News in brief - March 15, 2004

VHA probes hospital strategies - PacifiCare CEO to be board chair - Study claims tech can save billions - Sprint forms mobile alliance

VHA probes hospital strategies

Hospitals are coming up with many different strategies to protect their revenues from physician-owned specialty hospitals, according to a report by the Irving, Texas-based health care cooperative VHA. Strategies range from collaborating with physicians to putting up barriers, such as revoking admitting privileges for doctors who invest in a competing facility, according to the VHA report.

The response could vary depending on the physician group's market share and the hospital's leverage in the community, said Jane Reichert, a Minneapolis-based senior consultant with VHA.

There also are different ramifications for each strategy, Reichert said. Once hospitals have threatened economic credentialing, for example, "organizations feel they have to follow through on it," she said.

"When you think about physician competition, you think they're after more money, but we found that's not always the case," Reichert said. "Money's part of it, but there's also efficiency and the ability to increase their own productivity."

Physicians who are seeking more control over day-to-day affairs may find hospitals willing to work with them to solve disputes. The VHA study calls this strategy "cultivating the commons," where a hospital tries to find common ground with the doctors and allows them more input. Physicians may get more say, which could result in better operating room efficiency and faster turnover, and the hospital could stave off a push toward a competing facility.

PacifiCare CEO to be board chair

The board of Cypress, Calif.-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. has named President and CEO Howard G. Phanstiel board chair.

Phanstiel succeeds David A. Reed, who will continue as a member of the board and take on a new title, lead independent director, a position to be elected annually by the board.

The lead independent director is intended to act as a liaison between PacifiCare's management and the board.

Phanstiel came to PacifiCare in July 2000 as executive vice president and chief financial officer and was named president and CEO later that year.

Study claims tech can save billions

Interoperability and standardized computer systems can conservatively save the health care system $86.8 billion annually, according to a study by the Center for Information Technology Leadership.

The savings, which would come from fewer tests and improved efficiency, assume all physicians, hospitals and health systems would buy information systems, said CITL, a nonprofit research organization created by Partners HealthCare, a Boston-based health system with about 10 hospitals.

Sprint forms mobile alliance

Sprint and palmOne Inc. are teaming up to develop and sell end-to-end mobile solutions to health care organizations. Initially, the two companies plan to offer products and services allowing clinicians to access, track and record patient information at the point of care. Sprint, a telecommunications company, and palmOne Inc., which sells handheld devices, did not disclose the financial terms of their agreement.