Despite significant challenges, there’s value in hospital mergers
It is no secret that hospitals today are facing severe economic pressures. Most are caught between a rock and a hard place — depending on government programs for half or more of their revenue with the rest coming from highly concentrated private insurers. Meanwhile, hospitals face concentrated factor markets controlled by monopoly health system unions,…
David Johnson: RFK Jr. promises to ‘Get America healthy again’ — and maybe it’s possible
On Aug. 23, 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his 14-month campaign for the U.S. presidency. Kennedy began his campaign as a Democrat in April 2023 but left the Democratic Party that October. Kennedy’s grassroots volunteers then collected over a million signatures to place his name on the ballot in more than 30 states as…
HFMA recognizes 2,075 members who earned certifications in Q3 2024
HFMA now offers 11 certifications for members to validate their expertise and demonstrate their commitment to the profession, including the two recently launched certifications highlighted in bold in the list below. The HFMA certifications are as follows: Multiple certification holders Of the 2,075 people earning certifications in Q3, 101 attained more than one HFMA certification.…
Jana Cook: Rural healthcare’s challenges need not impede growth
Managing a rural hospital is no easy task. The American Hospital Association (AHA) has reported that rural hospitals represented 71% of the decline in the number of U.S. community hospitals between 2017 and 2021.a Rural hospitals’ susceptibility to financial instability is a consequence of a number of disadvantages they suffer compared with their urban counterparts.…
A new HFMA cost report certification will help build the next generation of cost report experts
Sam Antonios, MD, saw HFMA’s newly launched Certified Hospital Cost Report Specialist (CHCRS) certification as a way to build on previous training, but little did he know when enrolling that he’d be the first person to complete the training and pass the exam. “When HFMA released a cost report resource and certification, I was particularly…
HFMA 2024-25 Leadership Directory
HFMA’s annual Leadership Directory provides a listing of the Association’s National, Regional and Chapter leaders.
News Briefs: Senate hearing on Steward Health Care depicts consequences of hospital management decisions
After the CEO of Steward Health Care, Ralph de la Torre, MD, rebuffed a subpoena to appear Sept. 12 at a Senate committee hearing, members and invited panelists used the occasion to bemoan the company’s hospital ownership record and the private equity (PE) healthcare model. When de la Torre spurned the summons to appear before…
5 HFMA members take on new professional roles
HFMA members have assumed new professional challenges over the past few months. For some, that meant starting a new position. For others, it was earning multiple HFMA certifications. Ballad Health taps Phillip Childree as CFO for Southwest Virginia market Phillip Childree, CHFP, MBA, is the new CFO of Ballad Health Southwest Virginia, overseeing the health…
Winning strategies for creating a people-centric technology culture
When company practices treat workers as people and not just as resources, research shows that employees are 3.8 times more likely to be high-performing. In this roundtable, a group of healthcare finance professionals discuss this concept, also known as a "People-Centric Maturity Model," specifically why it is important in healthcare and what metrics an organization should use to measure a successful people-centric strategy.
Childcare center at CCM Health helps in recruiting and retaining staff
CCM Health in Montevideo, MN, opened a childcare center in 2020 to attract and retain staff. The center has since been expanded to accommodate up to 31 children, and it has a waiting list, with plans to expand further.