New report details impact of economic downturn on patients and hospitals
WASHINGTON—With our nation’s economic troubles, fewer patients are seeking hospital care while at the same time a growing proportion of patients need help paying for care, according to new report from the American Hospital Association (AHA). The report also noted that hospitals, which employ 5 million people nationwide, could be facing uncertain times as their financial health falters and ability to borrow funds for improving facilities and updating technology is squeezed.
The report is based on survey results from 736 hospitals and information from DATABANK, a web-based reporting system used in 30 states to track key hospital trends.
Many hospitals are beginning to see the effects of the economic downturn with more than 30 percent of survey respondents reporting a moderate to significant decline in patients seeking elective procedures, and nearly 40 percent of respondents reporting a drop in admissions overall.
The majority of hospitals surveyed also noted an increase in the proportion of patients unable to pay for care. Uncompensated care was up 8 percent from July to September versus the same period last year, according to the report.
— AHA News, November 19, 2008
Employer Survey for Nursing
The Nebraska Center for Nursing is requesting your valuable assistance in providing information on nursing and unlicensed assistive personnel vacancies for your employment setting.
The nation is facing a nursing shortage that if we do not make the right decisions now, it is estimated that we will face a shortage of 4,000 nurses in the State of Nebraska and a staggering number of 340,000 nurses nationwide by the year 2020.
For the above purpose, a survey has been designed which will allow us to do the following: 1) Compare staffing numbers with previous years and evaluate the trend of the nursing shortage for the State of Nebraska. 2) Compare our state’s nursing shortage with national trends. 3) Identify geographic areas where the shortage of nurses is more serious and needs special attention. 4) Disseminate our findings to stakeholders and policy makers. 5) Develop and implement strategies and policies that will eventually decrease the nursing shortage.
The information you provide is extremely valuable to the Nebraska Center for Nursing and to health planner and policy makers. Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide this important information.
Please click here to participate in this important survey.
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Annual Convention photos available
Click here to view Bob Meier photos from the NHA 2008 Annual Convention.
NHA 2008 Annual Convention Download Center
Click here to download the materials for the NHA 2008 Annual Convention held October 29-31, 2008 at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln.
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Managing Joint Commission Standards for Environment of Care Webinar Series
March thru December 2008
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Business Process Improvement Strategies in Health Care: Lean Patient Transport Webinar
November 20, 2008
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Infection Prevention Webinar Series
Nov 21, Dec 5 & Dec 19, 2008
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NHA Noon Briefing
November 24, 2008
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Maintaining and Updating a Wayfinding Program Webinar
December 3, 2008
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IPPS 2009 Update Webinar
January 13, 2009
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Maximizing the Performance of Your Pharmacy Benefit Program Webinar
January 13, 2009
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The Normalization of Deviance and Good Gossip: Implications for Patient Safety Webinar
January 13, 2009
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DNV Accreditation: A New CoP on the Beat
January-February, 2009
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Turning the Tables: Why Hospital Systems Pose a Threat to Pharmacy-Owned Retail Clinics Webinar
January 22, 2009
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