As health care leader competencies continue to be refined and emphasized in health care administration educational programs, the "soft skills" of emotional intelligence have often been implied, but not included explicitly. The purpose of this study was to better understand what relationship, if any, could be identified between health care leader competencies and emotional intelligence. A quantitative correlational method of study was used, utilizing self-assessments and 360-degree assessments of both constructs. There were 43 valid participants in the study, representing the various types of health care delivery systems. Correlational analysis suggested there was a positive relationship; for each unit of increase in emotional intelligence, there was a 0.6 increase in overall health care leadership competence. This study did not suggest causation, but instead suggested that including the study and development of emotional intelligence in health care administration programs could have a positive impact on the degree of leader competence in graduates. Some curricula suggestions were provided, and further study was recommended.

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This article details how a software program has helped a hospital collect more Medicare payments for which it was eligible than it previously had collected. The software simplifies the process of selecting complications by reminding the user when no complications have yet been entered, by determining whether each item entered qualifies as a complication, and by suggesting other possibilities. In many instances, these complications are possibilities that a person performing manual coding might not consider. Director