10 healthcare quotes that define a busy 2015 in the industry

2015 has seen some major developments in healthcare. The Supreme Court upheld Obamacare, ICD-10 took root, value-based reimbursement gained steam and the ongoing consumerism in healthcare continued to transform the industry. Here are some key quotes from the past year that not only tie in to the biggest news, but represent the kind of business intelligence that can help managers continue to move forward.

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Images created by Betsy Caron

While awareness over nurse safety has grown, a new survey by The Leapfrog Group found 40 percent of hospitals fail to comply with all 21 endorsed safe practices in the field. Full story.

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Jay LaBine, MD, is a surgeon working at the forefront of America's changing healthcare economy, the provider-sponsored health plan. "I'm a bit of an idealist," said LaBine, chief medical officer at Priority Health, an insurer owned by Spectrum Health, a $4.5 billion nonprofit network serving western Michigan. Full story.

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As the Obama Administration mulls changes to the federal 340B drug discount program, hospital systems are looking to preserve the current model while independent docs and drug companies lobby for reforms. Full story.

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Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, located in rural Lebanon, New Hampshire, generates $1.3 billion in annual revenue operating in the northern corner of the state. And while it's not in an ideal location for a population health model, according to chief financial officer Robin Kilfeather-Mackey, 19-year veteran of the health system's finance department who assumed the CFO role in 2010, the world-class health systems is excelling as an accountable care organization. Full story.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is proposing 650-plus pages of new regulations for Medicaid managed care, which now covers 46 million Americans, around 70 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries. The move represents the first regulatory change to Medicaid managed care in a decade as more for-profit insurers and providers take the challenge from states to cover growing Medicaid populations. Full story.

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While many anticipated President Barack Obama on Tuesday to talk about the looming King v. Burwell decision, the President stayed mum, instead warning future administrations about reversing progress made by the industry. Full story.

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Hospitals can boost their credit strength by paying more attention to the patient as consumer, according to a new report by Moody’s Investor Service. Full story.

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Unless hospitals and other health care facilities begin cooperatively fighting the country's most aggressive bacterial-resistant germs, infection rates could increase as much as 10 percent over the next five years, hitting about 340,000 people annually, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released this week. Full story.

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The CEOs of Aetna and Anthem defended their respective multi-billion dollar merger plans before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee this week, hoping to assuage concerns that the deals to consolidate Aetna and Humana and Anthem and Cigna would lessen competition and drive up costs. Full story.

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As healthcare providers collect more data on patients than ever, and plan to use to predict care episodes, healthcare need to understand the ethical implications, according to experts speaking at the Predictive Analytics World Healthcare conference in Boston Tuesday. Full story.

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