Cover Feature
Squeezing the Funding You Need from Today's Capital Sources
By Deborah C. Gordon
Healthcare providers facing difficulty in accessing capital in today’s economic environment still have many options before them.
Features
Capitalizing Hidden Values from Hospital Assets
By Carsten Beith and James Vaughan
Monetizing noncore assets can be a source of capital for hospitals.
Access to Capital: Implications for Hospital Consolidation
By Daniel M. Grauman, John M. Harris, and Christine Martin
Economic pressures are forcing some hospitals to consider forgoing independence to gain the benefits of consolidation. The CFO has a critical role in assessing the need for such a strategy.
Web Extra: Issues in a Not-For-Profit Sale to a For-Profit.
Are Alternative Investments the Right Approach for Your Organization?
By Charles J. French and Thomas H. Dodd
Alternative investments can reduce portfolio volatility and increase return for healthcare organizations, but providers should know the risks.
Culture Clash: Aligning Payers and Providers for Real Reform
By Jeffrey C. Bauer
Before true healthcare reform can be enacted, the cultural differences between providers and payers need to be addressed.
A Form 990 Schedule H Conundrum: How Much of Your Bad Debt Might Be Charity?
By Shari Bailey, David Franklin, and Keith Hearle
IRS Form 990 Schedule H requires hospitals to estimate the amount of charity care in their reported bad debt. Are you ready to document this information—and prove it?
Web Extra: A description of elements to look for when evaluating predictive analytics models can help healthcare financial executives make a purchase decision.
Recovering FICA Tax Paid on Resident Stipends: 2010 Update
By Thomas D. Sykes
Teaching hospitals seeking a refund of FICA tax on stipends paid to medical residents should be aware of far-reaching changes in the government’s position.
Focus Areas
Revenue Cycle
Strategies for Dealing with the National Coding Shortage
By Jill Schwieters
Hospitals should take proactive steps now to meet coding needs and prepare for the challenges of implementing ICD-10.
Payment
Payment Change: 3 Ways to Set Your Course for Success
By Michael E. Nugent
A detailed IT strategy should be seen as an important part of a healthcare organization's strategic plan.
Columns
From the Chair
Capital: The Never-Ending Challenge
By Catherine Jacobson, FHFMA, CPA
By integrating its capital planning process with its long-term financial plan, Rush University Medical Center is able to know which projects will be funded over a three-year horizon.
From the President
A Capital Job
By Richard L. Clarke, DHA, FHFMA
Healthcare financial leaders have responded well to the recent challenges posed by the great recession, national and local healthcare reform, and the financial meltdown.
From the Editor
Memorable Moments from the Academy Awards
By Robert Fromberg
The Academy Awards show us that putting talent and hard work together with something personal makes for a memorable impact.
Eye on Washington
We Have Not Heard Reform's Swan Song
By Chad Mulvany
Despite recent setbacks in efforts to enact healthcare reform legislation, reforms that reduce cost and improve quality of care will be enacted somehow. Providers should prepare.
Leadership
CFOs Should Be Engaged with an EHR Initiative
By Lucy Mancini Newell
CFOs have an important opportunity to participate in related activities surrounding an electronic health record implementation in their organizations.
Inside IT
Why a Detailed IT Plan Should Be Part of Your Organization's Strategy
By Michael Ward
A detailed IT strategy should be an important part of a healthcare organization's strategic plan.
Strategy Challenge
What Would You Do? Primary Care Growth at Any Cost?
By Alan M. Zuckerman
This strategy challenge considers how a teaching hospital should address the problem of large and persistant losses on its owned primary care network.
Data Trends
Capital Allocation and Risk Mitigation
Projecting cash requirements and debt service coverage ratio for investment opportunities can help hospitals define projects that match organizational resources and risk tolerance.
Etcetera
Member Spotlight: A Family Affair
Commentary: Is a Request for a Clinical Documentation Clarification a Leading Question?