M&A update: A quiet quarter for hospital deal-making reflects the ongoing consequences of the pandemic
Merger-and-acquisition activity among hospitals and health systems remained well under pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2022.
Steve LeFar talks about the implications of care deferrals due to COVID-19
The economic and social impacts from deferred healthcare due to COVID-19 were already a major concern in the pandemic’s first year, portending severe declines in health status for Americans who stopped seeking care for fear of exposure to the coronavirus. In this Q&A, Strata Decision Technology’s Steve Lefar shares insights based on extensive data that tell the story of deferred care across the nation, and the likelihood that providers will see a rising tide of severely ill patients.
Paul Keckley: Inflation’s impact on healthcare: 5 takeaways
For healthcare finance professionals, healthcare inflation requires intensified efforts to address five concerns: increased bad debt, increased operating costs, heightened public scrutiny of pricing policies and executive compensation, increased competition by privately funded competitors offering low-cost solutions and growth of “Occupy Healthcare” movements.
Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, April 2022
The April 2022 edition of HFMA’s Cost Effectiveness of Health Report includes a preview the May issue of hfm, which focuses on telehealth, a key tool for promoting value-based care CEoH. Another article explores ways to promote health equity in revenue cycle processes, and a case study describes how one health system embarked on an initiative to achieve greater diversity among its revenue cycle staff.
It’s Patient Experience Week: Check out HFMA resources on improving the patient financial experience
The financial experience is an important yet often underappreciated part of the overall patient experience. During Patient Experience Week, there are many simple ways for a healthcare organization to celebrate its revenue cycle team’s accomplishments.
Your patients’ missed screening means advanced cancer: Here’s how to get patients back and how to treat them in the comfort of their own homes
Dr. Andrew Hertler, chief medical officer at New Century Health, discusses what healthcare organizations can do to catch up on patients' missed cancer screenings. He also shares new developments in oncology that could see patients receiving treatment at home or doing virtual follow-up care.
David Johnson: Cracks in the Foundation (Part 3): Overcoming healthcare’s services-need mismatch
Clinical care only accounts for 20% of health outcomes, yet this area is where America disproportionately invests its healthcare resources. To overcome U.S. healthcare’s services-need mismatch, there should be a greater investment in healthy multipliers that help to address the social and economic factors, health behaviors and the physical environment that drive the remaining 80% of health outcomes.
Joe Fifer: Revenue cycle workforce shortages: Culture is key
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer offers perspectives on the revenue cycle workforce shortage.
Spectrum Health leaders create diversity council for CFO-led functions
The new program helps boost CFO division diversity by 4 percentage points in a year and a half.
Paul Keckley: PE investing trends healthcare finance leaders need to watch
As healthcare finance professionals in traditional health settings focus on managing their organizations’ capital commitments and evaluating direct investments in private equity funds to enhance non-operating income, they should monitor two megatrends, involving “Big private equity” and special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).