Dennis Dahlen: It’s time to be biased toward action
We’re in an extraordinary period of discovery and innovation in healthcare, from a breakthrough treatment that delays the onset of Type 1 diabetes to the potential to use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to help patients manage their health. But embracing the promise of innovation within our organizations depends on our ability to lead teams to…
Ken Perez: How homelessness and healthcare are inextricably linked
Homelessness is a worsening problem for the United States, and in multiple ways, it is a healthcare issue. Many of our nation’s failed efforts to solve this problem, outlined below, do not fully acknowledge this reality. But a promising new not-for-profit initiative, Built for Zero, may provide a truly viable solution using a data-driven approach…
Jill Geisler: The best healthcare finance leaders are also great coaches
When we become managers, we start with assumptions about our role. We may believe that, as the person in charge, we need to a be a decision-maker, problem-solver, idea person and quality controller. That’s a good list. But it’s incomplete. Working with managers for many years, I’ve learned that the best leaders also aspire to…
Dave Johnson: Diagnostic determinism — How precision diagnostics will reinvent medicine
In the movie “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” the spaceship Enterprise travels back in time to San Francisco in the mid-1980s. Its mission is to transport humpback whales into the 23rd century to redirect a space probe heading to destroy earth. It’s a complicated story. While trying to escape police custody, crewmember Pavel Chekov…
HFMA, it’s time for action!
We’ve all been in situations where the time was right, where conditions were optimal or good enough to suggest the best opportunity for action. Growing up on a dairy farm, I learned early that nature exerted a stronger hand on our schedules and work than anything humans could muster. Weather was, of course, a constant…
Marcus Whitney: Banking struggles are limiting healthcare innovation
T here has not been much ado in the healthcare world about the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), but maybe there should be. Once considered the go-to bank for startups, SVB was the target of a bank run March 9 driven by news of their held-to- maturity bonds being underwater, and it was taken over by…
Multiple certifications earned by 37
A total of 2,079 people earned HFMA certifications from Jan. 1 through March 31, with 37 earning multiple certifications. The HFMA certifications are as follows: Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (CHFP), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) – GCC, Certified Specialist Accounting & Finance (CSAF), Certified Specialist Business Intelligence (CSBI), Certified Specialist…
Joe Fifer: A key takeaway from my long career
My last column. I have rewritten it dozens of times in my head. I couldn’t settle on a thought or a theme that seemed appropriate. Then I remembered the HFMA board dinner with Sue Petru, a past National Board member. The occasion was our winter board retreat in Tampa this year. It’s our custom to invite…
Ken Perez: 3 strategic options hospitals can use to repair today’s negative margins
The year 2022 has been characterized by some economists as being the worst financial year for U.S. hospitals in decades as expense growth has outpaced revenue increases. As a result, many hospitals and health systems have a pressing need to launch initiatives that can effectively repair their negative operating margins.a Labor shortages and inflation demand…
Chapter News: Northern California Chapter’s new award honors outstanding women
The Northern California Chapter’s annual women’s conferences have always been popular events. And this year’s conference, which took place May 5 at the Crow Canyon Country Club in Danville, California, was especially celebratory. That’s because the Chapter marked the event’s 10th anniversary by introducing a new award recognizing women leaders. “Our Chapter wanted to develop…