.

In this post, we’re once again analyzing APCD, this time looking for COVID-19 trends. We’ve reviewed data trends from January - June of 2020, compared year-over-year numbers to see shifts from 2019 to 2020, and considered pre- vs post-COVID diagnosis code fluctuations. It’s important to note that while we reviewed diagnosis codes related to COVID, there are several which are for negative for inconclusive results. See below for our findings related to gender, age, and care setting shifts.

Key Opportunities Hospitals Leaders Shouldn’t Overlook

By Morgan Atkins

The trials of 2020 have left many in the healthcare industry searching for ways to diversify their income. Due to COVID-19, hospitals across the nation are estimated to lose $200 billion between March 1 and June 30, according to a report from the American Hospital Association. This current financial strain and shaky future prospects are pushing healthcare institutions to find creative ways to keep revenue flowing while still maintaining high-quality care.

Becker’s Hospital Review cites the reimbursement landscape challenges and dwindling patient volumes as two main factors leading at least 29 hospitals across the U.S. to file for bankruptcy this year. In this post, we’ll consider how hospital leaders can turn these leading indicators of distress into golden opportunities for growth.

Stay Safe this July 4th by Avoiding these Injury Trends

By Gavin Chance

Don’t become a statistic—stay safe this July 4th! Even in a year when the number of large fireworks shows will be significantly reduced from what we're used to, fireworks usage is already making the news, as noted in this BBC article. 

In an effort to help you prepare for this holiday and avoid the most common accidents, we’re sharing our research covering five years of fireworks injury data. Here's what we found:

• 72% of fireworks accidents occur at home
• Men are twice as likely to become injured as women
• 27.9% of injuries happen to children, ages 0-10 years old

Click-to-Tweet: Did you know? 72% of fireworks accidents occur at home, 11.75% occur in public, and 11% at a sporting event.

Interested in learning more, such as the most common diagnoses and where most injuries occur? Check out our infographic, below.

Uncovering Opportunities to Increase Productivity

By Lee Ann Lambdin and Morgan Atkins

Especially in times of crisis when demands are filing in from every direction, looking for opportunities to increase productivity through automation is key. Teams must find ways to work smarter, not harder, as the saying goes. 

Today, hospitals are stretched thin by so many varying concerns. Fewer elective surgeries and increased financial pressures. The need to remain vigilant regarding COVID-19. The demand to manage strategic operations with a reduced staff as many have been furloughed. Across the board, the stress of working in the healthcare industry is at an all-time high. 

Automation can help teams keep up. Further, it can make time for more meaningful work—including strategic growth planning and preparation of the future. In this post, we’ll discuss how to activate automation and trigger a shift to more wisdom-focused work.