Healthcare, Senior Living, Economics
One of the focal areas of my consulting practice/work is assisting health care organizations in accessing sources of funding (securing financing basically) for major projects and/or new development. Given the state of the economy, most specifically the capital markets over the past eighteen months, getting funding for capital projects and/or development has been challenging, though … Read more
Over the next few days I’ll be pushing out a series of posts as my schedule permits, on the implications of health care reform for various industry segments. These are not meant as in-depth analyses, more of a “summary” of the key points. Reconciliation Act: This Bill has yet to pass the Senate and as a … Read more
Lately I’ve been running across intermittent publications/blog posts, etc. regarding a general decline in hospice census. At the end of this post, I’ve attached a couple of links for anyone who wishes to see some examples of what I’ve been reading. Naturally, being the curious consultant and health policy junkie that I am, I started … Read more
In August of 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule requiring that all HIPAA covered entities and their business associates develop notification requirements for a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI). These new requirements are part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). In … Read more
I lost track this past year of how many people I talked to that told me that, “organizationally, we are kind of stalled in developing new business because of the economy and health care reform”. I know that in down economic periods, promotion budgets (advertising, sponsorships,etc.) are some of the first line items trimmed but … Read more
For the vast majority of providers, productivity and retention are ongoing labor hassles. Salaries and benefits are typically, the single largest expense item for health care providers and when analyzed by all of the components, a surprising percentage is allocated for labor related expenses that can and should be, reduced. Expenses such as Worker’s Compensation, recruitment, turnover, … Read more
As we head now into the new year, it makes sense for CCRCs to pre-ordain the recovery just a bit and move back into a modest-aggressive posture, qualifying and securing new residents. Even with a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, no CCRC owner/operator should expect there to be a great deal of pent-up demand. Seniors aren’t monitoring CCRC opportunities and the market and economic conditions favorable for sales – that frankly is the CCRC’s job. In order to get “back in the game” so to speak, a CCRC’s marketing approach may need to be tactically tweaked. The next generation of marketing plans will need to be different, for quite some time, from those of say two years ago.
Healthcare is a risky business; particularly in heavily regulated environments such as nursing homes and home health and hospice. The fact that a certain level of risk is omnipresent means that the opportunity constantly exists for an organization that improperly identifies and manages its risks, to suffer expensive damages ranging from financial loss to loss … Read more
As my work is focused on healthcare and more succinctly, post-acute healthcare and senior housing, I follow overall economic trends and conditions and translate the same for the healthcare economy. As healthcare remains a private industry today, albeit one that is heavily tied to the Federal government, the general economy does impact the healthcare industry. Arguably, as with the … Read more
Without question, the post-acute healthcare industry is changing. Every sector, from skilled nursing to assisted living to senior housing to home health and hospice has and will continue to undergo, some form of transformation. The reasons are many ranging from federal health policy changes, reimbursement changes, regulatory changes, the economy in general and the real … Read more