Page 7 - Healthcare News Sept.-Oct. 2020

The Only Constant Is
Change
The Healthcare News Celebrates
20 Years
BIy Joseph Bednar
t’s not easy to find the oldest issues of HCN.
But we managed to dig a few out of boxes and drawers in our downtown Springfield office. What’s striking —
beyond how much cleaner, sharper, and more colorful the magazine looks these days — is how many topics of concern in the industry have not changed. The first few issues, from the fall of 2000, feature stories about uncer- tain hospital finances, a nursing shortage, stressed emergency rooms, and the changing face of senior-living facilities — all subjects that wouldn’t feel out of place in the magazine today, as it celebrates 20 years of documenting the healthcare industry in Western Mass. — and the people who make it run.
this year. “The best healthcare providers — both organizations and individuals — embrace these changes, welcoming patients as more than recipients of care, but rather active part- ners in their own care and decision making.”
Technology has exploded as well over the past two decades, from robotic and minimally invasive surgery to increasingly targeted can- cer treatments and rapid advances in prosthet- ics — not to mention the IT revolution, and the shift to electronic health records, patient portals, and, of course, everyone’s favorite pandemic-driven technology, telemedicine, which, most doctors agree, will continue to play a key role post-COVID-19.
Even the way patients recover from treat- ment has changed. John Hunt, CEO of Encom- pass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts, told us earlier this year that, just 10 years ago, a stroke survivor could re-
Yet, the solutions to those issues have certainly evolved. For example, most senior- living communities have long shifted to a continuum of care, so residents who can live independently at first, and later need assisted living, skilled-nursing care, and even memory care, never have to change their address.
Hospitals, too, have seen a dramatic shift to accountable care, a model in which dispa- rate providers work together and are paid for patient outcomes, not how many procedures they order up.
In addition, “patients are increasingly active participants in their care, questioning their doctors and other providers to ensure that they understand their options, using elec- tronic medical records to engage in their care, and speaking out about what they want from treatment or forgoing treatment at the end of life,” Joanne Marqusee, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Health Care, told us earlier
cover for two then stay at Encompass for three months. “Today, a three- to five-day
stay in the referring hospital, followed by a two- week
stay in rehabili- tation, is the norm,” he said.
weeks in a hospital and
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 7
HCN TURNS 20
HEALTHCARE NEWS
Re-connecting the
Dots of Life
Armbrook Village’s ConnectedLIFE program, designed to meet the unique needs of those beginning to show the signs of dementia, helps seniors build independence and confidence — Page 41
VOLUME 17 ISSUE 12
SEPTEMBER 2017
HEALTHCARE
HEROES
OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
A Program of BusinessWest and Healthcare News
FOCUS ON: SENIOR LIVING
Announcing the 2017
HEALTHCARE
HEROES
OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
A Program of BusinessWest and Healthcare News
See page 5
Decisions, Decisions
How physicians can make the right choices when it comes to choosing a career path
See ‘Healthy Outlook,’ page 59
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