Revenue Cycle Management

Although new HIPAA electronic transaction standards have been put on the backburner, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun the process of mapping out how those new standards will function.

During a session on how health reform is reverberating at the state level during the National Health Policy Conference held earlier this month, attendees learned how one health system in Ohio is using the accountable care organization model to improve care and costs and expand its horizons.

An analysis of some recent telemed initiatives and interviews with thought leaders in the field suggest that telemedicine can transform U.S. healthcare into a cost effective system.

Hospitals need to be lean and mean when dealing with supply chain. It's all about efficiency. John Biggers, senior vice president of group purchasing for Premier healthcare alliance, knows all about the trials and tribulations of successful supply chain management. He shared with Healthcare Finance News five avoidable supply chain snafus that can cost hospitals money.

Two percent cuts may not sound deep, but the sequester, scheduled to start March 1 unless Congress acts, will be painful, and has the healthcare industry worried.

The New Jersey Hospital Association is expanding an innovative "gainsharing" pilot program designed to improve healthcare efficiency and reduce costs by promoting better coordination and collaboration among New Jersey hospitals and physicians.

Medicare patients can anticipate paying considerably less for their diabetes and other products starting in July when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expands its competitive bidding for durable medical equipment (DME) and mail-order program but the DME industry continues to point out problems with the program.

A report released last month by the California HealthCare Foundation found that total and operating margins in the state's hospitals were higher than they have been in the past nine years -- 5.1 percent and 3.1 percent respectively. But looking beyond those two basic numbers, hospitals are working on razor-thin margins.

The more than 300 Practice Management Software vendors in the United States help practices – that range in size from individual doctors to multi-office groups made up of thousands of healthcare professionals – manage their most important operations, both clinically and financially.

While the nation's healthcare costs continue to drain the economy, several forward thinking provider organizations are finding ways to turn the situation around with carefully thought out telemed programs. A recent report from the Commonwealth Fund highlights the cost effective approaches used by three "model citizens."