By Anthony Cirillo

When Lowe's Home Improvement recently announced that all employees who needed cardiac surgery would go to Cleveland Clinic, it made me pause. Living just miles from Lowe's headquarters (near Charlotte, N.C.) and surrounded by very good major medical centers, I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when local hospital officials heard the news. The announcement must have sent shock waves through them.

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By Nancy Cawley Jean

In any given webinar or lecture on social media, you'll hear that if used correctly, it can be an incredible tool for hospitals that want to build a conversation with our patients and the community, hearing what people want and how we can improve our services, offering health information for the general public, communicating timely information in a crisis, building loyalty for our brand and even supporting fundraising efforts.

For the past year, the hospitals of the Lifespan health system have maintained Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as a YouTube channel for the system as a whole. Along the way, we've found things that are successful and some things that don't work so well.

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by Deb Beaulieu, FiercePracticeManagement

Medical practice revenue isn't just about payer reimbursement anymore. With more uninsured or underinsured patients accessing care, patient responsibilities now account for 20 to 30 percent of a practice's total charges.

To thrive in a still-challenging financial environment, practices must be more aggressive about collecting patient deductibles, coinsurance payments and outstanding balances. FiercePracticeManagement interviewed several revenue cycle experts and practice managers who shared their top advice for collecting money while maintaining positive relations with patients.

Surprisingly, many of their strategies are simple (and effective!). Click here to see their tips

by Joseph Ingemi

Now that HHS has finally defined "meaningful use," we all can expect a push for adoption.

Or can we?

With both the massive federal incentives and the potential for lower reimbursement rates for failure to adopt, will providers actually adopt Electronic Health Records?

Or will those who have already adopted EHR simply use this as an opportunity to upgrade?

I still have my doubts.

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by Gwen Darling

At the time I didn't know it. But in hindsight I'd have to say my most valuable class in high school was Mrs. Alva Johnson's typing class. Not only did she teach me a skill I've counted on virtually every day since then (and there have been quite a few days since then!), but it led me to my first part-time job in the healthcare industry as a medical transcriptionist for a solo practice physician who specialized in geriatrics.

I loved this job, largely due to the doctor's personal approach.

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