Published data quantify how cost increases will continue to affect the healthcare industry next year
The cost to treat patients will accelerate next year, with ramifications across the healthcare industry, according to newly published projections. PwC’s Health Research Institute reported that the cost of providing care will increase by 7% in 2024, up from a 6% increase this year and 5.5% in 2022. A 7% increase would tie 2021 for…
Summary: 10 vital responses to healthcare disruption
Note: This article is a summary of a report on HFMA’s Spring Thought Leadership Retreat. The full report is available to download. Disruption is reverberating throughout the healthcare industry, and it’s incumbent on legacy organizations to develop strategic responses for the benefit of their consumers, their communities and themselves. With that overarching challenge becoming ever…
News Briefs: Hospitals foresee adverse impacts from the FY24 inpatient payment rule
The FY24 final rule for Medicare inpatient payments didn’t bring hospitals the type of rate update they had sought, and for some organizations, a bigger concern is changes to uncompensated care (UC) payments. The regulations, which take effect Oct. 1, establish a 3.1% increase in operating payment rates, on average, for hospitals that meet quality-reporting…
Prices of drugs for diabetes, heart failure and more will be up for negotiation in Medicare next year
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs that will be subject to price negotiations, the headlining healthcare-related provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. Signed in August 2022, the law gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug manufacturers over the prices of selected drugs.…
HFMA, Selat/Nawa and KSA Ministry of Health collaborate on one-day educational event in Riyadh
The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is offering a new international educational opportunity with a one-day healthcare finance event, at the Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh on Oct. 31. Selat, a Riyadh-based revenue cycle management consulting firm and its training arm Nawa, is the exclusive sponsor of the event and will also provide instruction during…
5 things to know about Medicare’s FY24 final rule for inpatient payments as hospitals foresee adverse impacts
The FY24 final rule for Medicare inpatient payments didn’t bring hospitals the type of rate update they sought, and for some organizations a bigger concern is changes to uncompensated care (UC) payments and disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments. Here are five big points about the regulations, which take effect Oct. 1 and also cover Medicare…
Healthcare News of Note: Healthcare expenditures decrease seen with shared patient-clinician decision-making and racial or ethnic concordance
Shared decision-making plays an imperative role in reducing health expenditures by more closely aligning treatment decisions with patient preferences and values. Extreme heat events could be responsible for $1 billion in healthcare costs each summer in the United States, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University study. The American Hospital Association urged the Senate HELP Committee…
The latest on hospital finances: Signs of improvement, but margins remain tight
Industry-level hospital financial insights reflect the mixed results of a recovery that’s in progress but is expected to be a long slog. In a 2023 midyear report (login required), Moody’s Investors Service noted that margins are below 3% for a third of the company’s rated hospitals. Before the pandemic, only about 6% had margins in…
Annual Conference: Healthcare entrepreneur Alex Oshmyansky describes his efforts to disrupt drug pricing
Arguably no segment of the healthcare industry is more susceptible to disruption than the market for prescription drugs, as Alex Oshmyansky, MD, PhD, made clear Wednesday morning during the closing session of HFMA’s Annual Conference. Oshmyansky spoke about his personal efforts to disrupt the pharmaceutical market in his role as co-founder and CEO of Mark…
MedPAC takes aim at the Medicare wage index and reiterates support for site-neutral payment
In its semiannual report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommends significant changes to two key aspects of Medicare policy: the wage index and site-neutral payment. 1. A revamp of the wage index The wage index consistently generates concern among healthcare stakeholders, including in Medicare’s FY24 proposed rule for hospital inpatient payments. According…