Healthcare Finance Technology

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…

Nick Hut May 14, 2024

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…

Paul Barr, MS, MBA May 13, 2024

Congressional hearings on the Change Healthcare cyberattack bring attention to providers’ continuing predicament

Two congressional hearings involving the CEO of UnitedHealth Group offered few concrete solutions to the issues surrounding the Change Healthcare cyberattack but did highlight the ongoing pressures facing healthcare stakeholders. Andrew Witty, the CEO, was questioned May 1 by the Senate Finance Committee in the morning and a House subcommittee in the afternoon. For providers…

Nick Hut May 2, 2024

Navigate the new norms in telehealth billing and coding practices

While telehealth has been around for decades, its adoption soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Medical Association, telehealth use grew 70% in 2020. While the use of telehealth since then has leveled off, it remains a valuable and popular care option. More than half of patients surveyed said they prefer telehealth for…

HFMA April 4, 2024

What the Change Healthcare cyberattack means for the future of the industry

In this episode, HFMA Senior Editor Nick Hut and Policy Director Shawn Stack discuss the latest developments on the Change Healthcare cyberattack, and Joshua Corman, founder of cybersecurity organization I Am the Cavalry, shares insights on what should come next in healthcare.

Erika Grotto April 1, 2024

News Briefs: Providers face trying times  in the first month after the Change Healthcare cyberattack  

Healthcare providers struggled financially and operationally in the first 30 days after a Feb. 21 cyberattack forced the shutdown of Change Healthcare’s claims submission and payment systems, among more than  100 other applications.  As of the week of March 18, parent company UnitedHealth Group had restored Change Healthcare’s payment platform and was reporting progress in…

Nick Hut March 30, 2024

Joshua Corman unpacks the consequences of the Change Healthcare cyberattack on an HFMA podcast episode 

The February cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group, continues to cause concern and frustration for providers.a The March 25 episode of HFMA’s “Voices in Healthcare Finance” podcast featured an interview about the long-term effects with Joshua Corman, founder of I Am the Cavalry, an organization focused on cybersecurity, and former chief strategist for…

Erika Grotto March 29, 2024

Dennis Dahlen: Of Blackcats and the dark web: The value of HFMA in times of crisis 

The repercussions from the large-scale cyberattack perpetrated by ALPHV Blackcat on Change Healthcare — a company that touches one out of three patient records — likely will be felt for months, the American Hospital Association (AHA) suggests. That’s why it was so important that HFMA take a lead role in getting answers for members and…

Dennis E. Dahlen, FHFMA, MBA, CPA March 29, 2024

The FY24 HHS budget covers key programs for rural hospitals while tightening spending in some areas

The newly passed budget covering HHS during the remainder of FY24 contains notable provisions for healthcare providers. The roughly $117 billion departmental budget for the next six months was set in an appropriations bill that was passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden within hours of the March 22 expiration of funding for…

Nick Hut March 25, 2024

Budgeting for healthcare technology is not just a numbers game

In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a rapid proliferation of new technologies with promising healthcare applications. This trend has created a challenge for most U.S. hospitals and health systems, given their severe budget constraints, in deciding which of these new technologies constitute the best investment options for their organizations. Add to their technology…

Liz DeForest March 25, 2024
googletag.cmd.push( function () { googletag.display( 'hfma-gpt-leaderboard' ); } );