Amid positive signs financially, hospitals continue to grapple with high costs in labor and other areas
The latest financial metrics for the hospital sector reflect a period of increasing stability but also sustained challenges. August financial data from more than 1,300 hospitals, as reported by Syntellis Performance Solutions, showed improvements in key metrics. The month-over-month increase in median operating margin was 3.5 percentage points, helping the year-to-date margin rise to 1.4%…
Buyer’s Guide: Patient financial engagement technologies
This whitepaper is a buyer’s guide to assist in understanding the benefits of how adopting new technology to increase patient financial engagement can improve the bottom line while improving the patient experience:
Why autonomous coding is having a moment in healthcare
Autonomous coding is growing in the healthcare industry, and the market is expected to reach $88 billion by 2030, up from $35 billion in 2022. Some expected outcomes of this include: Faster revenue cycle, less human intervention and improved patient satisfaction and care.
Hospitals push back on Senate report that calls out lack of spending on charity care
Not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals continue to be the subject of congressional scrutiny, with the chair of a key Senate committee issuing a report that questions whether they provide levels of charity care that are commensurate with their tax exemption. The report was released Oct. 10 by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Health, Education,…
Healthcare labor union activity gains steam: The consequences for hospitals and health systems
Note: The lead section of this article was updated Oct. 16 with news of a tentative agreement between Kaiser Permanente and the unions. When around 75,000 staff at Kaiser Permanente went on strike for three days starting Oct. 4, they represented more than just the largest-ever labor stoppage in the healthcare industry. They also exemplified…
Insights on population health management challenges through the eyes of C-suite leaders
Population health management is at a crossroads, and one key to ensuring its viability is to bolster stakeholder trust in the potential of value-based payment (VBP) models. That was a key takeaway from healthcare executives who took part in a September panel discussion at the 23rd annual Population Health Colloquium, hosted by the Jefferson College…
Is This the Age of the Payvider?
By now, most health systems are familiar with the term payvider, and many are weighing the pros and cons of initiating their own payvider solution. The critical tipping point to act may well be here today, as health systems feel increased pressure to make greater financial and strategic impact for their organizations even as conditions…
It starts with mental health: How caring for transgender youth makes for healthier adults
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality, returns to the podcast to discuss the misconceptions around transition-related care for young people.
Susan Dentzer: Is consolidation in healthcare the work of modern-day robber barons — or the result of overdue reengineering?
The most successful industrialists of America’s Gilded Age were often skewered by contemporary critics as being robber barons. A new generation of naysayers wants to recycle the old rhetoric, this time targeting organizations focused on healthcare: The critics’ clear message: Big money is helping healthcare get bigger, and it’s a bad deal all around. Many…
News Briefs: Reports quantify how cost increases will affect the healthcare industry in 2024
The cost to treat patients will accelerate in the upcoming year, according to newly published projections. PwC’s Health Research Institute reported that the cost of providing care will increase by 7%, up from a 6% increase this year and 5.5% in 2022. A 7% increase would tie 2021 for the highest annual change in the…