Antimicrobial Stewardship
Antimicrobial resistance remains a significant public health issue with serious implications for hospitals. One of the main causes: the misuse of antibiotics. (05/2012)

Innovation: Your New Core Competency
You can't do today's job with yesterday's methods and still be in business tomorrow. The old truism sums up the challenge for the hospital field as it prepares for a dramatic change in the care delivery system. (04/2012)

ICD-10 Implementation
The migration to a new version of the clinical codes used for hospital reimbursement, as well as quality and patient safety reporting has been discussed for more than 20 years. (03/2012)

Meaningful Use: Lessons from the front
The push is on. There's less than a year to go for organizations to attest for Stage 1 meaningful use to receive the full set of incentive payments, but exactly how many will make it remains to be seen. (02/2012)

Environmental Sustainability Programs for Hospitals
Do no harm. The underlying tenet in health care applies to all hospital operations, not just those that take place within hospital walls. (01/2012)

Strategic Supply Chain Management
Call it a silver lining, of sorts. The economic downturn has given the supply chain renewed prominence, boosting it in many hospitals from the basement to the executive suite. (12/2011)

Defining, Measuring and Sustaining a Patient-Centered Culture
As health care professionals, it's easy to view the hospital as a place of work instead of a place of healing. (11/2011)

2012 AHA Environmental Scan
The 2012 American Hospital Association Environmental Scan provides insight and information about market forces that have a high probability of affecting the health care field. (09/2011)

ED THROUGHPUT
A trip to the emergency department too often conjures up images of crowded waiting rooms and extensive wait times. And rightly so. (08/2011)

Most Wired 2011
Hospitals are making progress on information technology, but federal criteria for meaningful use have thrown a monkey wrench in their efforts, H&HN's annual IT survey finds. (07/2011)

Effective Dashboards: What to measure and how to show it
Executive dashboards—automated systems that report on a limited number of key metrics—are now commonplace in the health care industry. (06/2011)

Value-Based Purchasing and Bundled Payments
Payment based on quality and service is not a new concept, but it's finally coming into play in health care. (05/2011)

Best Practices for Recruitment & Retention
The health care workforce shortage has abated, thanks largely to the Great Recession and its lingering effects. (04/2011)

ACOs: How do you get there from here?
How do you get there from here? Many hospitals and health systemsare asking that question when it comes to forming accountable careorganizations. So far, there are no clear answers. (03/2011)

Reining in Avoidable Readmissions
Helping patients stay out of the hospital once they’ve been discharged has been a longtime quality-improvement priority for many hospitals and health networks. (02/2011)