February 2021

Cover Story
Looking forward on addressing racial inequity in healthcare
Dalton Tong, a Black healthcare executive and two-term member of HFMA's Board in the 1990s, talks about his 50 years of experience in healthcare and his vision of how the sector can address the racial inequities that continue to exist within it.
Features
Why investing in hospital-acquired pressure injury prevention technology makes financial sense
Investing in technology that helps prevent costly hospital-acquired pressure injuries can result in significant cost savings for hospitals.
340B Program success depends on the quality of self-auditing
Healthcare organizations participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program should self-audit of their compliance with the program to ensure its ongoing success and effectiveness.
COVID-19 magnifies impact of SDOH on U.S. healthcare system
Population health management expert Jenifer Leaf Jaeger, MD, MPH, examines why the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more critical than ever for the U.S. providers to address the needs of people whose health and well-being are compromised by social determinants of health.
SDOH: An emerging population health priority
In recent years, public health and not-for-profit organizations have focused on addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and their impact on individuals’ wellness and ability to access healthcare services. Progress has been slow to date, but recent initiatives suggest use of effective approaches to addressing SDOH is gaining momentum.
Columns
'Here Comes the Sun'
HFMA Chair Michael Allen points to a lesson healthcare finance leaders can take away from the world's experience with COVID-19.
U.S. hospitals face bleak future after difficult 2020
The nation's hospitals face a long and difficult road ahead before they will see anything like a recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
How to use influence to enhance your powers of persuasion in the workplace
To exert influence, leaders should strive to establish credibility, reliability and empathy and know how to connect with different members of their teams.
The patient's role in innovation
Do you want to know what your parents are thinking? Try asking them.
Medicine should be for mind, body and spirit
Healthcare financial leaders can foster improved patient outcomes and well-being by advocating for an approach to healthcare that includes acknowledging the spiritual aspect of patients as human beings.
Haven and the dynamics of transformational change
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer offers a perspective on the implications of Haven’s dissolution for healthcare finance leaders.
Departments
Q&A: HFMA’s new learning platform detailed in this discussion with Strategy Senior Vice President Mary Mirabelli
HFMA’s impressive new e-learning platform upgrades are discussed in this Q&A with Mary Mirabelli, HFMA’s senior vice president of strategy.
Chapters New Jersey and Hudson Valley collaborate to host a magician, and Greater Heartland plays ‘Name That Tune’ for virtual social events
The New Jersey and Hudson Valley Chapters combined their efforts to put on a virtual show for their members, while the Greater Heartland Chapter had its members engaged with a ‘Name That Tune’ game.
News Briefs: CMS says it plans aggressive price transparency enforcement
CMS has notified hospitals that they should expect aggressive enforcement of new price transparency rules, including via audits that were slated to start in January.
Cowling named as new trustee to the AHA Board and Snyder announces retirement
This month’s People column features two members: Phyllis Cowling, who is a newly elected trustee on the AHA board and Rick Snyder who shares the news of his retirement.
Supplements
Empowering patients in a time of crisis
This infographic explores how healthcare organizations are expanding patient payment methods due to COVID-19 and the reason these new payment strategies are significant.
Odeza: Driving engagement through patient-centric digital communications
One company shares how it partners with health systems in delivering artificial intelligence-assisted digital communications through two-way SMS, voice, email, live chat and web-based chatbots for improved patient communication experience.
Navigating the unimaginable: A COVID-19 panel discussion with senior financial executives
A panel discussion with three CFOs of different health systems and hospitals focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on operational priorities and strategic directions.
AI, automation and RPA in the revenue cycle
Review how artificial intelligence, automation and robotic processing automation fit within the revenue cycle of the future and what steps hospitals and health systems are taking to design the revenue cycle of the future.
Reducing costs to collect while improving net patient revenue
In this sponsored roundtable, four healthcare revenue cycle leaders share strategies they followed to improve performance of their health systems and hospitals to financially recover from COVID-19.
A proactive approach to comprehensive clinical asset management helps healthcare systems maintain financial health
One company discusses its goal to help other health systems in keeping medical equipment throughout its full life expectancy, especially in a time of financial struggle.