News

Leading up to Tuesday's primary in Tennessee, Republican candidates have focused on repealing the ACA as a big part of the party's economic agenda.

Credit card companies, airlines and hotels all have customer loyalty programs. Maybe it was only a matter of time before hospitals got in on the act.

A recent American Hospital Association survey shows that American community hospitals saw profits rise by more than 50 percent in 2010, a trend projected to be somewhat short-lived.

Common surgeries for workplace injuries generally cost less in states that have adopted per-procedure fee schedules, versus states that don’t use fee schedules, according to a recent report by a Massachusetts-based industry research group.

While a majority of healthcare professionals believe in the strong benefits a diverse leadership team would bring to their organization, less than 15 percent believe hospitals have taken the plunge in closing the broad diversity gap within the last five years, according to a new report published by Witt/Kieffer, entitled “Diversity as a Business Builder in Healthcare.”

The words ‘individual mandate’ have come to haunt President Obama and his administration, at least in the U.S. Supreme Court – but regardless of the forthcoming ruling that particular aspect of the Affordable Care Act just might double as a 2012 campaign pièce de résistance.

Jim Gobell Chief Financial Officer St. Luke's Iowa Health System Sioux City, Iowa

Coming changes in the healthcare industry called for under ICD-10 represent nothing less than a sea change for healthcare organizations. The overall scope of these changes is daunting and has already posed significant challenges to these organizations as business enterprises. What began as a gradual transformation of clinical systems (i.e., DMR) under the Bush administration has evolved to have a material impact on both clinical and financial systems.

I step into the editor role at Healthcare Finance News at a very challenging and exciting time for the healthcare industry. With virtually every organization being charged with the difficult task of driving cost out of the system while simultaneously improving the quality of care, major changes are being made at every level at seemingly breakneck speed.

The U.S. Department of Labor has extended the comment period on its proposed rule to provide minimum wage and overtime protections to in-home care workers to March 12. The original comment period was scheduled to close on Feb. 27.