Annual Conference Day 3: UnitedHealth, Optum executives discuss resilience strategies for healthcare
Especially after being on the front lines of the most impactful cyberattack to hit the healthcare industry, leaders with UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and Optum have plenty of thoughts on how stakeholders can shore up their defenses. UHG is the parent company and Optum a sister company of Change Healthcare, which was the target of a…
Annual Conference Day 2: Keynote speaker Suneel Gupta expounds on the importance of recharging
Rest and breaks from work should be viewed not as a reward, but as a resource that supports performance, Suneel Gupta, wellness CEO, best-selling author and visiting scholar with Harvard Medical School, told HFMA Annual Conference attendees during Tuesday’s keynote presentation in Las Vegas. “When we look at the science behind human performance, what we…
HFMA Announces Marc Scher as National Chair
Las Vegas (June 25, 2024) – The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) today during its annual conference inducted former KPMG LLP Partner Marc B. Scher, FHFMA, CPA, into office as its National Chair, effective June 1, 2024. Scher, a highly respected leader in the healthcare finance sector, brings nearly 40 years of experience and a…
Annual Conference Day 1: HFMA, AHA leaders hold forth on the state of the healthcare industry
HFMA’s 2024 Annual Conference began Monday afternoon with HFMA’s Ann Jordan and the American Hospital Association’s Rick Pollack rallying attendees to address the profound challenges and opportunities facing the industry. To start, Jordan, HFMA’s president and CEO, highlighted the conference theme, “A New Frontier in Health.” Frontier is “an exciting and unsettling word that really…
17 winners receive the 2024 MAP Award for high performance in revenue cycle
Las Vegas (June 24, 2024) – The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) announced the 2024 winners of the MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle, including four integrated delivery systems, five hospital systems, three individual hospitals, two critical access hospitals and three physician practices. HFMA’s MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle recognizes…
Preventive-services coverage mandate for Affordable Care Act plans remains intact following appeals court ruling
In a decision that could have been consequential for health insurance coverage offered through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces, an appeals court limited the immediate impact. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a lower-court ruling that preventive-care mandates for ACA health plans are unconstitutional. But the appeals court said the…
Healthcare Financial Management Association Recognizes American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack for Contributions to Healthcare
(Las Vegas) June 24, 2024 — The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) presented its highest achievement award, the Richard L. Clarke Board of Directors Award, to Richard J. Pollack today during HFMA’s annual conference in Las Vegas. Pollack serves as president and CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA), a position he has held since…
Proposed rule to halt credit-reporting of medical debt would have big ramifications for hospitals and other providers
A proposed rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would curtail the inclusion of medical debt in credit evaluations, potentially shaking up healthcare billing and collections processes. The CFPB framed part of its rationale for the rule in the context of privacy, noting Congress previously limited the sharing of a patient’s medical information in…
Congress seeks to keep the momentum going on improvements to prior authorization
Members of Congress are revitalizing efforts to pass legislation that would streamline prior authorization in Medicare Advantage (MA). A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators reintroduced the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, a bill that unanimously passed the House in September 2022 but did not receive a vote in the Senate. One obstacle at…
Hospitals can bring their case on disproportionate share hospital payments to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court granted hospitals’ request that it hear their appeal about the formula for determining Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, landing the case on the docket for the 2024-25 term. More than 200 hospitals are plaintiffs in the case. A federal district court ruled for HHS and against the hospitals in 2022, and…