Pulse


A Solution to Exorbitant Health Care Spending?

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/solution-exorbitant-health-care-spending

Necessity Turbo-Charges Productivity at Cleveland Clinic Florida

Coming into 2015, Ozzie Delgado confronted a thorny problem. Cleveland Clinic Florida was experiencing expansive demand for surgical services. Occupancy was already at 92% and there would be no capacity relief until 2018. That’s when a $300 million capital project will add inpatient beds, three operating suites, an expanded Emergency Department and incremental diagnostic services (e.g. imaging, laboratory).
 

Whatever Some Candidates Tell You, the Incomes of Most Americans Have Been Rising

After a decade when most Americans saw their incomes decline, the latest Census Bureau income data contain very good news: A majority of U.S. households racked up healthy income gains in 2013 and 2014. The facts may not fit the narratives of Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or Bernie Sanders.  But they do help explain why President Obama’s job approval and favorability ratings have passed 50 percent.

EconVue Weekly Spotlight

Stories in our Spotlight This Week

1.  Helicopter Kuroda: A Bonus For Workers, Not Japan, Inc.
Article By Lyric Hughes Hale 4/27/16 Huffington Post

My latest in the Huffington Post. I'm recommending that the Bank of Japan begin real economy measures such as ensuring higher pay for temporary workers, rather than purchasing shares in Japanese companies that already have bloated balance sheets.

Let’s Talk: Constructive End-of-Life Decision-Making

At Jeff Shield’s memorial service, Genie Shields proclaimed that her husband’s death has been a “gift,” one that enriches all who receive it. When it became clear that lymphoma would take his life, Jeff and Genie decided to spend his remaining time with family and friends at their rustic Flying Bear farm in southern Vermont. Jeff loved Flying Bear.

New Rules: Accountable Care Changes Everything

By Christopher McDonough and David W. Johnson

People go to Las Vegas to let loose, take in the shows and have fun but mostly to gamble. At HIMSS 2016, payors, providers, investors and other industry insiders are hitting the strip in search of healthcare IT’s glitz and glamor.

EconVue Weekly Spotlight

Rethinking Healthcare.Gov: As Covered California Goes, So Goes Nation?

The 17 state-run healthcare exchanges are real-life “laboratories” for the federally-run exchanges that operate in 34 states. No state exchange has flexed its market muscle more than California’s. As an active purchaser of healthcare services, Covered California has achieved robust enrollment, moderate premium growth, high customer satisfaction and improving quality scores.
 

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