Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, March 2023

The March 2023 issue of HFMA’s Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, sponsored by Kaufman, Hall &  Associates, LLC, highlights recent Voices in Healthcare Finance podcasts addressing patterns of healthcare and societal perceptions that are at odds with larger efforts to promote healthfulness in the United States.

Voices in Healthcare Finance

The real dangers of an obesity diagnosis
By Erika Grotto 
In this podcast, medical researcher and patient advocate Ragen Chastain discusses why the body mass index is misleading and how it can lead to discrimination in healthcare – ultimately causing patients to be discouraged from seeking necessary care.

The media blame game regarding patient financial conversations
By Erika Grotto
Brad Dennison, HFMA chief content executive, discusses the March hfm cover story about patient-friendly payment and what some media organizations get wrong. They forget that hospitals need to collect payment to be financially sustainable. Also in this episode is a discussion of a smart health insurance card initiative that will make patient financial and health records more secure and efficient.

Disruption

Why the idea of disruption is so hard for healthcare leaders to understand
By Andrew Donahue, MHA, CPA
It’s time to talk about the word disruption – what it is and what it isn’t – because right now in healthcare it seems to be generating more angst than strategy.

Enterprise risk

Bank failures highlight importance of measuring counterparty risk
Sponsored by Kaufman Hall
By Zech Decker, Geoff Stenger, and James Green
 The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have focused attention on an often-overlooked issue: bank counterparty risk.

Value-based care

Why healthcare’s cupboard is bare — its funding gravy train has run out of steam 
By David W. Johnson 
To be able to achieve financial sustainability, hospitals and health systems must overhaul their bloated business models, which have served for many years as a “gravy train” for them. That time is over. Health systems need to look to value to find salvation.

Financial Sustainability

How to determine appropriate patient status and navigate observation-level care
By Jeffrey Goode, MD. Ben Harper, Dan Burke and Barton S. Richard
sThe financial implications of ensuring appropriate patient status throughout a hospital stay are substantial, so it is in organizations’ interest to enhance the process.