Healthcare-specific resources, and content on budgeting, cost of care and reporting requirements.
Accounting and Financial Reporting
News
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Cost of Care
A monthly roundup of top news for healthcare finance professionals.
By Nick Hut
News
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Cost of Care
Bringing longer stays and higher rates of deferred care, the COVID-19 pandemic is adversely affecting 340B eligibility for some hospitals.
By Nick Hut
How To
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
COVID-19 will have long-term impacts on the operations of hospitals, and on their costs in particular., making it imperative that hospitals be mindful of how those impacts extend to their cost report data.
By K. Michael Nichols, FHFMA, CPA
News
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Cost of Care
Latest healthcare spending data paint a complicated picture of industry challenges and opportunities
Healthcare spending patterns during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reflect an industry trying to get its bearings amid a public health emergency and daunting long-term trends.
By Nick Hut
Blog
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Cost of Care
An annual report by CMS actuaries quantified the extent to which healthcare costs accelerated during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, while a separate survey looked at affordability.
By Nick Hut
Column
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Cost of Care
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer discusses some of the ways that healthcare provider organizations are vulnerable to disruption.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
News
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Wage Index
Wage index adjustments leave some hospitals at a disadvantage and are costly for the Medicare program, according to policy advisers.
By Nick Hut
News
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Cost of Care
A new report issued by a leading health plan is the latest sign that hospitals and health systems can expect payers to ramp up implementation of site-neutral payments.
By Nick Hut
Blog
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
Creation of a national database with information from health systems’ audited financial statements would give policymakers a better sense of how to respond to financial trends, according to researchers.
By Nick Hut
Blog
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Cost of Care
As the healthcare industry emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, annual costs are expected to increase by slightly more than they did in recent pre-pandemic years.
By Nick Hut
Article
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
A momentous year in the history of HFMA was 1982, when the Association changed its name and broadened its focus from the hospital Financial Management Association to the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Column
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Cost of Care
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer reflects on the need to assess cost effectiveness of health through the eyes of care purchasers.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
News
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
Passage of Medicare in 1965 would have a profound effect on the American Association of Hospital Accounting, resulting in a change of name and direction for the Association.
News
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Cost of Care
Healthcare leaders will begin collaborating on how to address the industry’s continuous spending growth and work toward a more sustainable future during HFMA's virtual Cost Effectiveness of Health Summit May 6-7.
By Deborah Filipek
News
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Cost of Care
HFMA’s director of professional practice and clinical relationships discusses the importance of the Association’s Cost Effectiveness of Health event.
By Deborah Filipek
News
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Cost of Care
One witness at a hearing of a House subcommittee touted price transparency as an essential tool for addressing healthcare costs.
By Nick Hut
News
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Cost of Care
If site-neutral payments were implemented throughout healthcare, the reduction in expenditures could total as much as $672 billion over a decade, according to a new report.
By Nick Hut
Blog
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Cost of Care
A Government Accountability Office report finds that Medicare pays more to cover drugs used in hospital outpatient settings when pass-through payment status is in effect.
By Nick Hut
News
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Transparency
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the Trump administration will continue with price transparency initiatives, and she believes they will not increase healthcare prices.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer and Editor
News
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
GASB is seeking volunteer organizations to test new governmental accounting standard rules.
By HFMA staff
News
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Transparency
Hospital advocates highlighted a range of statutory and cost concerns in amicus briefs to an appeals court considering a CMS price transparency requirement.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
News
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Transparency
Hospitals have told CMS a proposed expansion of coming transparency requirements would increase their costs and costs of care overall.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
News
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Transparency
Hospitals have a lot of costly work to do to meet CMS requirements to publicly post the rates they negotiate with health plans.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
Blog
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Transparency
While the Trump administration prevailed in the first round of the lawsuit challenging its price transparency policy, the American Hospital Association has indicated it will appeal the ruling.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
News
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Audit and Internal Controls
Internal audit is a risk-management function that becomes increasingly important for hospitals and health systems in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Eric C. Reese, PhD
News
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
Healthcare finance professionals can learn how to weather the COVID-19 storm, leverage the silver linings and look toward a sustainable future during HFMA's multidate virtual event, which kicks off June 24 and June 26.
By Deborah Filipek, HFMA Senior Editor
How To
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
For health systems, the decline in financial performance due to COVID-19 creates a triggering event for interim or annual impairment testing of certain assets on the balance sheet.
By Tejash Lodhavia, ASA, CVA
Blog
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Transparency
The May 7 hearing regarding CMS's controversial price transparency policy is likely the opening act in what may be a long series of appeals to the lawsuit filed against the Trump administration.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
Research & Reports
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
A recent survey by HFMA and Strata Decision Technology found that, although 85% of health systems and 57% of hospitals and medical centers havecost accounting systems, most are not fully adept in using cost data to reduce total cost of care...
By Jeni Williams
News
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Physician Practice Revenue
Practices can qualify for CARES Act grants even if they have no diagnosed or suspected COVID-19 patients.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
Podcast
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
Ed Giniat, a partner at KPMG, discusses the challenges of financial reporting during the coronavirus crisis and the guidance his organization has issued on the topic.
News
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Transparency
Hospitals and health plans will face new patient data transparency requirements in as soon as six months under two new final rules from the federal government.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
News
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Transparency
Shortcomings in quality data limit its usefulness to enrollees, health plans say.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
Blog
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Budgeting
HFMA’s Chad Mulvany provides a list of Medicare and Medicaid regulatory payment impacts to consider when developing budgets.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
News
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Transparency
A complete listing of healthcare finance-related hearings, conferences, webinars, public forums and deadlines for the week of Jan. 27.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
Blog
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Cost of Care
Healthcare providers are likely to experience increased scrutiny and pressure to lower healthcare costs in 2020. To help its members successfully navigate this new environment, HFMA is hosting its first Financial Sustainability Summit April...
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
News
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Transparency
CMS will accept feedback for an additional two weeks on a proposed rule requiring health plan price transparency.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
Trend
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
Access to real-time data allows healthcare leaders to act on the activities that need immediate attention before they escalate to more serious problems.
By John Gragg
Blog
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
Health systems are likely to continue to issue bonds right now for two reasons, including taxable and tax-exempt interest rates that are too good to miss.
By Chuck Alsdurf
Article
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Cost of Care
A leading chargemaster company discusses its commitment to helping healthcare organizations understand their total cost of care and make strategic decisions to grow and protect margin.
News
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Transparency
A newly finalized requirement will require hospitals to post rates that are privately negotiated with health plans, as well as rates for a list of 300 “shoppable services.”
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer and editor
Blog
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Transparency
Strata Decision Technology breaks down how providers can set defensible, geographically-sensitive prices that can be made visible to consumers without concern of backlash.
By Strata Decision Technology
News
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Transparency
A controversial requirement for hospitals to publicly post the rates they negotiate with health plans is expected this month, according to a senior White House official.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
How To
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Cost of Care
Focus group identifies the promise and challenges of total cost of care.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
How To
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
Finance leaders of not-for-profit healthcare organizations should follow eight steps when considering whether to adopt the accounting alternatives made available to their organizations by the FASB's Accounting Standards Update 2019-16.
By Christian Heuer, FHFMA, CFA, ASA
How To
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
The FASB’'s Accounting Standards Codification Topic 850, Business Combinations, states that such combinations generally involve five basic steps.
By Christian Heuer, FHFMA, CFA, ASA
Article
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
A FASB Financial Accounting Standards Update now allows not-for-profit healthcare entities to adopt an accounting alternative previously available only to non-public business entities, but the not-for-profits may find it more beneficial not...
By Christian Heuer, FHFMA, CFA, ASA
Podcast
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
In this episode sponsored by Strata Decision Technology, CEO Dan Michelson talks about the future of value-based care and the joint effort between HFMA and Strata to introduce the industry's first cost accounting adoption model.
Column
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Transparency
From the President: HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer outlines strategies for addressing consumerism in three time frames simultaneously.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
Trend
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Bad Debt and Charity Care Reporting
Data Trends: Bad debt expense as a percentage of revenue for U.S. hospitals declined from 2015 through 2018.
By William Shoemaker
Trend
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Transparency
A recent survey of healthcare organizations on price transparency indicates posting prices online has had little positive or negative impact on most hospitals.
By Scott Houk
News
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Transparency
In response to concerns hospital advocates have raised about several price and quality transparency initiatives proposed by the Trump administration, one of the administration’s senior healthcare leaders said it will double down on those ef...
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
Blog
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Budgeting
A review of the possible implications for alternative payment models and provider payment rates in the wake of the national debt cresting at $1 trillion with a possible recession looming.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
Fact Sheet
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
This document provides an overview of the CMS requirement that Medicare/Medicaid crossover balances be recorded as bad debt expense.
News
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Transparency
Supporters of a proposal for hospitals to release their health plan-negotiated rates, so far, have dominated comments on it to CMS.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
Blog
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Transparency
HFMA's Chad Mulvany offers insight into the major issues associated with CMS’s proposed new requirement for hospitals to post negotiated rates.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
Trend
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
A study finds that the combined cost of malpractice premiums, paid losses and self-insurance costs for acute care hospitals with a filing available ending between 2013 and 2017 declined over the five-year period.
By William Shoemaker
Article
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
As demonstrated by the experiences of two health systems, developing an effective post-acute care strategy requires a focus on the discharge-planning process, stakeholder engagement, and data to promote stakeholder awareness.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
Column
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Transparency
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer discusses new legislative proposals related to consumerism in the context of HFMA’s best practices.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
Blog
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Transparency
HFMA’s Chad Mulvany provides insight on the Trump Administration’s June 24 executive order aimed at improving price and quality transparency.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
News
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Cost of Care
HFMA Chair urges attendees “dare to move” to address challenges in healthcare finance.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
News
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Transparency
Hospital and health leaders were urged by their colleagues to watch for and comment on coming rules implementing this week’s White House executive order on price transparency.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
News
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Transparency
A new transparency executive order will require proposed rules within two months that could require release of negotiated hospital health plan rates.
By Rich Daly, HFMA senior writer/editor
News
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Transparency
An expected executive order on healthcare price transparency continues to change, even as its release has been delayed, say policy watchers.
By Rich Daly
Research & Reports
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
Hospital executives say results of a new HFMA study are true: A range of higher-profile priorities, including simple survival, has kept their organizations from improving their cost-accounting abilities for almost a decade.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer/Editor
Blog
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Transparency
What can be expected if President Trump releases an executive order to mandate the disclosure of prices in the healthcare industry.
By Chad Mulvany, FHFMA
News
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Principles and Practices Board
Stay ahead of healthcare news and developments with this listing of hearings, conferences, webinars, contests, public forums and deadlines for the week of May 6.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer/Editor
Column
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Cost of Care
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer highlights the need to consider post-acute care in the context of reducing the total cost of care.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
News
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Cost of Care
Biologics comprised less than 1% of Geisinger Health’s claims but were approaching 50% of its total drug spending. That is, until a comparative effectiveness program halted the rapid increase.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer/Editor
How To
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
A modified approach to activity-based costing can balance an organization’s desire for operational excellence with its need for repeatable, low-maintenance solutions.
By Catherine Savage, CPA, and Daniel Seargeant
How To
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
A modified approach to activity-based costing can balance an organization’s desire for operational excellence with its need for repeatable, low-maintenance solutions.
By Catherine Savage, CPA, and Daniel Seargeant
Case Study
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Cost of Care
Savvy project management can reduce construction costs and improve patient satisfaction.
By Jeff Janicek
News
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Cost of Care
Affordability concerns are impacting the healthcare of a growing number of Americans, according to new polling. However, there is little chance that Congress will address that issue before the 2020 election, political analysts say.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer/Editor
Trend
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Cost of Care
A recent study by HFMA and other partners revealed the factors that impact total cost of care.
Blog
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Cost of Care
HFMA’s Chad Mulvany reviews results of a recent West Health and Gallup Poll survey of public opinion related to healthcare costs.
By Chad Mulvany
News
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Quality and Cost Reporting
Hospital advocates hope an appeal tuned to the Trump administration’s focus on reducing costly and time-consuming provider burdens will pay off in an overhaul of the hospital star-rating system.
By Rich Daly, HFMA Senior Writer/Editor
Comment Letter
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Cost of Care
This letter contains HFMA's recommendations to the Senate HELP committee on ways to reduce the total cost of care while improving patient outcomes.
How To
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Accounting and Financial Reporting
HFMA President and CEO Joe Fifer discusses the new cost accounting model launched as a collaboration between HFMA and Strata Decision Technology.
By Joseph J. Fifer, FHFMA, CPA
How To
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Cost of Care
Although more time and evidence are needed to prove the efficacy of population-based VBP models, there are other models that may be more appropriate for different populations.
Trend
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Cost of Care
The average cost for an overdose patient who was treated and released totaled $504, but the average cost rose to $11,731 for those that were treated and admitted to a hospital.
Trend
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Cost of Care
Subscribers can access the February 2019 issue of Healthcare Cost Containment.
News
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Cost of Care
Feb. 15—Hospitals and health systems are increasingly pushing to better identify and reduce costs of care.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
News
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Transparency
Feb. 13—A requirement that hospitals share specific information electronically at discharge in order to participate in Medicare was one of several hospital-focused provisions in a new federal data-sharing push.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
News
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Cost of Care
Feb. 11—Amid an industrywide effort to better identify and reduce the cost of care, the HFMA-Strata L7 Cost Accounting Adoption Model, known as the L7 Model, was introduced this week.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
Tools & Tips
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
HFMA and Strata are introducing the L7 Cost Accounting Adoption Model to help healthcare providers access accurate cost data via the use of advanced cost accounting.
News
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Transparency
Feb. 7—As hospitals work to meet increasing federal price transparency requirements, a senior Trump administration official said they need to move beyond those requirements.
By Rich Daly
How To
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
A critical access hospital’s cost of delivering care to Medicare patients is estimated using the cost accounting data that these Medicare-certified institutions submit annually to CMS via Medicare cost reports.
News
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Cost of Care
Jan. 25—Although cost and quality are common features of value-based payment, a less common component is ensuring the provision of appropriate care.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
How To
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Cost of Care
Healthcare providers can use patient-level costing to obtain accurate costing information.
By Gary Cokins, Raef Lawson, PhD, CMA, CSCA, CPA, CFA, and Rob Tholemeier
How To
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
There is a potential connection between the use of the idea of activities with respect to patient-level costing to activity-based costing (ABC) and its variant time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC).
News
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Transparency
Dec. 20—The newly divided Congress is expected to agree on little about healthcare policy, with the likely exceptions of legislation to require greater transparency and to address surprise bills, according to a legislative tracking firm.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
Trend
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Cost of Care
Subscribers can access the December 2018 issue of Healthcare Cost Containment.
Trend
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Cost of Care
Pressure ulcer treatment can be as high as $150,000 and can add approximately $40,000 to a hospital stay.
How To
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Budgeting
For some healthcare providers, a combined budgeting approach using advanced statistical forecasting techniques in conjunction with a rolling budget process provides an optimum balance between traditional budgeting techniques and future fore...
By John Gragg
Trend
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Costing and Managerial Accounting
An analysis of factors driving increases in payment in the U.S healthcare industry, using Equivalent Discharges as the volume metric, finds that 84 percent of the increase are related to increased population and intensity of service.
By William O. Cleverley and PhD
News
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Wage Index
Nov. 27—The Trump administration is mulling changes to the Medicare hospital wage index system, including the creation of a commuting-based wage index, according to federal officials.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor
Trend
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
Healthcare organizations should be prepared for a lease accounting standard, effective in 2019, that changes the way they are required to report leases on their balance sheets.
By Bill Hanlon, Jay Miele, Jenna Magan, Mayling Leong, and Katie Proux
How To
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FASB and GASB Rules and Guidelines
The FASB’s Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02 – Leases (Topic 842) describes how to determine whether a lease should be classified as an operating or a finance lease.
How To
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Return on Investment
When acquiring a medical group, health systems should eschew blunt profit and loss statements in favor of more precise approaches, using market metrics to assess each site or specialty.
By Fredrick T. Horton
News
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Transparency
Nov. 16—Healthcare executives expect widely divergent impacts from the unprecedented transparency on charges that hospitals are required to implement within six weeks.
By Rich Daly and HFMA senior writer/editor