10/14/2013
Austin FraktWhat do hospital boards value in a chief executive? A new study of CEO pay at nonprofit hospitals finds that executives at institutions that have a lot of fancy medical technology and high patient satisfaction are paid more than their peers. But running a hospital that scores well on keeping more patients alive or providing extensive charity care does not translate into a compensation bump.
–Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News
@afrakt (via iPad)
by John Goodman on October 15th, 2013 at 05:55
I predicted this in Priceless. If hospitals don’t compete for patients based on price, they won’t compete on quality either. But they will compete on amenities (which probably correlates with patient satisfaction).
by Bill S on October 15th, 2013 at 10:15
I’d also hypothesize that it is difficult for typical consumers to find credible information on these other factors. The Medicare Stars program and its public advisory pre-enrollment about sub-par Medicare Advantage plans will be a useful test of this.
by Ed Whitney on October 15th, 2013 at 14:30
Of course, Monty Python got there first:
http://www.montypython.net/meaningmm1.php
With the lines:
OBSTETRICIAN: Yes. More apparatus, please, nurse: the E.E.G., the B.P. monitor, and the A.V.V.
NURSE #1: Yes. Certainly, Doctor.
DOCTOR SPENSER: And, uh, get the machine that goes ‘ping’.
OBSTETRICIAN: And get the most expensive machine, in case the administrator comes.
…
OBSTETRICIAN: That’s the machine that goes ‘ping’. [ping] You see? That means your baby is still alive!
DOCTOR SPENSER: And that’s the most expensive machine in the whole hospital!
OBSTETRICIAN: Yes, it cost over three quarters of a million pounds.
DOCTOR SPENSER: Aren’t you lucky?
…
MR. PYCROFT: Wonderful what we can do nowadays. [ping] Aah! I see you have the machine that goes ‘ping’. This is my favourite. You see, we lease this back from the company we sold it to, and that way, it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account. [applause] Thank you. Thank you. We try to do our best. Well, do carry on.
by Emily on October 15th, 2013 at 18:43
For the large institutions, doesn’t bringing in the high donations count more than anything else?