Not Fiddling While Rome Burns
At the risk of understating the situation, June was an eventful month in health care: Aetna announced a new joint venture with Inova Health System to sell health plans; Massachusetts-based Steward Health Care System closed a deal to acquire two Rhode Island hospitals after successfully negotiating a change in the state's constitution; and Chief Justice Roberts emerged as the unlikely swing vote that upheld the Accountable Care Act insurance mandate. Before the ink was dry on that document, some legislators were building a strategy to leverage the decision for a defeat of the mandate in Congress.
Undeterred by the distractions, hospital executives continued to blaze a trail into the future of health care, and we share some of those stories in this issue of HealthCXO. You will hear from the CEO of Kent Hospital, Sandra L Coletta, MBA, on what it takes to make change happen, fast. Mark R. Neaman, FACHE, president and CEO at NorthShore University HealthSystem, reports on how to turn your EMR into a data-driven tool for population health improvement. Finally, to prepare you for what may be the most important decision you, as a health care executive, make in safeguarding your community’s health, we begin a series of articles addressing when a merger or acquisition makes sense and how to ensure success.
As the Roman poet Horace said, he (or she) who has begun has the work half done.
Cheryl Proval [email protected]
Cheryl Proval, Vice President, Executive Editor, Radiology Business
Cheryl began her career in journalism when Wite-Out was a relatively new technology. During the past 16 years, she has covered radiology and followed developments in healthcare policy. She holds a BA in History from the University of Delaware and likes nothing better than a good story, well told.