UCLA’s Feinberg To Be Named Geisinger Head

David Feinberg, M.D., chief executive of UCLA Health System, will become the sixth chief executive of Geisinger Health System, claiming the top spot at a medical care network with 23,500 employees that has been lauded as a model in the fast-changing world of health care.

On May 1, Feinberg officially claims the reins of a nonprofit that has greatly expanded its reach and now includes Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township and Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton. The health system now hopes to refocus on improving health care delivery and outcomes.

In a conference call with reporters Monday, Feinberg said he studied Geisinger’s approach for years, hoping to learn and maybe adopt their approaches. But he never imagined leading the system, which he called a dream come true.

“Geisinger is so important to American medicine today,” he said, calling the system one of the first with integrated insurance, facilities and doctors. “American health care is transitioning from a system where we are paid on volume, where more difficult cases result in more costs even as outcomes have not improved by as much. Geisinger has shifted from volume to value by measuring outcomes for patients.”

Read more:

http://citizensvoice.com/news/ucla-s-feinberg-to-be-named-geisinger-head-1.1837860

Geisinger Health System Freezes Open Positions

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montour County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Geisinger Health System this spring temporarily froze about 400 open positions, bracing for an estimated $50 million reduction in profitability in fiscal year 2015.

The decision reflects cuts in federal reimbursement payments and the health system’s effort to extensively evaluate each opening, officials said.

About 225 positions remain unfilled, with about 30 percent of those jobs located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, said chief human resource officer Amy Brayford in an emailed statement.

She said the openings span the entire health system, which serves more than 2.6 million residents across 44 counties in central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. Most of the positions do not provide direct patient care.

Geisinger Health System employs about 21,000 people.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/geisinger-freezes-open-positions-1.1714049

Geisinger Tops UPMC In Pennsylvania Member Satisfaction, J.D. Power Reports

Geisinger Health Plan was tops in member satisfaction among Pennsylvania health plans with UPMC Health Plan and Central Pennsylvania’s Highmark Blue Shield not far behind, according to a report released today by J.D. Power and Associates.

Geisinger finished with 739 points out of a possible 1,000 to claim highest member satisfaction for the second year in a row.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/geisinger-tops-upmc-in-pennsylvania-member-satisfaction-jd-power-reports-678839/#ixzz2NFD01q76

Geisinger Study To Examine Health Effects Of Gas Drilling

English: Cropped portion of image from USGS report showing extent of Marcellus Formation shale (in gray shading). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DANVILLE – A Pennsylvania health company said it has gotten a $1 million grant to study possible health impacts of natural gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale.

Geisinger Health System said Monday that the Degenstein Foundation had awarded the money to help underwrite what it called a “large-scale, scientifically rigorous assessment” of the drilling.

Most of the money will be used for data-gathering, and some will go toward developing studies of the data. Officials said they expect other funders to come forward.

The study is to look at detailed health histories of hundreds of thousands of patients who live near wells and other facilities that are producing natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation thousands of feet underground.

Read more:  http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/568967/Geisinger-study-to-examine-health-effects-of-gas-drilling.html?nav=742

Lancaster General Health Compensation: Plenty, But Not Out Of Line

For the guy who just opened a $300 bill from Lancaster General Health for five minutes worth of blood work, the six- and seven-figure compensation for top LGH officials may be enough to get that blood boiling.

But LGH’s compensation appears to be in line with industry standards.  In fact, you might make a case that Lancaster General President and CEO Tom Beeman is underpaid.

To put LGH compensation in context, Lancaster Newspapers compared it with compensation at five regional hospitals or health systems about the same size as Lancaster General: Wellspan Health, in York County; Pinnacle Health, in Dauphin County; Reading Health, in Berks County; Lehigh Valley Health, in Lehigh County; and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, also in Dauphin County.

The figures show that Beeman got less than the top executives at four of the five comparable institutions.

In 2010, Beeman made $1.35 million in total compensation.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/791279_LGH-compensation–Plenty–but-not-out-of-line.html#ixzz2EfKsV6QH

Hospitals Become Key Players In Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Economy

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a massive consolidation of the region’s health care industry, Community Health Systems has become the largest private employer in Northeast Pennsylvania.

With about 6,500 employees at eight area hospitals and nonhospital entities, Community Health Systems has even surpassed Tobyhanna Army Depot, which has about 5,400 workers.

“Whenever you have an employer that size, clearly that has a huge impact on the economy, not just for the people we employ, but those folks go out and buy houses and cars and gas,” said Cornelio Catena, CEO of Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Commonwealth Health, the umbrella group for Community Health Systems’ area hospitals.

“It’s a huge economic contributor to our area.”

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/hospitals-become-key-players-in-region-s-economy-1.1387891

Geisinger Among 15 Top Health Systems In U.S.

DANVILLE, PA – A new study ranks Geisinger Health System as one of the top 15 health systems in the United States.

The fourth annual Thomson Reuters 15 Top Health Systems study recently reported Geisinger was among the 15 hospital systems singled out for achievement in clinical outcomes based on balanced system-wide clinical performance according to data collected from more than 300 organizations. That performance measures included care quality, patient perception of care and efficiency.

Geisinger was one of just two Pennsylvania healthcare systems making the list. The other was Main Line Health in Bryn Mawr.

Read more: http://www.lockhaven.com/page/content.detail/id/536475/Geisinger-among-15-top-health-systems-in-U-S-.html?nav=5168