Oracle's solutions for 'broken healthcare system'; BoA commits $40M to primary care; plus Jobs!

June 17, 2022

Hello NAW Subscribers -

I hope you like this issue of National Accounts Weekly!

Sincerely,

John Pritchard

President of ANAE

Publisher of The Journal of Healthcare Contracting (JHC)

Oracle acquires Cerner, plans to offer solutions for ‘broken healthcare system’

Oracle recently acquired Cerner and is looking to combine its enterprise platform, analytics and automation with Cerner’s clinical capabilities to make healthcare delivery more efficient. After the acquisition, Oracle released blog post outlining its plans for the healthcare industry.

Here are the key takeaways:

Oracle plans to develop new cloud-enabled capabilities that will allow providers to access information on an interface that is easy to use.
Oracle aims to reduce the time and effort required to find a patient’s information and to give people access to their own health information.
Oracle wants to open application programming insights to give authorized users access to health data and insights.
Oracle will create an ecosystem where people, patients, providers and payers will be able to access clinical, operational, and financial data on the cloud.

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Bank of America commits $40M to primary healthcare

To increase access to healthcare services in medically underserved communities, Bank of America has committed $40 million in low-cost, long-term capital to finance the development and expansion of community healthcare centers and other primary care facilities across the United States. Bank of America will partner with non-profit community development financial institutions (CDFIs) to distribute the funding. In addition, Bank of America will provide $100,000 in philanthropic grants to help with CDFI operational costs and help spark the creation of new health centers.

SMI creates maturity model, playbook to drive resiliency planning across the healthcare supply chain

SMI released a new Resilience Maturity Model (RMM) and Playbook to help the industry be better prepared and mitigate risk for future potential disruptions. This SMI RMM and Playbook were created by SMI members with guidance from Rob Handfield, Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management and Executive Director, Supply Chain Resource Cooperative, and students from North Carolina State University (NCSU).

As healthcare organizations look to stabilize and strengthen their supply chains for future disruptions, SMI members have created this framework based on four maturity levels including preparedness, responsiveness, resiliency, and collaborative immunity. Although the model is designed as aspirational, the RMM provides structure to organizations so users can develop their own preparedness playbook now. This new resource also includes a scoring mechanism to measure current progress and to develop plans to achieve even higher levels of resilience over time.

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Hospitals are in an inflationary vise

By David Dobrzykowski

Associate Professor

Department of Supply Chain Management

Sam M. Walton College of Business

University of Arkansas

Hospitals are in an inflationary vise!

First quarter earnings reports from several large health systems paint a grim picture: Chicago’s CommonSpirit Health lost $81 million, Cleveland Clinic lost $282 million and St. Louis-based Ascension reported an $884 million loss, according to Becker's Healthcare. Financial challenges have led many hospitals to discontinue services such as labor and delivery, oncology, addiction treatment and some emergency services.

Federal inflation data helps explain these financial struggles.

UPMC breaks ground on new UPMC Presbyterian

UPMC has broken ground on the largest hospital in Pittsburgh’s history and the largest health care construction project in Pennsylvania.

The new $1.5 billion, 17-story UPMC Presbyterian, to be completed in 2026, will be home to 636 private patient rooms and premier people-focused clinical facilities where UPMC clinical teams and physician-scientists will deliver nationally renowned specialty care that includes transplant, cardiology and cardiac surgery, and neurology and neurosurgery. The existing UPMC Presbyterian was built more than a century ago.

Premier brings PINC AI clinical surveillance technology to long-term care facilities

PINC AI™, the technology and services platform of Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), today announced it is extending its technological capabilities to long-term care (LTC) facilities, providing the same level of clinical surveillance used in the acute setting.

Paper records and low-tech methods of collecting data and coordinating patient care are still widely used in LTC facilities. It has become evident, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, that LTC facilities need robust, clean and actionable data in order to better prevent infections and provide high-quality care to their residents. In fact, due to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19, over one in five COVID-19 deaths occurred in a LTC facility since March 2020.

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Premier’s Breakthroughs 22 is next week

Premier’s Breakthroughs 22 is live and in-person this year at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Maryland, offering opportunities for suppliers to connect, showcase, and network with over 250 Premier member hospitals. Health systems rely on innovative technologies and solutions to help bring a competitive edge to their patient care. Attendees will get an exclusive look into the emerging technologies and solutions that are moving healthcare forward.

Here are four reasons for suppliers to showcase at Breakthroughs 22:

Connect with Purchasing Powerhouses

Each year at Breakthroughs, healthcare executives and professionals gather to gain insight into the latest in healthcare technologies and services. The influential administrators, supply chain executives and other decision makers that attend our conference are considered purchasing powerhouses in their respective health systems.

In addition, new supply chain leaders, clinicians, value analysis directors and other staff twill attend Breakthroughs 22 as well. This is your opportunity to move healthcare forward and make connections with such leaders by expressing the importance of your offerings and the potential savings customers can experience using your technologies or service.

One-Stop Spot for Member Engagement

Come experience a networking opportunity like no other. Breakthroughs 22 offers an opportunity to connect with more Premier members at once than at any other time. In fact, this year we are proud to welcome over 250 member hospitals and health systems.

Also joining us at Breakthroughs 22 will be Premier’s field staff from each Premier region. Field staff can help endorse your products to Premier members considering new technologies or services. Such relationships can be beneficial in helping you find new customers and secure your next buying relationship.

Provide Promising Reassurance Emerging from the Pandemic

Things may have changed for your company in the last three years – whether it’s new people, new products, new Premier contracts or a renewed commitment to ensure supply stability. Similarly, many of our members found it necessary to adjust their supply chain plans and supplier relationships due to product shortages and disruptions.

Breakthroughs 22 is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to have in-person discussions about your company’s response to the pandemic, and your plans moving forward into a new healthcare landscape.

Showcase Your Most Innovative and Competitive Products and Services

As a Breakthroughs 22 exhibitor’s badge holder, your company will enjoy an open invitation to all events and sessions as well as an exclusive pass to supplier-only events. This will allow you to access members throughout our event and present your latest products and services.

Breakthroughs 22 represents a compelling opportunity to all Premier suppliers, including your competitor. Health systems rely on innovative technologies and solutions to help bring a competitive edge to their patient care. Don’t miss the chance to create important relationships and connections with our members before your competition does.

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Hospital inpatient volumes recover, patient LOS expected to rise

Vizient released its annual Impact of Change® Forecast from its subsidiary Sg2, projecting hospital resources will experience even greater strain due to a rise in patient acuity over the next decade that will outpace inpatient volume and impact patient length of stay. Fueled in part by COVID and its lingering effects, health care organizations can potentially expect increased number of patients with more complex conditions creating capacity constraints that may require new strategies for patient care delivery.

The report forecasts adult inpatient volumes recovering from pre-pandemic numbers but growing only 2% over the next decade. However, fueled by an increase in chronic conditions, adult inpatient days are expected to increase 8% during that same time, with additional increases in tertiary inpatient days (17%). The shift of inpatient surgical volumes to outpatient is projected to soften to modest growth (4%) in procedures performed inpatient by the end of the decade.

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The CONCERN Initiative leverages nursing expertise into patient predictive models, receives funding

Nurse expertise includes the ability to pick up cues about patients’ health from subtle changes in behavior and appearance, but these observations often get missed or under-analyzed within the electronic health record (EHR).

The CONCERN Initiative, a multi-hospital system effort led by the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), will leverage that expertise with artificial intelligence to create prediction models that can improve patient outcomes through the CONCERN Initiative.

CONCERN (Communicating Narrative Concerns Entered by RNs) is a predictive tool that extracts nurses’ expert and knowledge-driven behaviors within patient health records and transforms them into observable data that support early prediction of organ failure or other critical conditions in hospitalized patients.