In This Issue The Building Boom's Foundation Hospital construction was estimated at $16 billion for the year 2004. By June 2006, the United States saw a 29 percent increase in hospital construction over the previous year, according to the Association of General Contractors of America. Read More... Patient Health Card Healthcare is a field that demands immediate access to secure information. Yet, because of the sheer volume of work generated by providers and the expeses tied to converting older information systems to more modern ones, such information isn't always available. Read More... Top Billing Billings Clinic COO Jon Ness discusses the challenges of being the leading service provider for a large geographical region. Read More... Something in Common The search for an ideal or perfect structure is about as futile as trying to find the ideal canned improvement process to drop on the organization (or ourselves). Read More... To Err is Human - And Costly It came as no surprise when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services annouced in August that the feds would no longer reimburse hospitals for certain hospital-aquired infections and mistakes that they make. Where CMS goes, expect other payers to follow. Read More... Major Market Spotlight We review the Charlotte, N.C. MSA, including geographical coverage, population demographics, top IDNs, hospitals, Long Term Care / Skilled Nursing, and news. Read More... Operating News We summarize 19 news articles regarding hospital operations. Read More...