Cover Story
Meeting healthcare’s workforce challenges requires innovation — with a dose of humanity
There is no low-hanging fruit left in workforce innovation. Yet hospital and health system finance executives who are looking for investments their organizations can make to reach higher up the tree should not be deterred.
Features
How to determine appropriate patient status and navigate observation-level care
The financial implications of ensuring appropriate patient status throughout a hospital stay are substantial, so it is in organizations’ interest to enhance the process.
Care coordination networks offer path to addressing problems of health inequity
Initiatives to improve access to care and address social determinants of health have been shown to work. To be successful, they need sustained support from all stakeholders within our nation’s healthcare system.
How investing in the workforce can improve a health system’s bottom line
Like health systems nationwide, Keck Medicine of USC saw workforce challenges explode in the wake of the pandemic. The health system has met those challenges with a systematic approach to workforce well-being and resiliency.
Columns
Aaron Crane: There’s real value to be found in exhibit halls
HFMA National Chair Aaron Crane believes event exhibition halls are a rich resource for solutions to today’s vexing healthcare finance challenges.
Jill Geisler: 4 ways to give positive feedback with impact
HFMA contributor Jill Geisler discusses why healthcare finance leaders should provide their staff with positive, specific feedback and shares how to do it.
David Johnson: Why healthcare’s cupboard is bare — its funding gravy train has run out of steam
Achieving financial sustainability for hospitals and health systems must come from overhauling their bloated business models.
Robert Turner: Avoiding a bond covenant default takes aggressive action from a health system borrower
Operational and financial difficulties have put many healthcare organizations at risk of breaching debt covenants.
Joe Fifer: The courage to reframe healthcare to encompass ‘health’
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer offers a perspective on the need to reframe healthcare.
Departments
Chapter news: South Texas Chapter event exceeds expectations
The South Texas Chapter of HFMA hosted its first-ever women’s leadership conference in January 2023. Attendance exceeded expectations.
People: Dennis Laraway joins Cleveland Clinic as CFO
Dennis Laraway is new Cleveland Clinic CFO. Matt Elsey, Terri Meier and David McKnight have new leadership roles. Former National Chair John Pattillo, Jr., remembered.
News Briefs: Financial and operational pressures continue for hospitals amid scattered positive signs
Read a monthly roundup of top news for healthcare finance professionals, as published in the April issue of hfm magazine,
Supplements
Grant Thornton: Creating sound strategies to manage compensation and benefits regardless of where your employees reside
Healthcare organizations continue to enjoy significant cultural and financial benefits to supporting continued remote and hybrid work, but they also face specific challenges in seeking to demystify multi-state tax rules.
3M: Automation from documentation capture to code — Insights from healthcare finance leaders
In this HFMA executive roundtable, seven hospital leaders discuss the role of process automation in navigating the documentation and workforce challenges facing healthcare today. They also share tips on strengthening ROI and engagement.
Sage: The impact of claims denials on the financial health of healthcare
This HFMA executive roundtable discussion examines ways healthcare provider organizations are performing revenue cycle management, what they are measuring to determine success and what the impact of claim denials is on their financial picture.
Remitra: Best practices for relieving unprecedented cost pressures facing healthcare providers
In this HFMA executive roundtable, participants discussed how healthcare providers could optimize flow to seek relief from unprecedented cost pressures during the pandemic and beyond.