Grindstone Healthcare Consulting Blogspot

32nd Infantry Brigade - Wisconsin

2009-10-01T17:52:00.010-05:00

Dear Readers: Today, I received a letter from a friend that really made me pause and reflect on the bigger picture. The video clip below is from the 32nd Infantry Brigade (produced by one of their own) and shows excerpts from their work in Iraq. The friend who serves, I have not seen for several years, since, as you may expect he has been deployed in Afganistan and now Iraq. He has missed many of

Brad Shiverick joins Grindstone Consulting.

2009-08-23T13:31:00.004-05:00

8/23/2009 We are pleased to announce that Bradley N. Shiverick, CPHQ has joined the Grindstone Healthcare Consulting team. Mr. Shiverick comes to us with over 20 years of experience in senior care service. He was most recently the Chief Quality Officer for My InnerView, of Wausau, WI. My InnerView is the premier provider of quality management consulting to the long-term care industry. While

HOW TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY MORE EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT, AND AFFORDABLE WITHOUT INSISTING ON ‘COOK-BOOK’ MEDICINE

2009-08-18T13:53:00.003-05:00

A Message From Dr. Eric Radin to my colleagues for the benefit of our patients:Few attempts by the government to reform health care delivery have been successful. Massachusetts-Health is proving everyone can’t be insured without lowering the cost of treatment. The debate over President Obama’s attempt to cover the uninsured has discovered the same thing. It is too expensive. This suggests it will

Federal Reserve Board and Off Balance Sheet Financing

2009-08-11T21:52:00.003-05:00

A colleague recently sent along a video from Congressman A. Grayson (Florida). Upon further review, we find a number of interesting and enlightening interviews from the congressman.Many who work in the field of health services leadership, hold a public trust, much like those who serve us at the federal reserve, as members of community based 501,c, 3 tax exempt organizations. As such, we are

Update Prairie River - Trout

2009-07-10T18:43:00.004-05:00

Last year, about this same time, after having no luck finding trout in the usual haunts, I met a grandfatherly fellow who kindly pointed out that by this time of year, all the trout have travelled north...'won't find none here, son!'.So, this year, i resolved to travel north until I found the wily fish. At last, after fending of ticks, mosquitoes, over-grown brush, mushy and putrid smelling

Reform Update

2009-07-09T22:27:00.007-05:00

The lesson of health care reform of this week is that if The President, Al Franken, Peter Orzag, The House, AHA and a cast of thousands push too hard and too fast, the wheels start to fall off the reform bus.Looks like the Senate is all but guaranteeing no action before the August recess...and maybe things will get just too busy to finish the job this year.Look for much more compromise and

Opening Weekend

2009-05-05T20:56:00.005-05:00

The season opened for inland trout this past weekend.Need we say more?

Is there Health Care Reform in Your Future?

2009-04-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

To Be or Not To Be, That is the Question;Whether ‘tis nobler in the mission to sufferThe regulations and congressional acts of outrageous politics,Or to take the balance sheet against the sea of credit troublesAnd by opposing end them. To rest – to sleep,No more; and by a sleep to mean we end The heart-ache of a thousand budget cuts and layoffsThat administration is heir to: ‘tis a

Survivor

2009-03-16T19:39:00.004-05:00

When the host comes out at the end of the show, after all the contestants finish their game for this round and have thoroughly thumped one another, it's time to find out who get's voted off the island.These days, healthcare reform, competition and policy is more similar to Survivor than to a thoughtful and well crafted incrementalistic approach we all expected. Sometimes it just doesn't work out

Going Back to What Works: Quality and Productivity

2009-01-12T06:58:00.000-06:00

Going Back to What Works: Productivity & QualityBy Michael O’RourkeWith the major changes in our country’s economy and that of the world in the last 12 months, and the corresponding drop in your 401K, you may wonder “What really happened?” We may never understand nor do we have the time to do so. The world economy and the Unites States economy are so intertwined that there were no doubt a

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites 4

2008-07-12T13:20:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal has truly captured the core of great health industry reporting. We recently came across the WSJ Health Blog and found it to be an exceptional coverage of the health industry from review of publically held securities, to health care policy to breaking news. What we really enjoy about the WSJ blog are the quick links embedded within the stories. No more need to hop to

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites 3

2008-07-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) was formed as part of the BBA of 1997 and functions to advise Congress on issues effecting Medicare - primarily payment issues, yet also reviews and advises on the broad topics of access, quality and other factors effecting Medicare. The Commissioners, 17 in number and serving 4-year terms, bring a range of expertise and interests from policy to

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites 2

2008-07-07T17:49:00.000-05:00

The National Academy for State Health Policy provides a nice cross sectional view of health policy concerns and solutions at the level of state policy (often given short shrift with the overly abundant emphasis on national health policy). So often, leading indicators of significant policy shifts are developed and executed at the state level, that any health industry person would be well advised

Making A Difference in the Life of A Youth

2008-06-25T10:35:00.001-05:00

Dear Readers, Every so often I come across a great organization doing wonderful things in the name of our Lord. It's even more enjoyable when there is an opportunity to directly experience the work. Next month, the "In His Wakes" ministry will be in Wisconsin. Last year, our family got a taste of this event and found it to truly be a Day To Remember.In His Wakes, a Florida based, non-profit

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites I - Dartmouth Atlas

2008-04-12T16:05:00.000-05:00

The Dartmouth Atlas website [link: http://www.dartmouthatlas.org ] provides a wonderful capstone to years of research in small area analysis. Not only does the website review the famous atlas of health care, but it also interactive programs for comparative analysis, research articles, lectures and presentations, many tools for data review and analysis as well as detailed instructions on how to

Health Care Resources - Useful Websites I

2008-04-12T11:28:00.001-05:00

Over the years, we've come across a wealth of useful websites for those working in Healthcare. Covering Health Policy, Performance Improvement, Marketing, Operations Management, Law and Human Resources. This series is intended to provide a review of websites and will be amended from time to time. We hope you enjoy!

Reader Comments on Cornealius Society Post

2008-04-09T16:58:00.000-05:00

Posts from a couple of blog readers on the Cornelius Society Idea. From Sara Miller: "I am my brothers keeper". My comment/question: Should health care be a for profit enterprise? We have a public supported basic K-12 educational system. Perhaps we should have the same for healthcare. There of course should be some profit but it should be reinvested to improve access, infrastructure and delivery

Accountable Healthcare Organizations - Reader Poll

2008-03-15T12:22:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers:The notion of accountable healthcare organizations (ref: Elliott Fisher, et. al.) creates the possibility of yet another oganizational model for improving VALUE (quality and cost) for health services delivery...or is this just a re-hash of former policy gone bad? What's your view?Opinion Polls &

Cornelius Society

2008-03-05T20:09:00.001-06:00

Dear Readers:I'm interested in starting a discussion for those Christians in the group about a online accountability group for healthcare executives. We face so many choices in the decisions we make on a daily basis that it occurs to me we may benefit from colleague with whom we can share in our concerns and seek support from one another. Like Cornelius (the roman centurian who was a leader of

Fun with Fungus

2007-07-21T19:37:00.000-05:00

Every so often, it's time to post something a bit off the beaten path.On a recent hike through the woods, with family in tow, we were struck by the huge number of spontaneous growth fungus. Below are included just a few species we came across. All tolled, we photographed 38 variety of fungus within a 2 mile hike. I'm sure we could have captured more of these critters, but the camera battery

The Many Benefits of International Diversity

2007-07-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

One of the great things about medicine (and health services more generally) is the opportunity to interact with professionals from multiple cultures and regions of the globe. Medical Students, Nursing Student and even administrative professionals often travel to the USA to experience the American healthcare system. With very rare exception, we (USA) are better off by their presence and

Critique of Sicko

2007-07-13T18:37:00.000-05:00

The following is sent to me by a long time colleague and friend, Dana Lundquist. Over the years, Mr. Lundquist has held positions of executive leaderhip in hospitals, integrated health system and health insurance. He continues to be a respected voice of reason. A friend of mine is working for a medical software company that provides support for physician monitoring of quality. She and her

Hope for Crisis Pregnancy

2007-01-21T18:57:00.000-06:00

Grindstone Healthcare Consulting Partners place value returning a percentage of our income to charitable purposes in furtherance of community, social and faith purposes. We founded the company with charitable giving as one of our core values. In this blog article we feature one of the recipients of funds this year...Hope Pregnancy Resource Center based in Wausau Wisconsin.Hope Pregnancy

Free Healthcare via Identity Theft

2007-01-20T15:10:00.000-06:00

The below article is submitted to the blog by Michael O'Rourke...a good friend who specializes in the field of identify theft prevention and protection. Apparently the field of identity theft has more angles to it then we knew about when we first wrote about it a few months ago. Also, it would seem that a few state hospital associations are interested in the issue as well...interested enough

Is Medicine Being Practiced with an Inappropriate Business Plan?

2007-01-07T15:01:00.000-06:00

The health care delivery market is overrun with specialists and super-specialists resulting in high-tech doctors offices and cookie-cutter general hospitals, a plethora of unnecessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, soaring costs, and long waits for patients to get an appointments and then, arriving for it be seen. Separating patents on the basis of the difficulty to diagnose and treat