How healthcare organizations are tackling workforce issues in real time
Check out what a group of healthcare finance professionals said regarding workforce management issues including costs, candidate quality, contracting agencies and other issues that can impact a healthcare organization’s profitability in this roundtable discussion.
News Briefs: Medicaid DSH payment cut barely averted in September, still possible in November
Hospitals received a last-day reprieve from substantial cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, with House leaders reversing course Sept. 30 and ushering through a six-week government funding package. Language in the bill ensured the start of a four-year Medicaid DSH cut amounting to $32 billion was pushed back from Oct. 1 to Nov.…
How CFOs can bring the rigor of finance to the call center
Health system call centers are universally acknowledged as significant cost centers. Too often, however, they are viewed as non-revenue-generating cost centers. In fact, a call center’s performance also affects revenue growth factors such as clinician utilization and patient loyalty. Despite the multiple ways that call centers affect both the bottom and top lines, there is…
Theresa Mouton: CFOs need to be able to lead through chaos
As a 34-year healthcare finance veteran, Theresa Mouton, MBA, has seen her share of changes within the industry. Currently the Western Region CFO for Steward Health Care, Mouton oversees 17 hospitals across five states. In a career that has taken her from investor-owned health systems to not-for-profit hospitals and back again to the investor-owned side,…
The No Surprises Act: How healthcare organizations can create a winning strategy
Find a breakdown of the No Surprises Act in this business profile with an update on four main administrative requirements of the bill and insight to improve hospitals and healthcare systems using technology for future regulatory changes.
Dennis Dahlen: Are states losing patience with the pace of healthcare value transformation?
The pace of state-based regulation and oversight of healthcare providers is accelerating — and it could be an indication that patience is growing thin with federal, payer and provider efforts to improve healthcare value. Across the nation, we’re seeing a growing number of states adopt healthcare affordability boards. It’s a trend that started to pick…
Jill Geisler: 8 ways to lead a team, not a silo
Have you ever worked in an organization where departments or divisions don’t get along well? You might assume it’s caused by old grudges or personality conflicts. But take a closer look. It’s often a leadership issue — and specifically when leaders may have allowed or even encouraged their staff to work as a silo instead…
HFMA member Michael Bumann shares experience as Burning Man medic
Thanks to unprecedented heavy rain, thousands who attended the 2023 Burning Man event Aug. 27-Sept. 4 in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert found themselves literally stuck in the mud. For HFMA member Michael Bumann, it was a transformative experience. Bumann, of Olympic Valley, California, is the founder and CEO of RedDot, a company that specializes in…
David Johnson: Right-sizing physician training? The case for surgical mechanics
American healthcare reputedly confronts a monumental physician shortage. A highly publicized 2021 report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) forecasts that shortage to be as high as 180,000 physicians by 2034.a That’s out of a total population of roughly one million physicians. A breathless commentary on the AAMC report by the American Medical Association…
Andrew Donahue: 4 reasons results of the 2024 election won’t matter for healthcare
There is a strange and underappreciated truth at the top of the American political system: Our president is remarkably powerless. Except in the realms of foreign policy, executive agency action and judicial branch appointments, the president’s policy agenda is rarely guided by intention. Rather, it is defined by limitation. Savvy presidents learn quickly that their…