Healthcare News of Note: Amazon Care’s virtual health services are now available nationwide, and in-person care services are launching in more than 20 new cities in 2022
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Amazon Care plans to expand in-person care to 20+ new cities in 2022, GAO raises concerns about HHS’s leadership and coordination of public health emergencies, and a new study shows more physicians suffered burnout in 2021 than in 2020.
Senate panel discusses ways to address Medicare financing — and the consequences of not acting
Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage could be prime targets as Congress seeks to shore up the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund before it becomes insolvent in 2026 as projected.
Paul Keckley: The healthcare regulatory climate for 2022 — What to expect
Hospitals, physicians and long-term care and ancillary service providers can anticipate significant changes in the regulatory climate in 2022. Although such changes are predictable, context is key: Regulatory policymaking in healthcare in the current environment is limited by disfunctional gridlock in Congress, the fact that 2022 is a mid-term election year and a high level of public anxiety about the economy and healthcare.
Healthcare News of Note: Drug manufacturers reap $6.7 billion in provider relief funding, leaving hospitals and health systems with no aid allotted for the delta and omicron surges
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: $7 billion from the Provider Relief Fund was used by the Biden administration to pay drug manufacturers, HHS takes a strong stance on requiring health plan/insurance issuers to deliver parity for mental health and substance-use disorder benefits, and investors show continued interest in healthcare M&A in 2022.
Newly released financial data show pandemic-related challenges intensifying for hospitals
Issues with expenses and unstable volumes hindered hospital finances and operations as 2021 drew to a close.
Optimizing the revenue cycle by streamlining and automating payment collections
Nine healthcare finance professionals dive into strategies to help entities evolve to meet challenges faced by providers and payers in finding qualified employees in today’s workforce.
Tammie Jackson: In healthcare finance, bold pursuits require persistence and curiosity
HFMA's 2021-22 Chair says addressing health system challenges such as racial and ethnic disparities in quality of care and limited access to care among some populations due to social determinants of health requires boldness and persistence.
Latest healthcare spending data paint a complicated picture of industry challenges and opportunities
Healthcare spending patterns during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reflect an industry trying to get its bearings amid a public health emergency and daunting long-term trends.
‘A just cause’: HFMA’s CEoH initiative addresses the factors that impede quality of health and raise healthcare costs
HFMA is moving forward with a global effort focused on the concept of cost effectiveness of health (CEoH), with the goal for promoting development of a system for care that is needed, accessible and affordable. A key message of this effort is that a broader focus on improving cost effectiveness of health — not just of healthcare — should be a strategic priority for healthcare leaders.
David Johnson: Cracks in the foundation — 5 structural defects are undermining nonprofit healthcare
The relentless organizational imperative under which nonprofit healthcare providers operate to optimize revenues under fee-for-service medicine has led to fragmented care delivery, unsustainable cost growth and severed connections with American consumers. Nonprofits should address five structural defects to their modus operandi that stand in the way of their delivering care empathetically and cost effectively to their patients.