Column

Jana Cook, CFO of Phelps Health in Rolla, MO, has successfully managed the challenges of rural hospital operations, including staffing shortages, lack of negotiating power, and difficulty in recruiting clinical providers, to maintain financial viability and grow the organization during the pandemic.

HFMA members have assumed new professional challenges over the past few months. For some, that meant starting a new position. For others, it was earning multiple HFMA certifications. Ballad Health taps Phillip Childree as CFO for Southwest Virginia market Phillip Childree, CHFP, MBA, is the new CFO of Ballad Health Southwest Virginia, overseeing the health…

For just the second time in HFMA history, all three Chapters in the state of Texas have presidents who are women. (The first time was 2019-2020.) Not surprisingly, they plan to use the platform to advocate for and support female leaders. But that’s not all. They’ve also committed to changing the Texas culture from chapter-specific…

If innovation is key to moving forward as an industry and as an organization, so is the ability to nurture strong relationships. It’s a skill that is crucial to navigating payer-provider relations, where the stakes can mean the difference between a patient being able to access care locally and having to travel long distances for…

The healthcare sector is facing a perfect storm of aging patients, rising costs, aging providers, and a shortage of primary care physicians, creating a need to a shift toward preventive care, increased use of technology, more virtual and home care and sustainable care teams.

Ask managers how they’re doing these days, and you’re likely to get the universal answer: “Busy. Really busy.” Today’s leaders must navigate meetings, projects, personnel issues, paperwork, planning, hiring, coaching, strategizing — and putting out the inevitable fires. But when a well-meaning person says, “Maybe you could delegate a few things,” it can frustrate the…

The U.S. healthcare system operates in much the same way it has for the past 100 years: always hospital-centric, physician-centric, disease-centric, treatment-centric and transaction-centric. Providers receive payment for the specific treatments they deliver. There is limited care coordination, little emphasis on prevention, inadequate provision of mental health services and woeful chronic disease management. The result…

Medicare Advantage has experienced rapid membership growth, but providers and payers are facing headwinds that are increasing contention and uncertainty, leading to a shift in power and potential implosion of the program.

The 2024 presidential election features a shift in policy position by Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris, who has distanced herself from her previous advocacy of Medicare for All, while Republican Party candidate Donald Trump appears less intent on repealing the Affordable Care Act.

The Inflation Reduction Act and the proposed march-in rights framework are threatening medical progress and innovation, leading to higher costs for seniors, fewer job opportunities, and a decrease in the number of new drugs brought to market.