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press releases February 19, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For additional information, contact Mike Albertson at
ARIZONA RURAL HOSPITAL STUDY PROJECTS NEED FOR ADDITIONAL BEDS AND PHYSICIANS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS PHOENIX, ARIZ./Health Solutions and Market Intelligence, Inc. (HSAMI) and the Rural Health Office of the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health have released a report calling for 290 additional hospital beds, 230 additional physicians, and $2.1 billion in capital for new hospital construction, renovation, and equipment to serve the growing health needs of Arizona’s rural population. The report, Arizona Rural Hospital Facilities and Market Study, sponsored by the Arizona Health Facilities Authority (AHFA), is the most comprehensive study of rural hospital facility needs ever conducted in Arizona. All of Arizona’s 34 rural hospitals participated in the study, including those managed by the Indian Health Service (IHS) and two by Arizona Indian nations. The study examined key issues facing rural hospitals: strategic planning, facility development, financial and capital position, human resource and workforce challenges, community leadership support, and the adoption of health information technology applications. Among the recommendations included in the report, were calls for the AHFA to support replacement facilities or renovation projects for the state’s small/critical access hospitals, including those operated by IHS and tribal-affiliated organizations. The report indicated that financial viability and market growth should not be major considerations when determining support for facility replacement or renovation projects. The report also presented several calls to action for the Arizona State Legislature including developing a technical assistance program for critical access hospitals that need new facilities, examining new methods for providing incentives to physicians and nurses willing to practice in Arizona’s rural and frontier areas, and increasing the funding pool for critical access hospitals proportionate with the increasing number of rural hospitals that receive this designation. The report urges Arizona’s Congressional delegation to provide leadership in urging Congress to increase appropriations for the Indian Health Service facility capital budget. To view a copy of Arizona Rural Hospital Facilities and Market Study, please go to: http://www.hsami.com/resources.htm About HSAMI FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For additional information, contact Mike Albertson or Michele Davenport Lambert at 602-357-3266 HEALTH SOLUTIONS AND MARKET INTELLIGENCE, INC., FORMS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH INTELLIMED INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION PHOENIX, ARIZ./ Health Solutions and Market Intelligence, Inc. (HSAMI) and Intellimed International Corporation have formed a strategic partnership that will enable HSAMI clients to have instant access to clinical and financial performance information about hospitals and physicians in a given market area. "Our clients have a tremendous need for accurate, comprehensive, and competitive data that provide insight into what is occurring in their service areas and potential markets. Our partnership with Intellimed will enable our clients to easily access data and then translate that data into spreadsheets, graphs, and maps that can be used for a variety of planning and analysis activities," says Mike Albertson, a partner with HSAMI. "The Intellimed system is a particularly powerful decision support tool for smaller hospitals and physician group practices that don't have dedicated planners on staff. These organizations can easily get bogged down with data gathering and analysis activities and miss out on opportunities to grow and strengthen their services. Larger organizations can also benefit from Intellimed resources, which can enhance and verify data that may have already been gathered." "We welcome the opportunity to work with HSAMI and their clients. It's a tremendous opportunity for us to reach a new sector of providers that will benefit from our 20 years of experience as one of the leading providers of healthcare information," says Gene Koch, chief operating officer of Intellimed. About HSAMI Health Solutions and Market Intelligence, Inc., is a leading healthcare management consulting firm headquartered in Phoenix. HSAMI assists health systems, hospitals, physician groups, payors, and government agencies with strategic planning and business development, cost reduction and revenue enhancement strategies, product and service line development, operational and clinical assessments and performance improvement plans, physician partnering strategies, and facility planning. About Intellimed International Corporation Intellimed, a 20-year-old health care information company, headquartered in Phoenix, is a full-service provider of integrated strategic management software and data systems for healthcare providers across the United States. Intellimed enables clients to generate reports with detailed information on medical services and operations performance of all hospitals and physicians in a given market, which can be used to make positioning and management decisions and resolve performance-related issues. |
