News Briefs: Report finds unwillingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine drove healthcare job cuts in January
A roundup of top news for healthcare finance professionals.
Small study finds health systems lagging in providing value-based payment incentives to physicians
Despite the increasing proliferation of alternative payment models, a new study finds that health systems generally don’t give physicians financial incentives to improve the value of care delivery.
Expense increases offset physician practice productivity and revenue gains
Physician groups across the country saw productivity and revenue improvements in the second quarter of 2021 compared with both the same period in 2020 and pre-pandemic levels seen in Q4 2019, according to Kaufman Hall’s latest Physician Flash Report. However, significant increases in expenses and continued high levels of physician investment compared with the pre-pandemic period remain areas of concern.
How human capital analytics can help providers attract and keep top talent
Many healthcare workers have considered leaving the field after the COVID-19 pandemic. One company provides details on how to motivate the qualified employees with more than just compensation, benefits and rewards.
Healthcare News of Note: Brigham and Women’s home hospital program freed up 419 beds during early COVID-19 surge, study shows
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Hospital-at-home can be part of a pandemic playbook, most Americans believe nurses are underpaid, and healthcare is second to technology for DDoS attacks.
How physicians, hospitals and health systems should prepare for the operational and financial impact of 2021 E/M code changes
In this Q&A, Craig Joseph, MD, chief medical officer for Nordic Consulting Partners, provides insight into why physicians, hospitals and health systems should pay attention to new E/M coding guideline changes are going into effect on January 1, 2021.
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
3 reasons healthcare providers are eager to offer text-to-pay convenience
Healthcare providers should consider the benefits of offering a text to pay option for their patients.
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.
Navigating change: Implications of CMS’s 2021 Physician Fee Schedule
Changes to the CMS Physician Fee Schedule for 2021 require immediate deliberation by provider organizations with respect to how they will structure their physician compensation arrangements.