Boards of Directors: Success, Mediocrity and Sometimes, Failure

As a follow-up to a recent post on Boards of Directors and corporate governance (http://wp.me/ptUlY-gq), this post addresses how boards promote success, can often drive mediocrity and in some cases prompt organizational failure.  The take-away where success, mediocrity and failure occur isn’t structure, terms or committees rather, a consistent excellence or break-down in terms of … Read more

Boards of Directors: Outside Looking In

Over the course of many engagements plus my years as an executive, I’ve addressed and been asked to address, the theme of effective governance, particularly at the Board level.  To bring this topic into full context, one of my many “hats” that I wear (periodically), is as an advisor to graduate and post-graduate students working … Read more

Amedisys Today: A Cautionary Tale

Rarely do I write about a specific company as my work doesn’t focus on individual companies per se, more on industries and the policy/economics of health care industry segments.  Occasionally, a company’s story typifies an industry flaw or trend or the same is illustrative of an endemic issue (Vitas for example).  Amedisys’ continued saga of … Read more

What’sTrending: A Tad Late

Travel last week took me off schedule a tad so this post, normally scheduled for last Friday, didn’t make it on-line until Monday.  Below is the list of what I am trending (watching) followed by last week’s Fall Outs (worth noting but not worth watching). Hospice Fraud Redux: This issue is one that I have … Read more

Current Policy Trends to Watch

In response to a recent series of questions from multiple segments of the health care and post-acute industry plus my own experiences within the landscape of providers and policy makers, I’ve summarized a current list of policy trends “pay attention to”. Medicare Cuts and the Super Committee: Nothing seems to loom larger or cast a … Read more

Five Things Every Administrator Should Focus On

I had a phone conversation earlier today with a friend and colleague (he’s part owner of a rehab consulting and management company) and as we talked, the conversation reminded me about the host of issues facing health care administrators.  Our conversation flowed to long-term care and specifically, SNFs (he spends a lot of his time … Read more

Part B Therapy Cuts Delayed to June 1

As a follow-up to a post from last week regarding pending cuts in Part B therapy rates, last evening the House passed a bill that the Senate had passed earlier in the day, included within is a provision to delay the pending cuts to the physician fee schedule until June 1.  The provision is tucked … Read more

Medpac Report to Congress: 2011

Earlier this week, Medpac (Medicare Payment and Advisory Commission) released its report to Congress.  Primary among Medpac’s duties is its provision of recommendations regarding payment updates under Medicare.  Below, I have broken out and summarized the recommendations. Hospice (the points below the first bullet are continued recommendations from 2009) 2011 rate is the market-basket less a … Read more