People: Atlantic General and BSMH announce CFO transitions
Atlantic General Hospital and Health System in Berlin, Md., has hired James Kanuch, CHFP, MBA, as vice president of finance and CFO. Kanuch, a member of HFMA’s Maryland Chapter, brings 30 years of financial and operational experience to the new role. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of finance at Allegheny Health Network…
Jill Geisler: Being positive and solving problems are not mutually exclusive
We want our leaders to be positive forces for good. But what happens when they prefer to deal with only the positive aspects of the job and avoid the negative? An hfm reader recently suggested this scenario might be worth exploring in a column. Indeed, it is. The reader described working with two nonprofit leaders…
Dennis Dahlen: It’s time to reflect
From Nashville to Arizona, Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, the past year gave me a unique opportunity to see HFMA in action at the chapter level and to partner with HFMA’s National team to position the Association for even greater things ahead. I’ve been blessed to share my year as National Chair with HFMA President and…
Tennessee Chapter hosts a unique March Madness watch party
For HFMA’s Tennessee Chapter, the NCAA Tournament is cause for a special event. “Our March Madness watch party is purely an entertainment and networking event,” said Chase Wunder, director of business development at Wakefield & Associates in Knoxville, Tenn., and current Tennessee Chapter president. “It allows folks to sneak out of work a little early…
Why the Medicare physician fee schedule is sheer madness
Amid the complexities of U.S. healthcare, there is probably no construct that’s more byzantine than the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) — the program’s elaborate system of paying physicians and other clinicians (including nurse practitioners, physician assistants and clinical psychologists) for more than 10,000 medical services.a In 2022, the schedule drove about $71.2 billion in…
Andrew Donahue: An open letter to Congress on nonprofit hospital finances
There’s a lot of bad information out there on nonprofit hospital finances. Part of the problem is run-of-the-mill scapegoating — stakeholders with an agenda using our business complexity to muddy the water. Part of the problem is classic misuse of information — good people with good intentions making the wrong assumptions. And part of the…
How to keep your balance sheet steady in tumultuous times
The balance sheet contributes significantly to cash flow at most not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals and health systems. Yet few organizations have developed a strategy that reflects the balance sheet’s contributions to financial sustainability. Throughout the operational and financial turmoil of the past few years, many health systems have relied on their balance sheet to compensate for…
Grace-Marie Turner: How to advocate for enlightened healthcare policy
Managing the finances of our nation’s hospitals and health systems is a task whose complexity is little understood by those outside the profession. Beyond being adept at managing complex healthcare financial matters, leaders also must focus intently on ensuring their organizations are delivering high-quality, cost-effective care. In addition to this knowledge and skill, finance leaders…
HFMA members step into new leadership roles in healthcare finance
Several HFMA members have kicked off 2024 by taking on new healthcare finance leadership roles. Here’s an overview of some of the hirings announced during the first quarter of the year. John Ceelen is the new CFO at Bellin and Gundersen The recently merged Bellin and Gundersen Health System in Green Bay, Wis., has tapped…
Dennis Dahlen: Of Blackcats and the dark web: The value of HFMA in times of crisis
The repercussions from the large-scale cyberattack perpetrated by ALPHV Blackcat on Change Healthcare — a company that touches one out of three patient records — likely will be felt for months, the American Hospital Association (AHA) suggests. That’s why it was so important that HFMA take a lead role in getting answers for members and…