Healthcare providers face Medicare payment-rate penalties for information blocking under new rule
Healthcare providers will receive a lower Medicare payment update if they are deemed to have engaged in information blocking, according to a final rule from HHS and CMS. For hospitals, a violation will leave the organization noncompliant with the Promoting Interoperability Program, meaning it would lose out on three-quarters of the annual market-basket update for…
Answering the Change Healthcare wakeup call
Greg Surla and Jeff Becker from FinThrive discuss how healthcare organizations can prepare for the inevitable next attack and how to ensure business continuity in the aftermath.
Annual Conference Day 4: Geeta Nayyar discusses information gaps and the promise and perils of technology
Applications of technology and the purveyance of information are key issues impacting the efficacy of the healthcare system, author and healthcare technology expert Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA, explained during Thursday’s keynote session in Las Vegas. In a sit-down discussion with HFMA President and CEO Ann Jordan, Nayyar described working at the intersection of medicine and…
Annual Conference Day 3: UnitedHealth, Optum executives discuss resilience strategies for healthcare
Especially after being on the front lines of the most impactful cyberattack to hit the healthcare industry, leaders with UnitedHealth Group (UHG) and Optum have plenty of thoughts on how stakeholders can shore up their defenses. UHG is the parent company and Optum a sister company of Change Healthcare, which was the target of a…
Annual Conference Day 2: Keynote speaker Suneel Gupta expounds on the importance of recharging
Rest and breaks from work should be viewed not as a reward, but as a resource that supports performance, Suneel Gupta, wellness CEO, best-selling author and visiting scholar with Harvard Medical School, told HFMA Annual Conference attendees during Tuesday’s keynote presentation in Las Vegas. “When we look at the science behind human performance, what we…
Congress seeks to keep the momentum going on improvements to prior authorization
Members of Congress are revitalizing efforts to pass legislation that would streamline prior authorization in Medicare Advantage (MA). A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators reintroduced the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, a bill that unanimously passed the House in September 2022 but did not receive a vote in the Senate. One obstacle at…
Personalized communication helps State provide the highest possible recovery and patient-satisfaction rates for clients
Learn about a company that combines advanced technology with human interaction to increase recoveries and patient satisfaction.
Engaging in operating rule development and adoption amidst the era of healthcare automation
Over the past two decades, the healthcare industry has collaborated to accelerate automation, alleviate administrative burdens and lower the cost of conducting common business transactions. Although much work remains to be done to streamline healthcare administration, the industry’s approach to developing and implementing operating rules to improve revenue cycle automation, independent of standards development, is…
HHS issues regulations to strengthen anti-discriminatory protections in healthcare (updated)
July 3 update A judge with the Southern District of Mississippi federal court granted an injunction preventing the Biden administration from enforcing regulations expanding anti-discrimination protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Issued two days before the new rule was to take effect, the order applies to the provisions concerning gender identity. The move came…
Ascension systems remain down after cyberattack
Executives with Ascension health system, St. Louis, are keeping in contact with leading law enforcement agencies and industry organizations as they work to restore systems that were shuttered by a cyberattack. The apparent ransomware attack has led to a shutdown of different systems that will last for an undetermined period of time. The attack also…