Shared-service paging clears the air waves

Radio-paging channel congestion can be reduced if inhospital and areawide paging are distinguished, and if the proper equipment is used for the separate functions.

Medical staff bylaws in a multihospital system

Not all multihospital arrangements demand a close association between the medical staffs of the individual hospitals involved. However, in those situations where the medical staffs will be more closely linked, the bylaws and rules and regulations of the cooperating medical staffs should be reviewed and integrated, if appropriate, before the changeover. This presents the medical staffs with the task--and opportunity--of initiating and controlling these changes.

A rural hospital/physician health care cooperative

In an experiment to establish the viability of rural health care delivery, 13 rural community hospitals and their medical staffs formed a cooperative with an urban university based hospital. The consortium offers rural physicians on-site specialty consultation, continuing education programs, joint medical audits, and uniform hospital and staff policies and procedures. This cooperative effort allows most patients to be treated in their own community and helps to break down the isolation of rural practice for the physician.

A systemwide quality assurance/risk management program

Physician involvement throughout this systemwide quality assurance and risk management program is a key element in the program's success. Physicians report through their own medical staff organization to a centralized quality assurance committee that interfaces between the board of directors and the medical staff of each hospital. The program is bolstered by complete support from the board and administration.

Continuing education network builds on physician acceptance

In 1975, the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale and nine community hospitals in southwestern Connecticut began a continuing medical education program, the Yale Affiliated Hospital Program (YAHP). Physicians from Yale and the community hospitals were involved in the planning and organization of the YAHP from the beginning, since the authors believe that physician acceptance is necessary for the success of a program between a university medical center and community hospitals. The attention to physician acceptance has fostered a cooperative spirit and trust among members of the group so that issues in addition to education, such as house staff and faculty recruitment, program content, and regional planning, can be dealt with.

CHA survey of central management services organizations

Catholic multihospital systems with central management services organizations (CMSOs) constitute a significant percentage of total Catholic hospitals and acute care beds. Results of a recent CHA survey provide a base for future analyses of the CMSO and reveal the potential for further system development.

Multihospital systems are changing the health care landscape

Multihospital systems can be classified according to system structure, ownership, and management structure and geographical coverage. Such systems appear to have several advantages over individual, freestanding hospitals, including the ability to raise capital more easily, the ability to exploit economies of scale, the ability to develop more effective governance structures, and the ability to attract and retain high-quality management talent.

Of takeovers, makeovers, and other myths: trustees in multihospital systems

The growth of multihospital systems in recent years has led many trustees to ask whether a hospital board can retain its autonomy and responsibilities if the hospital joins a system. Members of system corporate boards and individual hospital boards are finding that, through careful board work, hospitals and systems alike can benefit from multihospital arrangements.

Multi-institutional arrangements: hospitals' move toward systems gains momentum

The health field continues to restructure itself through multi-institutional and sharing systems that aim at ensuring improved and cost-effective services.

Six-year program shows benefits of shared laboratory services

The VA Hospital in Columbia, MO, and the University of Missouri Medical Center conduct the largest shared laboratory service in the VA hospital system. Sharing has enabled these institutions to eliminate unnecessary duplication of resources, develop new laboratory capabilities in subspecialties, handle additional routine procedures, better use the expertise of senior staff pathologists, develop uniform standards, enhance quality assessment, and expand training programs.

Hospitals must follow strategy to lead regional sharing efforts

A hospital that wants to initiate or expand service sharing with other institutions in its service area must analyze and act on many considerations that affect the success of such relationships. For example, the hospital must identify its resources and goals for sharing as well as those of the other participants, eliminate personal and institutional 'ego needs' from the relationship, and promote effective interpersonal relationships among the key individuals from the participating institutions.