Hospitals face increased need amid pandemic to improve patient throughput
An acute care hospital cannot begin to be able to deliver cost-effective care if it lacks a fully coordinated approach for moving patients from admission to discharge.
Collecting with compassion: Patient financial care grows in importance
Health system leaders increasingly believe more communication is better when it comes to telling patients what they owe. When the pandemic began, Henry County Health Center’s revenue cycle department took a gamble to relieve the financial stress of care for patients. Executives for the 25-bed, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, critical access hospital, which serves a large…
2022 midterms aftermath: Gridlock or bipartisanship?
Studies conducted over the past several years have found the polarization is increasing in American society.a And not surprisingly, the 2022 midterm elections reflected the deep divisions. Two fiercely contested Senate seats in this past election are emblematic. Democrat John Fetterman won Pennsylvania’s hotly contested Senate race over Republican Mehmet Oz, MD, taking over the seat…
News Briefs: Healthcare industry disrupter CVS Health to shell out billions to buy Oak Street Health
A month after stating it hoped to gain a presence in primary care, CVS Health accomplished that goal with a massive deal that could fortify its efforts to advance value-based payment in healthcare. The proposed $10.6 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health, a provider of senior-focused primary care, adds to a portfolio of assets that…
How R1 RCM’s technology-driven solutions address health system challenges
Seeing challenges in labor shortages, shrinking margins and other complexities? Enter technology-driven solutions for revenue cycle management. Read the details in this peer review spotlight.
Healthcare News of Note: Amazon closes its deal with One Medical, touts opportunity to scale a new primary care model
Amazon closes its deal with One Medical
New ways of working spur updated training, automation
Learn how changes implemented during the pandemic are transforming multiple healthcare finance executives' workplaces and driving them to rethink how work gets done.
Hospital price transparency update: Regulatory enforcement soon could become stricter, CMS leaders say
Although nothing is official, CMS leaders indicate enforcement of hospital price transparency regulations is set to become more stringent. For an article published in Health Affairs, the Center for Medicare’s Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, director, and Douglas Jacobs, MD, chief transformation officer, touted progress that has been made since the rules took effect Jan. 1,…
In federal ACO programs, advocates see signs of slow but steady progress
Growth in accountable care organization (ACO) programs has been inconsistent since the Affordable Care Act made accountable care part of the healthcare lexicon in 2010. Nonetheless, proponents are optimistic about the state of ACOs and their potential in upcoming years, even if there’s uncertainty about CMS’s ability to achieve its stated goal of ensuring every…
Healthcare News of Note: 7 hospitals earn a Press Ganey award for outstanding nursing quality
Seven hospitals were recognized for elevating nursing excellence and improving patient outcomes with Press Ganey’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality. Only 48% of Americans rank the quality of U.S. healthcare as excellent or good, according to results of a Gallup Health and Healthcare survey. Nearly half of Americans are…