Skip to main content

Shorter Stays = Lower Costs...In College

Some colleges are responding to the economy by offering degrees in three years instead of the usual four.

Is that a kernel of an idea for health care providers blessed with lower-than-average lengths of stay? Consumers understand that longer lengths of stay usually mean higher charges. Will they respond to a "Go THERE and stay 5 days; come HERE, stay 3 and save some money..." message, I wonder?

I'll sit back and wait for all the "Yes, but..." e-mails to roll in.


Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Steve
Maybe, with university endowments suffering the same poor returns as parent's college savings plans, schools will resort to a buy 3 get one free model to compete? Let the dropouts subsidize the graduates in their final year (grin)

Really impressed with your blog...great stuff!
Jeff Hammond
February 25, 2009 at 9:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Michael Porter On Health Care Reform

Michael Porter, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, proposes "A Strategy For Health Care Reform - Toward A Value-Based System." His proposals are fundamental, lucid and right-on, meaning they're sure to be opposed by some parties to the debate, the so-called "Yes, but..." crowd. Most important, in my opinion, is this: "... electronic medical records will enable value improvement, but only if they support integrated care and outcome measurement. Simply automating current delivery practices will be a hugely expensive exercise in futility. Among our highest near-term priorities is to finalize and then continuously update health information technology (HIT) standards that include precise data definitions (for diagnoses and treatments, for example), an architecture for aggregating data for each patient over time and across providers, and protocols for seamless communication among systems. "Finally, consumers must become much mor...
Post a Comment
Read more

Simplicity From Complexity

Health care planners typically juggle many different services and businesses, each with unique customers, competitors and prospects.  The complexity can be overwhelming.  So-called portfolio models for assessing industry attractiveness and competitive strength can be a good analytical jumping-off point, including the McKinsey-GE 9-box matrix . (Click on the "Launch Interactive" link.)
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Marketing Megatrends

Coming to a brand near you, from Adam Kleinberg at iMedia Connection, here are " 5 marketing megatrends you can't ignore ." Mass collaboration... Constant connectivity... Globalization... Pervasive distrust in big corporations... A global sense of urgency... #4 is, I think, under-appreciated in health care. Doctors and hospitals like to think of themselves as the last of the white hat-wearing good guys, and maybe they are. But trust is a funny thing - built over decades and lost overnight. Screw it up and watch the laser beam of populist rage move from Wall Street to Medical Avenue.
Post a Comment
Read more