Posts Tagged ‘Texas’

DFWHC and Accenture webinar “Virtual Healthcare in Texas” is just two days away!

It’s just two days until the DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) and Accenture webinar “Texans Want Virtual Healthcare. Here’s How Providers Can Grow from It.” this Wednesday, October 14 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., CDT. The complimentary event will examine a groundbreaking Texas survey by Accenture detailing the surprising results of telehealth usage during the pandemic. […]

Was it good for Texas to decline Medicaid expansion?

WFAA Ch. 8 Reporter David Schechter tackled the thorny issue of Texas Medicaid expansion during an extended news segment broadcast last night. With the state having a chance in 2013 to drastically expand healthcare coverage to 1.5 million of the poorest Texans, it emphatically said no. The question Schechter asked was a simple one – […]

Improving our Health: The Mental Health Conundrum – Part One

Since our country’s recent tragedy at Sandy Hook, two policy debates have once again taken center stage:  gun control and mental health. Well-meaning people will likely continue to debate these issues for as long as the United States exists, but we are not going to do it in this blog. For those of us working […]

DFWHC release of 2012 Q2 Inpatient Data and Outpatient Data

Thanks to the investment the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation (DFWHC Foundation) made in 2011 in its new data warehouse, users across North Texas are now seeing benefits. For three straight quarters, the DFWHC Foundation has released Outpatient Data one month early on the same day as Inpatient Data due to the processes put in […]

Healthcare Report Cards for Public Reporting

Except for the students at the top of a class, nobody really enjoyed report card day—even when it was not a bad report card. There was always a speech about how you could do better if you just took time to apply yourself. Ouch! Report cards are not generally associated with fun. Public reporting of […]

Academic Progression for Nurses in Texas – RWJF Grant awarded to Texas Team

In August 2012, a Texas Team was awarded a two-year $300,000 grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to advance state and regional strategies aimed at creating a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce. This is one of the recommendations in the Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. The […]

10,000 Health Information Technology workers needed in Texas

An estimated 10,000 additional Health Information Technology (HIT) workers are needed in the $103.6 billion Texas healthcare industry between now and 2013, according to a report published by the Texas Health Information Technology Project.  Texas State University-San Marcos has published an Employer Need Assessment Report as part of their Texas Health Information Technology Project.  Dr. […]

Foundation releases white paper on septicemia

The Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation (DFWHC Foundation) today announced the publication of a white paper on septicemia prevalence in North Texas readmissions. The white paper highlights 2011 readmissions from 77 acute care facilities where the blood infection is in the top 50 percent of reasons why people readmit to a hospital within 30 days. […]

Why is the Present-on-Admission Flag Important?
(Part 2 of 3)

The Present-on-Admission (POA) indicator is a flag assigned to each diagnosis code on inpatient claims. Until recently, the Texas Health Care Information Council (THCIC) had not required hospitals to submit the POA indicator in order to allow time for transitioning and establishing processes for coding accurately. THCIC will require the POA flag in all inpatient […]

Health Care Jobs Provide Bright Spark

Health Care Jobs Strike a Bright Spark amid 2012 Uncertainties. There continues to be an uptick for health care employment, according to the BLS. Health care employment continued to increase in May by 33,000 jobs, up from 19,000 in April. Within the industry, employment in ambulatory health care services, which includes offices of physicians and […]