2026 MAP Awards presented to 20 organizations for revenue cycle performance
CHICAGO (March 18, 2026) – The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) announced the 2026 winners of the MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle, including three integrated delivery systems, eight hospital systems, four individual hospitals, two critical access hospitals and three physician practices. “We want to congratulate these award winners for their dedicated efforts to strengthen…
Unlocking Hidden Margin: How Health Systems Are Thinking About AI, Automation, and Revenue Risk
This report reflects how hospital revenue leaders are thinking about margin protection, payer behavior, and AI investment heading into 2026.
Panel: AI can improve prior authorization in healthcare but won’t solve all the issues
New approaches to prior authorization are crucial to improve a process that remains essential to supporting healthcare quality, according to a subject matter expert. “Prior auth exists because there’s a bell curve of care in the United States,” said Jeremy Friese, MD, founder and CEO of Humata Health, referring to substantial variability “from a safety…
Midwestern Health System unlocks 80% coding automation and upskills teams for complex cases
To address the various challenges of manual coding, download this white paper to learn about a solution implemented to help read clinical documentation, assign codes, and prepare visits for billing without human intervention.
Gen AI is coming for medical bills: 3 ways to prepare
Patients are behind one of the latest applications of AI to the healthcare revenue cycle, and they are using it to review their bills. Stories of consumers using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools to trim thousands from their medical bills by questioning charges are appearing in the news and social media. YahooFinance wrote about…
How to optimize the revenue cycle workforce in 2026
In 2026, revenue cycle performance is inseparable from workforce design. Health systems are navigating sustained margin pressure, rising patient cost responsibility and escalating payer complexity — all while competing for limited domestic talent. Recent Kaufman Hall National Hospital Flash Reports continue to show margin volatility across U.S. hospitals, with labor costs and payer-related delays remaining…
Automating mid-revenue cycle workflows: What to consider
In this HFMA executive roundtable, 11 healthcare revenue cycle and health information management executives share how they’re implementing AI solutions and shifting traditional staffing strategies as these new tools take hold.
AI Adoption in denials management lags as other RCM uses expand
Denials management, one of the toughest tasks in hospital revenue cycle management (RCM) deserves more attention from AI experts, but RCM execs are not diving in with AI solutions for multiple reasons. About one in five healthcare providers apply AI to denials management, a 2025 Bain & Co. survey found. Instead, providers have turned more…
Battle of the Bots intensifies over denials
Healthcare payer claim denials are getting smaller, sneakier and faster. The battle of the bots over healthcare claims payment delivered record blows in 2025, with initial denials sometimes occurring within seconds of submission.a “Payers are becoming more sophisticated in their use of AI, and the denials are coming faster than we can keep up,” said…
Affordability under pressure: How hospitals are responding to rising patient cost burdens
When the initial shock of a Stage 4 colorectal cancer diagnosis wore off, Tampa Bay, Florida, resident Tim McDonald, 57, says a new devastation quickly set in: The cost of what it might take to save his life. McDonald has been outspoken about his experience in dealing with colorectal cancer and has become a strong advocate for education…