Financial Sustainability Report: August 2020

The August 2020 Financial Sustainability Report, sponsored by Kaufman Hall, includes guidance on how to determine appropriate value-based compensation for physicians in surgical specialty areas, as well as insight into how to pursue a financially sustainable business model for virtual care.

Physician compensation

How to apply a value equation in setting compensation for specialty provider
By John Rezen, CRCR, MHA, LSSBB
An effective value-based compensation system for surgical specialists should not only account for the physician’s service, quality of care and financial performance, but also the extent to which the physician exhibits high standards of citizenship.

Telehealth

Telemedicine is exploding, but where is the ROI for health systems?
By Ezra Mehlman, MBA, and Dave Tamburri, MBA
Although telehealth has seen unprecedented growth because of the COVID-19 crisis, there continue to be barriers to its widespread adoption. The economic models used by health systems that are leaders in telehealth provide insight into how to chart a course to a successful virtual enterprise.

Leadership

Healthcare leaders must take multitasking to an enterprisewide level
Sponsored by Kaufman Hall
By Ken Kaufman and Eric Jordahl
The extent to which hospital and health system executive teams can multitask will be a determining factor in whether these organizations will succeed in continuing to manage the ongoing operational and financial threats from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cost management

Commentary
U.S hospitals can no longer afford the burden of administrative waste
By Alan S. Kaplan, MD, FACPE, FACHE, and Abigail Abongwa
U.S. healthcare providers are subjects to administrative and regulatory burdens that threaten to hinder their ability to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.

Risk management

Commentary
5 factors that will make the next recession different from 2008
By Richard Rollo
Hospitals came through the Great Recession relatively unscathed, but a future recession would likely pose much more severe challenges. It therefore would be prudent for hospitals to act now to protect themselves against future market distress.

COVID-19 recovery

U.S. stands at the forefront of efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine  
By Ken Perez
Developing an effective vaccine for preventing the spread of COVID-19 is the only path to recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Integration

2020 is challenging us to re-imagine integrated healthcare
By Keith Moore
The recovery plan healthcare organizations use to address the impact of COVID-19 and other factors that have damaged the financial foundations of healthcare delivery are likely to involve increased integration.

Regulatory Issues

FY 2021 IPPS Proposed Rule Comment Letter: Part 2 – DSH, Bad Debt, PAC Transfer, and Stem Cell Acquisition Costs
Read the comments HFMA submitted to CMS on the Medicare payment decisions addressed in the FY 2021 IPPS proposed rule pertaining to “Market-Based MS-DRG Relative Weights.”