HealthLeaders Media Coming in March

HealthLeaders Media (www.healthleadersmedia.com) today announced what's coming in its March issue of HealthLeaders magazine. HealthLeaders is the only publication created exclusively for healthcare executives -- many of whom may qualify for a free subscription. Visit www.healthleadersmedia.com/new

Marblehead, MA (PRWEB) March 12, 2007 -- HealthLeaders Media (www.healthleadersmedia.com) today announced what's coming in its March issue of HealthLeaders magazine.

HealthLeaders is the only publication created exclusively for healthcare executives -- many of whom may qualify for a free subscription. Visit www.healthleadersmedia.com/new

March feature story: Image Makeover
In a crowded healthcare landscape -- with inquisitive consumers and competition from all sides -- marketing efforts are taking on greater significance for hospitals across the nation. In the March cover story of HealthLeaders magazine, executives in hospitals on the forefront of direct-to-consumer marketing say they are pouring resources into customer research like never before. They hope to gain a competitive edge based on consumer preferences.

The vanguards of healthcare marketing say they are taking their cues not just from peer organizations, but from well-known leaders in other industries. These lessons have helped some healthcare organizations develop new metrics, cultivate loyalists, create exceptional experiences and promote themselves with new technologies. Chief marketing officers are seeking greater involvement in anything that could influence the healthcare consumer experience. They say the hospital marketing department is not a soft discipline anymore. Gone are the days when hospital marketers were simply creative wordsmiths whose primary function was to purchase ads in the local newspaper.

Also in the March issue of HealthLeaders:
Masters of their Domains -- Wadley Regional Medical Center, a standalone hospital near the eastern border of Texas, had eight straight years of significant financial losses. The nonprofit hospital vulnerable, in default on its bond covenants and with negative debt service coverage. Wadley was losing money on its trauma center to the tune of $4 million a year, and the hospital as a whole lost between $5 million and $10 million a year between 1999 and 2002. Wadley was in a financial crisis that might have made other hospitals surrender control to a corporate parent. But the board uncovered another option -- an affiliation with a nonprofit hospital operator called Community Hospital Corp. that provides management expertise in return for a yearly fee. HealthLeaders examines how the arrangement allows many hospitals to retain local control as well as their nonprofit status.

Integration in the OR -- Consolidated information systems in the operating room can help clinicians and patients alike -- but they don't come cheap. Three years ago, Baltimore Washington Medical Center adopted wireless technology in its 14 operating rooms. The goal was to give the circulating OR nurses who document procedures more flexibility in their workspace. Using mobile workstations, the nurses now work facing the patient, rather than having their backs to the action as they did before the hospital upgraded its legacy information system. Other hospitals confront gaps in OR information technology various ways, and HealthLeaders shares several examples from the field.

Diversity at the Top -- As communities and work forces become increasingly diverse, healthcare organizations should look at C-suite diversity as a business strategy, says Samuel L. Odle, chief executive officer of Clarian Health's Indianapolis Operations. HealthLeaders finds out what Odle and other industry leaders think about increasing diversity in the executive ranks.

A Carrot for Vendors -- Vendors hoping to land business with Baptist Health South Florida will find a new question on their request-for-proposal paperwork this year: "Does your company offer health insurance options for its employees?" Baptist Health, a five-hospital nonprofit system serving the Miami-Dade region, has implemented a new policy, giving preferential consideration to vendors who provide health insurance for their workers. HealthLeaders delves into the reasons behind this strategy.

About HealthLeaders Media
HealthLeaders Media is a leading multi-platform media company
dedicated to meeting the business information needs of healthcare
executives and professionals. All available on the Web at:
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/

Subscribe now to HealthLeaders, the only publication created exclusively for healthcare executives at http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/new

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