Revenue Cycle Management
Medicare announced Friday that it was revising rules intended to prevent the agency from paying twice for the same prescriptions for seniors receiving hospice care. The drug categories in question were identified in a 2012 investigation by the HHS inspector general.
Facing threats to net revenue, most healthcare organizations have embarked on massive cost reduction initiatives. Unfortunately, the first tactic for many of these initiatives continues to be a "tried and true" approach which is often ineffective -- operational benchmarking.
If we don't fundamentally change the way we pay for healthcare, we won't change the economic principles that continue to drive the rapid growth in healthcare spending. Let's pay physicians and hospitals based on the health problems their patients have.
Healthcare prices in May 2014 were 1.8 percent higher than in May 2013, well above the 12-month moving average of 1.3 percent, according to a recent brief from the Altarum Institute.
Hospices can now lose Medicare payments if they don’t file cost reports, and yet, because there are no penalties for inaccurate reporting, there is little motivation to spend much time on them.
The Affordable Care Act included a number of delivery system reforms, such as ACOs, bundled payments, and workforce provisions to strengthen foundations in primary care. Unfortunately, a focused effort on payments for specialists was not included.
To boost patient satisfaction scores and compete with urgent care centers and walk-in clinics, hospitals are allowing patients to book appointments in the ER.
Author John Hiat talked to Healthcare Finance News about how his "idea guide" can be used to help healthcare CFOs and controllers solve day-to-day issues.
When a car rolls off an assembly line, the automaker knows exactly what parts, labor and facilities cost. Not so in healthcare, and now some health executives are trying to change that.
Experts say that cash-only practices are a workable business model when done the right way, but it may be disruptive to others in the market.