Bold Conversations for a Healthier System
With support from: Dear Colleagues, It is an unmistakable reality that the U.S. healthcare system is becoming less affordable and more financially unsustainable — and all without improvements in health outcomes to show for it. Now is the time for healthcare leadership to change the conversation and pursue real solutions. That’s why I want to…
Zeev Neuwirth: How to unravel our nation’s wicked healthcare problem
Our nation’s healthcare system is grossly underserving the American public and is on an unsustainable course. Over the past two decades, the healthcare system’s value proposition has continued to decline around critical metrics such as access to care, affordability, chronic disease burden and healthy lifespan. While these facts are well known, what is less well…
The Vitalic Health movement: HFMA initiative pursues affordability, financial sustainability in U.S. healthcare
Growing up in rural Iowa, miles away from a paved road, instilled in C. Ann Jordan a deep appreciation of the struggles rural communities face around healthcare access, delivery and affordability. The farming community of Boone, Iowa — Jordan’s hometown — features a 25-bed critical access hospital. The hospital offers a range of services that…
Jeff Goldsmith: A healthcare system (and society) out of balance and how to fix the problem
After nearly 15 years of cost stability, where U.S. health spending remained at or near 17.5% of GDP, the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted our healthcare system and our politics and gave rise to a sharp and ongoing increase in health spending. The prospect of fresh increases in their health benefit costs has frightened employers. Some…
The OBBB’s Medicaid work requirements and the hidden risks for hospitals
The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), passed this summer, contains a provision of great consequence for hospitals: Medicaid work requirements. The new law requires a subset of beneficiaries to log at least 80 hours of employment, volunteering or schooling each month to maintain coverage. The changes carry significant administrative and reputational risk for health systems.…
How specialty drugs are remaking healthcare and driving up costs
This article has been updated with news of additional policies announced by the Trump administration. Accelerating healthcare costs have less to do with traditional hospital and physician services than with surging drug spending, an industry expert says. “When we can’t really see any trends in healthcare utilization increasing, the only thing that consistently shows up…
Financial sustainability is biggest pain point for healthcare leaders
If Claire Agnew could help healthcare boards understand one thing about healthcare finance, it’s the complexity finance leaders face in ensuring hospitals and health systems have the resources they need to deliver great care. “It’s brutal and much like dancing backward in high heels,” said Agnew, MBA, CPA, executive vice president and CFO for Valleywise…
Unlock the secret to faster, comprehensive diagnostic results
Discover how single-system syndromic testing can accelerate turnaround times and aid clinicians in identifying specific infections, even when symptoms are unclear.
Key Senate committee eyes healthcare reform in the name of affordability
As described at a recent Senate hearing, hospitals, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) all are under scrutiny by Congress in efforts to curb the growth in healthcare costs. The Senate Health, Labor Education and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a July 31 hearing to examine ways to make healthcare more affordable for consumers and other…
Annual Conference Day 1: HFMA’s Ann Jordan announces new tool to quantify the performance of the healthcare industry
HFMA is formally taking the lead in providing the healthcare industry with true measurements of the system’s capacity to meet present and future demand, President and CEO Ann Jordan announced Sunday. While kicking off HFMA’s 2025 Annual Conference in Denver, Jordan described the launch of the U.S. Healthcare Vitals Tracker, which “creates a common starting…