I’ve asked Randy Billings, St. Luke’s Health System vice president of payor and provider relations, to share his perspective on the difference clinical integration can make. His observations are presented here. I’ve introduced Randy in a previous post, and you’ll be hearing more from him and other members of our executive team as our journey of transformation [...]
I received an excellent and tough question from Randy Ford, a St. Luke’s continuous improvement specialist, following my blog post from April 30, “Why Add Beds?” Here’s what Randy asked: Has there been any discussion on when, how much, or where adding additional beds would place us in diseconomies of scale? Otherwise stated, when is [...]
We’re managing up and building our skills with AIDET, which stands for acknowledge, introduce, duration, explanation, and thanks. The AIDET acronym is the way we remind ourselves of good customer service basics. I recently taped this video for St. Luke’s Heart and had the chance to “coach” Dr. Murali Bathina, a top-performing athlete, in the [...]
View the recent public presentation, “Health Reform in Idaho: A Panel Discussion on the Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Idahoans,” that I took part in with Susan Johnson, director for Region 10 of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Bill Deal, director of the Idaho Department of Insurance. The event was [...]
With all the talk of reducing costly hospital stays, why does it make sense for St. Luke’s to build more hospital bed capacity? This is one of the questions I got from Dr. Don Berwick, the former president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & [...]
Setting up for the MSTI prom at St. Luke’s Boise on Friday. This is the fourth year that MSTI staff members have organized a spring dance for young patients, whose peers are attending school dances at this time of year. This year’s party, which took place Saturday in the Anderson Center, had a 1950s theme.
I’ve just finished visiting with employees, physicians, board members, and community partners throughout our System, and sharing with them what inspires me, what concerns me, and what our vision is for delivering accountable care and doing our part to fix what’s broken in health care. Here is my spring report. Thanks for watching, and please [...]
Last night, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel with Susan Johnson, director for Region 10 of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Bill Deal, director of the Idaho Department of Insurance. The panel discussion, sponsored by Boise State University and the Idaho Public Health Association, was moderated by Jim [...]
I wanted to share my thoughts about the recent U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the 2010 health care law. For a refresher on the issues before the court, see my March 6 blog entry, “The Health Care Reform Law Challenge: Broccoli or Sour Grapes.” Day 1: The question presented: the applicability of the Anti-Injunction Act. This [...]
Qualis Health today announced St. Luke’s Health System as the winner of an Idaho Qualis Health Award of Excellence in Healthcare Quality for our work during 2011 to reduce sepsis mortality. I’ve asked Dr. Samantha Collier, St. Luke’s Health System Chief Quality Officer, to share her thoughts on what went into our success in fighting sepsis, an [...]
David C. Pate, M.D., J.D., is president and CEO of St. Luke’s Health System, based in Boise, Idaho. Dr. Pate joined the System in 2009. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. 
