Financial Sustainability Report: March 2020
The March issue of the Financial Sustainability Report, sponsored by Kaufman Hall, provides insights and guidance for healthcare finance leaders ranging from accessing untapped opportunities for cost savings to using risk stratification to improve the organization’s position in negotiating risk contracts.
Why benchmarks should not be the sole guide for setting physician compensation
Healthcare organizations that rely on survey benchmark data alone when setting physician compensation may be risking budgets and relationships with physicians, especially in times of great uncertainty. Instead, they should adopt an approach more tailored to their unique circumstances
The 2021 outlook for hospitals: Reviews are mixed despite the large number of people already vaccinated in the United States
Most industry voices are predicting 2021 will be a financially challenging year for U.S. hospitals. But the outlook for some hospitals actually may be positive.
Payer-provider economics: Preparing for the new frontier in healthcare
Payers and providers are increasingly creating strategic partnerships, with the intent of keeping pace in a rapidly transforming healthcare payment system that rewards value over volume.
As the Senate Finance Committee considers telehealth expansion, payment approaches are a key talking point
A congressional hearing featured testimony about why fee-for-service is not a viable way to fund a Medicare telehealth expansion.
A now-or-never moment for telehealth? Demand will remain strong as long as technology and the healthcare industry can meet it
Payers and providers adapted quickly to the need for telehealth services, and most patients responded in kind. Demand will remain strong as long as technology and the industry can meet it.
Physician-friendly web technology can help hospitals grow revenue from ambulatory referrals
All too often, ambulatory orders from referring physicians do not result in delivered services and associated revenue for hospitals because of ineffective ordering processes. Hospitals can gain a competitive advantage ad avoid lost revenue by taking steps to simplify this process for both the referring physician and the patient.
How healthcare organizations can leverage CDI to meet strategic goals amid times of financial uncertainty
Six trends related to the COVID-19 pandemic have created a need for healthcare organizations to adopt a new, strategic and data-driven approach to managing their clinical documentation integrity (CDI) programs.
Physician practice performance suffered during the 2020 pandemic year
Recent research shows that volatility driven by COVID-19 rocked physician practices throughout 2020, but there were signs of recovery toward the end of the year.
From chaos to unity: 6 steps for building a compensation plan for employed physicians
When acquiring physician practices, health systems often develop employment arrangements on a case-by-case basis, leading to challenges due to the inconsistencies of multiple arrangements. A large physician practice’s effort to standardize its approach to compensating its employed physicians offer a case example of how to effectively address this problem.