Utilization Management

Healthcare News of Note: 5% of U.S. adults are forgoing healthcare due to transportation barriers

This blog share synopses of three stories for healthcare finance professionals, including Adults with transportation issues forgo needed healthcare and pediatric hospital admissions involving ICU care are increasing.

Deborah Filipek May 15, 2023

Labor costs and other concerns dampen the outlook for not-for-profit hospitals this year

Insights from a leading credit-rating agency illustrate the scope of the financial challenges facing not-for-profit hospitals in 2023.

Nick Hut January 10, 2023

The hospital labor picture could be improving, but a full financial recovery isn’t imminent

The financial and operational stress that has hampered hospitals may be easing in some ways, but probably not enough to qualify as a holiday gift for a beleaguered industry. Recent reports from credit-rating agencies have presented a mixed outlook. For example, Fitch Ratings released an analysis in December showing “incremental signs of improvement” in the staffing situation…

Nick Hut December 15, 2022

Pandemic brought increases in the number of patients leaving the ED without being seen

Deferred care appeared to become more widespread in the emergency department amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study.

Nick Hut October 21, 2022

Healthcare News of Note: U.S. hospitals performed 106,474 unnecessary procedures on older adults during the ‘dangerous’ first year of COVID-19

Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: 106,474 unnecessary procedures were performed on older adults in hospitals early in the pandemic, 55% of patients in rural areas relied on telehealth to receive outpatient mental health and substance use services in March-August 2021, and women and people of color with chest pain wait longer to be seen by a physician.

Deborah Filipek June 21, 2022

Latest financial metrics for hospitals show reasons for optimism but also persistent challenges

Hospital financial performance partially recovered in March as patient volumes returned to something closer to normal after a significant downturn during the omicron wave.

Nick Hut May 4, 2022

News Briefs: Report finds unwillingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine drove healthcare job cuts in January

A roundup of top news for healthcare finance professionals.

Nick Hut March 1, 2022

Research seeks to pinpoint health system characteristics associated with the tendency to ‘overuse’ healthcare

Higher bed counts, fewer primary care physicians and investor ownership are among the characteristics of health systems that tend to overuse healthcare, according to a new study.

Nick Hut January 20, 2022

Healthcare News of Note: U.S. will be short 3.2 million lower-wage healthcare workers within 5 years, says Mercer

Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Shortages of lower-wage healthcare workers, nurses, physicians and mental health staff are expected, PHI security and burnout are of concern to most healthcare professionals, and the pandemic is expected to affect health insurance rates.

Deborah Filipek October 8, 2021

Healthcare News of Note: Average billed charge for complex COVID-19 hospitalizations is more than three times the allowed amount

Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: $317,810 is the average charge for a complex COVID-19 hospitalization, the pandemic has had a unique impact on people with disabilities, and transitional clinic care brings posthospitalization benefits for medically complex patients.

Deborah Filipek October 1, 2021
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