News Briefs
News Briefs
BBA brings grief to hospital margins
A new study by accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young and HCIA-Sachs reports that the nation’s hospitals have faced a severe decline in profit margins, and the Balanced Budget Refinement Act (BBRA) of 1999 has done little to quell the financial problems hospitals face.
The study found that, nationwide, total hospital profit margins have fallen significantly from pre-Balanced Budget Act (BBA) levels. The BBA caused total margins to decline from 5.5% to 2.9% in 1999, with the BBRA providing minimal relief. In fact, hospitals are expected to experience their lowest margins since 1984. Smaller, rural hospitals are in the greatest financial jeopardy. By 2001, hospitals with fewer than 100 beds are estimated to report profit margins of less than 1%.
Michael Hamilton, national director of New York City-based Ernst & Young’s Health Care Advisory Business Services, says that the impact of Medicare reductions the BBA brought about "has led to severe declines in hospital profit margins. The modifications made to the BBA as a result of the BBRA have not forestalled declining profit margins, placing many community hospitals in financial peril."
For a copy of the study, visit HCIA’s Web site at http://www.hcia.com, or Ernst & Young at http://www.ey.com/industry/health.
New health book available
Health Data Sourcebook, a comprehensive manual that provides information regarding availability of hundreds of health care data sets from government agencies, associations, and commercial data vendors, has been released by NationsHealth Corp. in Memphis, TN.
The information in the manual is organized by categories, including demographic and psychographic data; vital statistics; health facilities; health professionals; need, demand, and utilization; and insurance and managed care. Within each category, a description of the data is presented, followed by a list of sources. The book helps readers find, access, and evaluate available health care data. The book can be purchased for $95 by calling NationsHealth at (901) 276-3009. There is a money-back guarantee.
AHA starts on-line data source
The American Hospital Association’s Health Forum company has placed data from the annual Survey of Hospitals on line. Users can now go to a new Web site, ahadata.com, and select, customize, purchase, and download information on any or all of the 6,000 facilities included in the annual survey.
Users can tailor their list using a variety of parameters, including demographics, hospital affiliations, utilization, and services.
ECRI expands lab services
After 30 years of clinical laboratories evaluating medical devices through its publication Health Devices, ECRI in Plymouth Meeting, PA, has moved into on-site productivity audits and technology reviews. Auditors can now offer workable solutions for hospital-based and independent clinical laboratories on issues such as escalating costs, declining reimbursements, shortages of qualified staff, expanded test menus, and new technologies.
For more information on ECRI and its services, visit the organization’s Web site at www.ecri.org or call (610) 825-6000.
McKessonHBOC links with distributors
McKessonHBOC in Atlanta, a leading supply management and health care information technology company, is linking with four other health care distributors to form an Internet-based company that will allow for health care product information exchange.
AmeriSource Health Corp. in Malvern, PA; Cardinal Health Inc. in Dublin, OH; Fisher Scientific International Inc. in Hampton, NH; and Owens & Minor Inc. in Richmond, VA, joined McKessonHBOC in developing a group that hopes to streamline the processes involved in identifying, purchasing, and distributing pharmaceutical products, medical-surgical products, devices, and other laboratory products and services. The companies expect to complete a joint-venture agreement by the end of July and start the new company by the end of the year.
For more on this initiative, visit http://www. newhealthexchange.com — the temporary site for facts and information about the new health exchange and its founding members.
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