ABSTRACT
Podiatry and chronic disease management are now turning up in retail settings, and as increasingly sophisticated technology enables many formerly complex procedures to move to an ambulatory setting, it will continue to present new opportunities for growth outside the walls of hospitals. Most healthcare organizations need to give a lot more attention to this "management infrastructure". Creating a management infrastructure that supports change is a critical first step for hospitals to remain competitive. The industry averaged 91 consolidations annually from 2010 to 2012, compared to an average of 55 in the 5 preceding years, and only approximately 12% of hospitals have a strategy to maintain complete independence. In Massachusetts, the controversial merger of Partners HealthCare and its Harvard-affiliated hospitals with the Hallmark Health System was challenged in that it would increase costs and likely not improve quality according to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
