News From Around the Web
> Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare, a five-hospital system, will become one of the first healthcare provider groups opting to post independent patient reviews of their docs online, Healthcare IT News reports. According to Piedmont officials, the reviews are collected by independent patient research company Press Ganey and are subsequently posted regardless of whether the comments are positive or negative. Article
> In a Deloitte blog post, David Betts, a principal with the company, outlined four considerations for cultivating a consumer-centric culture, including 1) a clear vision; 2) operational and technology-enabled capabilities; 3) structure and culture; and 4) measurement capabilities. Post
Health Finance News
> The Medicare program continues to pay hospitals and individual physicians hugely divergent sums for medical procedures. Article
> Current and potential cost overruns on a replacement hospital in New York and ongoing U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital projects underscore the cost of building such facilities. The replacement facility for Long Island (N.Y.) College Hospital could cost as much as $800 million to $1.1 billion in construction costs, and another 50 percent added to that in "soft costs," such as designing and equipping the facility, far higher than the current estimates. Article
Health Insurance News
> While the healthcare system in Canada is more efficient than the U.S. system, former Cigna executive Wendell Potter highlights two facets of Medicare our neighbor to the north should embrace. Article
And Finally... Solo diners aren't being offered just newspapers anymore. Article