Latest healthcare spending data paint a complicated picture of industry challenges and opportunities
Healthcare spending patterns during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reflect an industry trying to get its bearings amid a public health emergency and daunting long-term trends.
‘A just cause’: HFMA’s CEoH initiative addresses the factors that impede quality of health and raise healthcare costs
HFMA is moving forward with a global effort focused on the concept of cost effectiveness of health (CEoH), with the goal for promoting development of a system for care that is needed, accessible and affordable. A key message of this effort is that a broader focus on improving cost effectiveness of health — not just of healthcare — should be a strategic priority for healthcare leaders.
David Johnson: Cracks in the foundation — 5 structural defects are undermining nonprofit healthcare
The relentless organizational imperative under which nonprofit healthcare providers operate to optimize revenues under fee-for-service medicine has led to fragmented care delivery, unsustainable cost growth and severed connections with American consumers. Nonprofits should address five structural defects to their modus operandi that stand in the way of their delivering care empathetically and cost effectively to their patients.
Shawn Stack: No Surprises Act is important move toward meaningful consumer transparency
The No Surprises Act, which became effective on Jan. 1 of 2022, will clearly benefit patients, .ut its larger impact is yet to be seen as the industry awaits the release of provisions targeting health plans and payers.
Healthcare News of Note: Many health system boards find they are poorly equipped to institute DEI changes, says survey
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Health system boards are willing to change but slow at implementing DEI measures, international nurses are filling the workforce gap, and youth mental health has suffered during the pandemic.
Survey: Health systems push toward risk-based payment models, payer-provider partnerships
Check out the key takeaways from a survey conducted in Summer 2021 with healthcare executives, which focused on risk-based models, data issues, leaders’ concerns on hitting budgets and more.
Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, February 2022
The January 2022 edition of HFMA’s Cost Effectiveness of Health Report, sponsored by Kaufman Hall, explores key tactics successful independent community hospitals use to help them sustain their mission to the communities they serve. Also included is a preview of the first of a series of columns by hfm columnist David Johnson addressing the need for nonprofit health systems to address 5 structural defects that keep them from delivering truly high-quality care to patients.
Healthcare M&A update: A quiet 2021 could give way to strategic shifts in 2022
The year 2021 was one of the least busy on record for healthcare mergers and acquisitions, but volume should pick up in 2022.
U.S. healthcare system is poised to begin a new phase in partnerships
Healthcare provider organizations should prepare for an emerging new phase in the evolution of healthcare partnerships, characterized by an increasingly diverse array of choices among care sites and settings for consumers, health plans and employers. In responding to the opportunities presented in this new partnership phase, providers should adopt a strategy that applies important lessons learned during the pandemic.
Healthcare labor update: Employment data and research findings underscore ongoing challenges
As highlighted in new employment data and new studies, the healthcare labor market continues to constrain hospitals.