Does Information Technology Investment Influences Firm’s Market Value? The Case of Non-Publicly Traded Healthcare Firms

Managers make informed information technology investment decisions when they are able to quantify how IT contributes to firm performance. While financial accounting measures inform IT’s influence on retrospective firm performance, senior managers expect evidence of how IT influences prospective measures such as the firm’s market value. We examine the efficacy of IT’s influence on firm value combined with measures of financial performance for non-publicly traded (NPT) hospitals that lack conventional market-based measures. We gathered actual sale transactions for NPT hospitals in the United States to derive the q ratio, a measure of market value. Our findings indicate that the influence of IT investment on the firm is more pronounced and statistically significant on firm value than exclusively on the accounting performance measures. Specifically, we find that the impact of IT investment is not significant on return on assets (ROA) and operating income for the same set of hospitals. This research note contributes to research and practice by demonstrating that the overall impact of IT is better understood when accounting measures are complemented with the firm’s market value. Such market valuation is also critical in merger and acquisition decisions, an activity that is likely to accelerate in the healthcare industry. Our findings provide hospitals, as well as other NPT firms, with insights into the impact of IT investment and a pragmatic approach to demonstrating IT’s contribution to firm value

Short term complex hydro thermal scheduling using integrated PSO-IBF algorithm

In this article, an integrated evolutionary technique such as particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and improved bacterial foraging algorithm (IBFA) have been developed to provide an optimum solution to the scheduling problem with complex thermal and hydro generating stations. PSO algorithm is framed based on the intelligent behavior of the fish school and a flock of birds and the optimal solution in the multidimensional search region is achieved by assigning a random velocity to each potential solution (called the particle). BFA is designed by following the prey-seeking (chemotactic) nature of E. coli bacteria. This technique is followed in an improved manner to get the convergence rate in dynamic for a hyperspace problem by implementing a chemotactic step in a linearly decreased way instead of the static one. The effectiveness of this integrated algorithm is evaluated by using it in a complex thermal and hydro generating system. In this testing system, multiple numbers of cascaded reservoirs in hydro plants have a time coupling effect and thermal power units have a valve point loading effect. The simulation results indicate its merits by comparing it with other meta-heuristic techniques related to the fuel cost required to generate the thermal power.

Examining the Impact of Information Technology on Healthcare Performance: A Theory of Swift and Even Flow (TSEF) Perspective

The impact of information technologies on manufacturing operations and performance is well established. However, scant research has been devoted to examining information technology (IT) investment among hospitals and how it influences patient care and financial performance. Using the lens of the Theory of Swift Even Flow (TSEF), we present an operations management-based perspective on the effect of IT in streamlining hospital operations. Specifically, we examined the role of IT on patient flow and its consequences for improved hospital efficiency and performance. Analysis of data from 567 U.S. hospitals shows that IT is associated with swift and even patient flow, which in turn is associated with improved revenues. Interestingly, we find that the improvement in financial performance is not at the expense of quality because we find similar effects of IT and patient flow in improvements in the quality of patient care. Further, we observed differential effects of swift flow and even flow on various measures of hospital performance. Although swift flow affects financial performance, even flow primarily affects quality performance. Taken together, they have a mutually reinforcing overall impact on hospital performance. The implications of these findings for hospital decision makers are that patient flow is an important mediating variable that is affected by IT and can significantly affect the quality of patient care and financial performance

Methyl (E)-2-[(2-nitro­phen­oxy)meth­yl]-3-phenyl­acrylate

The title compound, C17H15NO5, adopts an E conformation with respect to the C=C double bond of the phenyl­acrylate unit. The phenyl ring and methyl acrylate group of the phenyl­acrylate unit are disordered over two sets of sites with site-occupancy ratios of 0.705 (5):0.295 (5) and 0.683 (3):0.317 (3), respectively. The mean plane through the benzene ring of the phenyl acrylate makes dihedral angles of 88.4 (8) (major component) and 86.7 (8)° (minor component) with the nitro­phen­oxy ring; the dihedral angle between the two components is 3.64 (6)°. Intra­molecular C—H⋯O interactions stabilise the molecular structure. In the crystal, C—H⋯O inter­actions result in a chain of mol­ecules running along the b axis

Determination of Residual Epichlorohydrin in Sevelamer Hydrochloride by Static Headspace Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection

A sensitive static headspace gas chromatographic method was developed and validated for the determination of residual epichlorohydrin (ECH) in sevelamer hydrochloride (SVH) drug substance. This method utilized a Phenomenex Zebron ZB-WAX GC column, helium as carrier gas with flame ionization detection. The critical experimental parameters, such as, headspace vial incubation time and incubation temperature were studied and optimized. The method was validated as per United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines in terms of detection limit (DL), quantitation limit (QL), linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity and robustness. A linear range from 0.30 to 10 μg/mL was obtained with the coefficient of determination (r2) 0.999. The DL and QL of ECH were 0.09 μg/mL and 0.30 μg/mL, respectively. The recovery obtained for ECH was between 91.7 and 96.6%. Also, the specificity of the method was proved through gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This method was applied successfully to determine the content of residual ECH in SVH bulk drug

Some observations on the possibilities of culture of the Indian sand whiting Sillago sihama (Forskal) in brackish waters

Indian sand whiting, Sillago sihama (Forskal) forms a dominant species in the estuarine fish catches during the south-west monsoon when they are in great demand and fetch a high price as sea fishing remains suspended due to rough weather conditions. The paper deals with preliminary observations on certain aspects of the biology of the fish related to its culture. The ability of the species to withstand very wide raoges of salinity makes it suitable for culture io both brackish and fresh waters