DOJ withdraws guidance that bolstered antitrust safe harbors for GPOs, cost benchmarking and more
Potentially leading to stricter enforcement of antitrust policy in healthcare, the U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn guidance that essentially promoted certain arrangements in the industry. The Feb. 3 announcement from DOJ’s Antitrust Division amounts to a cancellation of so-called “safety zones” that were established in three sets of nonbinding guidance issued between 1993 and…
Honor Roll: HFMA awards certifications to 2,746 members between September and December 2022
HFMA offers eight certifications for members to validate their expertise and demonstrate their commitment to the profession. The HFMA certifications are as follows: Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (CHFP), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) – GCC, Certified Specialist Accounting & Finance (CSAF), Certified Specialist Business Intelligence (CSBI), Certified Specialist Physician Practice…
OIG describes how hospitals can use NPs to treat patients without violating the Anti-Kickback Statute
An advisory opinion from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) appears to give hospitals leeway to expand their use of nurse practitioners in specific situations without violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. OIG issued the opinion in December in response to an inquiry from an unnamed acute care hospital. The hospital was seeking clarification on whether…
News Briefs: 2023 brings a steep fee hike for No Surprises Act arbitration cases
The No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) process has become more expensive for healthcare stakeholders. For the new year, the nonrefundable administrative fee due from each party involved in any payment dispute that goes to arbitration increased from $50 to $350, according to a Dec. 23 memo from CMS’s Center for Consumer Information and…
During a potentially tumultuous Congress, healthcare stakeholders should communicate their policy priorities
With the 118th Congress bringing the potential for policy upheaval, one of the best things healthcare stakeholders can do is make themselves heard on Capitol Hill. The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has signaled its intent to use the federal debt ceiling as leverage in budget negotiations. President Joe Biden and the…
Medicare contractors should more closely examine providers’ bad debt claims, HHS watchdog says
Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) soon could apply more scrutiny to providers’ reported bad debts if CMS implements recommendations from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG in December issued a report in which it examined bad-debt reimbursement claims on Medicare cost reports spanning 2016 through 2018 for 67 randomly selected providers (including 29 hospitals). In those…
Beyond the News: Nick and Shawn discuss No Surprises, disruptors and everything else that made healthcare industry headlines in 2022
HFMA Senior Editor Nick Hut and HFMA Policy Director Shawn Stack discuss the top stories of 2022 in this special year-end episode.
How healthcare organizations are navigating the era of price transparency
In this roundtable, healthcare leaders from across the nation discuss how their health systems are navigating regulations around price transparency, common challenges and the effect on their organizations.
Survey: Understanding and mitigating risk in compensating physicians
Important learnings from a February 2020 HFMA-conducted survey about physician compensation, where healthcare organization leaders offer insights on the complexities of the process.
Healthcare News of Note: Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health megamerger complete
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Atrium and Advocate Health close merger deal, CMS details expectations of hospitals in memo addressing workplace violence, and CMS plans to recoup $650 million in overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans.