Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, March 2022
The March 2022 edition of HFMA’s Cost Effectiveness of Health Report addresses a key prerequisite to achieving cost-effectiveness: engaged caregivers. A preview of the April 2022 hfm cover story details how one health system has responded to its nurses’ need for increased scheduling flexibility, and a commentary explores steps for enabling physicians to play a leadership role in promoting CEoH. Also included is a Q&A exploring activities on the world stage aimed at achieving the United Nation’s sustainable development goals for healthcare and health equity – and how U.S. organizations can play a role.
How U.S. healthcare can play a larger role on the world stage
Judy Kuriansky, PhD, a professor of psychology, NGO representative to United Nations and trustee of the United African Congress, shares her insights and experiences from working to improve healthcare equity and access among populations in the world who are “furthest behind,” which is a priority in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Kuriansky describes recent international efforts aimed at promoting the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and she address ways U.S. health systems could play an important role in such efforts.
How to future-proof your travel nurse and clinician staffing
Nursing and clinician staff have long faced pressures, exacerbated by the pandemic, that have caused many of them to experience burnout and some to leave the profession. Recognizing such concerns among its staff, including a desire for greater flexibility in scheduling and types of assignments, Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan, developed an innovative in-house travel staffing approach that would address the concerns and promote increased nursing staff engagement with its health system, without which it could not deliver the highest possible quality of care.
Provider Relief Fund update: Second reporting deadline looms as the fund nears depletion
Healthcare organizations that received Provider Relief Fund payments between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, have until Thursday, March 31 to report on their use of those funds.
Bringing the healthcare back to healthcare
Affording greater freedom to physicians to practice medicine by easing administrative strictures on them may be the best strategy for ultimately promoting cost effectiveness of health, says Martin Bluth. But physicians also should be well educated in the economics and business of healthcare.
Operationalizing value-based primary care: lessons from the field
The primary care physician’s office has a pivotal role to play in efforts of hospitals, payers and other healthcare stakeholders to transition healthcare payment to arrangements that reward providers for the value of the care they provide. However, to successfully execute a value-based primary care model, organizations should be mindful of the all-too-common pitfalls that they may encounter along the way.
MedPAC says 2023 hospital payments shouldn’t increase in response to COVID-19
CMS shouldn’t increase Medicare payments to hospitals for the upcoming year beyond the annual update that is based on current law, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Latest hospital financial and jobs data reflect an environment that remains challenging
January financial data for hospitals show the continuing toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, while February labor numbers suggest an operational recovery that could further increase expenses.
Healthcare News of Note: Americans living in rural areas face an increased risk of death, in part due to issues with healthcare access, says a new infographic
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Issues with healthcare access contribute to an increased risk of death for rural residents, many workers struggle to pay for healthcare deductibles, and hospital and physician office markups on certain drugs escalate consumer costs.
David Johnson: Cracks in the foundation, Part 2: Overcoming healthcare’s artificial economics
In normal markets, demand for services at given prices drives supply. Healthcare reverses the equation so demand for services is driven by the supply of healthcare facilities and practitioners, says hfm columnist David Johnson. In this second column in his series examining structural defects of the U.S. healthcare system, Johnson challenges these “artificial economics” and describes how cutting-edge health systems will apply new, more customer-focused economics to become the future market leaders.