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| The Monthly Pulse |
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| Hospital M&A Rarely Results in Improved Care Quality
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| The Story |
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| As hospital mergers and acquisitions accelerate, experts are advising key players to consider the potential negative impact these changes can have on patients. According to most studies, quality of care either decreases or remains the same following a merger or acquisition. Additionally, charges typically increase, despite proponents of healthcare integration often claiming that care quality and costs typically improve following mergers.
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| What You Should Know |
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| Mergers and acquisitions are sometimes necessary to maintain organizational stability. Yet, these changes alone cannot improve care quality and costs. These findings underscore the importance of defining value with a focus on improving patient outcomes while balancing financial stability of healthcare systems.
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| Hospitals Seek to Prevent, Mitigate Attacks on Clinical Staff
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| The Story |
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| According to the American Hospital Association, violence against healthcare workers has seen a sharp increase since the pandemic, with healthcare having become the most violent non-law enforcement sector in the U.S. To address the issue, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association (MHA) released a call to action in 2023, calling for medical-legal guidelines that clearly spell out providers’ rights to protect themselves. Some groups have already developed their own codes of conduct for violence prevention, while others have established guidelines for managing violent interactions. |
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| What You Should Know |
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| To better safeguard hospitals and other healthcare environments against violence, experts recommend tactics such as specialized training for healthcare workers, especially those who work with psychiatric and dementia patients. Other strategies may include architectural redesigns that allow providers to be closer to exits, as well as providing wearable duress alarms for high-risk staff. Finally, security measures such as surveillance cameras and panic buttons should be used to enhance overall safety.
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| High labor expenses still challenging providers: report |
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| The Story |
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| While healthcare’s financial outlook improved in 2023 and 2024, the sector is still falling short in terms of meeting financial targets, which experts say is due largely to heightened labor costs. Medical groups’ median investment per employee recently surged past $300,000 for the first time. Hospitals are also seeing an increased average length of stay, indicating they’re treating sicker patients. Should these trends continue, healthcare systems will likely need to contain expenses. |
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| What You Should Know |
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| As expenses rise, experts advise healthcare organizations to consider rethinking employment models. For example, rewarding efficiency or using more advanced practice providers may help to control costs. In general, systems will need to align the costs of provider employment with the current healthcare landscape.
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| ViVE 2025 - Where Digital Health Execs Go to Do Business |
| Sun, Feb. 16 - Wed., Feb. 19 |
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ACHE 2025 Congress on Healthcare Leadership |
| Mon., Mar. 24 - Thurs., Mar. 27 |
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| National Association of Health Services Executives C-Suite Leadership Experience |
| Thurs., Apr. 10 - Sun., Apr. 13 |
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| Becker's Healthcare 15th Annual Meeting |
| Mon., Apr. 28 - Thurs., May 1 |
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| 2025 AHA Annual Membership Meeting |
| Sun., May 4 - Tues., May 6 |
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