News Release: Hammes Company to present at SHSMD Annual Conference 2013

Leading healthcare consulting firm will present planning strategies and tools to better prepare for future changes in utilization related to reform at the annual conference, affiliated with the American Hospital Association

CHICAGO, Sept. 4, 2013 – Hammes Company, the Brookfield, Wis.-based, leading healthcare consulting firm, is proud to announce that Mark Coughlin, Senior Vice President, will present on a hospital planning panel at the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development’s (SHSMD) 2013 Conference. This year’s conference will be held from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Chicago.

Mr. Coughlin will be joined by Dawn French, Vice President, Community Relations and Marketing with White Plains Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., to present “Your Inpatient Capacity Glide Path: Avoiding Shortage Today and Excess Tomorrow” on Monday, Sept. 30, at 4 p.m. at the conference site. The panel will focus on the planning efforts that hospital executives can deploy to offset uncertainty that healthcare reform legislation holds over capacity, coverage, volumes and utilization.

Mr. Coughlin leads the firm’s Advisory Services group and has been involved in healthcare for more than 25 years on both the consulting and the provider side. In recent years, Mr. Coughlin has led the development of numerous strategic planning engagements for hospitals and health systems across the country, helping them navigate the effects of reform. He is a long-standing member of SHSMD, American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

“Given today’s uncertainties, hospital leaders need to spend more time than ever analyzing their strategy,” explains Coughlin. “They need to plan differently, and they need to plan in a way that is more robust and takes into account various scenarios. Executing a plan in this constantly changing environment can be so overwhelming that some might wonder if it’s at all possible, but that thorough planning is more necessary than ever.”

Ms. French has more than 17 years experience as an award-winning television news producer, public relations and marketing professional. She returned to White Plains Hospital in 2010. She has additional provider experience with Hudson Valley Hospital Center and Westchester Medical Center, and she currently sits on various boards and community groups throughout suburban New York. “Over the last five years, White Plains Hospital has successfully improved our market position, reduced our average length of stay metric and deployed a physician integration strategy to further build our network, all to be better prepared to address the future of expanded coverage,” says Ms. French.

SHSMD is a foremost organization and includes over 4,000 healthcare strategy and planning professionals representing a diverse set of care providers and firms supporting the industry. This year’s four-day event will draw over 1,000 leaders within the industry to Chicago for various networking events, key-note speakers and educational sessions focusing on relevant topics such as population health management, ACOs, patient experience, physician recruitment and new models of care.

 

About the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development

The Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development is the premier organization for healthcare planners, marketers and communications and public relations professionals. A personal membership group of the American Hospital Association, SHSMD serves more than 4,000 members and is the largest organization in the nation devoted to serving the needs of healthcare strategy professionals. The Society is committed to helping its members meet the future with greater knowledge and opportunity as their organizations work to improve health status and quality of life in their communities. For more information, visit www.shsmd.org.

 

About White Plains Hospital

White Plains Hospital (WPH) is a 292-bed voluntary, not-for-profit health care organization with the primary mission of offering high quality, acute health care and preventive medical care to all people who live in, work in or visit Westchester County and its surrounding areas. Centers of Excellence include the Dickstein Cancer Treatment Center, The William & Sylvia Silberstein Neonatal & Maternity Center and The Ruth and Jerome A. Siegel Stroke Center. The Hospital has the busiest Emergency Department in Westchester County, seeing over 55,000 visits a year. White Plains Hospital is the only community hospital in Westchester County licensed to perform emergency & elective angioplasty. The Hospital is a ten-time winner of the Consumer Choice Award, an honor given to the nation’s top hospitals by the National Research Corporation, and received Magnet designation in 2012 from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). For additional information, visit www.wphospital.org.

 

About Hammes Company

Hammes Company is comprised of a team of accomplished professionals with deep industry and functional expertise. The company assists a full spectrum of healthcare clients by advising, implementing and managing key strategies and solutions that build high-performing organizations. Hammes Company is recognized by leading healthcare providers and industry insiders as one of the most trusted providers of consulting services in the United States. The company currently serves health systems, hospitals, physician groups and payers. Hammes Company is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis. and provides services through a network of regional offices strategically located across the country. For more information, please visit www.hammesco.com.