Study Group: Current or Former Chief Financial Officers in Hospital Facilities(?)

1) Health Care Financing Administration published hospital mortality rates in the 80's, only to later discontinue the practice.  2) Mortality rates are a poor proxy for quality.  3)  Other measures are better to assess quality of care.

CMS has the objective of keeping their costs down, increasing quality, protecting the Stark laws against physician referrals, and guarding against beneficiaries being enticed to receive more services than necessary.  CMS threw all these objectives into the ACE demonstration project.  The problems...

Increasing interest rates and debt service, a Decrease in available cash, a Migration to more fixed rate borrowing and appeals to state governments for assistance, a delay in physical plant additions/upgrades

For one reason, this industry has outperformed the commercial average for the most recent eight years. Secondly, demographics are driving medical services. More of the population is aging. People are living longer. And Medical technology is improving at a rate that provides new and better healthcare...

Yes, WalMart has a large pool of patients. And there are competitive advantages with regard to the convenience of a pharmacy and over the counter remedies. However, having patients is only one piece of the puzzle. The business of medicine is more complex than merely having patients or customers.