Healthcare Financial Management articles from April 2005

Healthcare Financial Management archives from April 2005

Who should "fix" the nation's healthcare system?( )(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2005... The column by HFMA's president and CEO Richard L. Clarke published in the November issue of hfm ("Who Owns this Problem?," p. 148) raised some significant issues that I believe warrant comment. I spent 35 years in the healthcare industry,...

Administration outlines Medicaid funding framework.( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... There will be no block grants for Medicaid, President Bush and HHS secretary Mike Leavitt told attendees of the National Governors Association winter meeting in early March. Additionally, the administration wants to provide more flexibility...

MedPAC publishes 2006 recommendations to Congress.(Payment Advisory Committee)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recently published its annual recommendations to Congress for the payment systems covering services provided by hospitals, physicians, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and outpatient...

New Medicare claims appeals process established.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... CMS has posted to its web site an interim final rule establishing new regulations for implementing structural and procedural changes to the existing Medicare claims appeals process required by the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000...

CMS proposes competitive bidding for physician-administered drugs.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
April 1, 2005... Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, physicians will be given the option to either obtain physician-administered Part B drugs from vendors selected through a competitive bidding process or purchase drugs directly, according to a CMS proposed rule published...

... CMS has published the 2005 updates to the Medicare ambulance fee schedule and ambulance reasonable charge public use file.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ... CMS has published the 2005 updates to the Medicare ambulance fee schedule and ambulance reasonable charge public use file. The reasonable charge PUF displays 100 percent of the reasonable charge amount by HCPCS procedure code for each...

... CMS has changed the calculation of payment-to-cost ratios used to determine transitional corridor payments under the outpatient PPS.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... ... CMS has changed the calculation of payment-to-cost ratios used to determine transitional corridor payments under the outpatient PPS. The change, which will affect only providers with the CRNA exception, goes back to hospital cost--reporting...

Tax-exempt executive compensation, governance come under scrutiny.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... At a Feb. 4 meeting, IRS representatives confirmed that the agency has begun its compensation review project targeting tax-exempt organizations. The IRS said it expected to contact 1,784 tax-exempt organizations and make inquiries regarding the...

IRF criteria transmittal addresses status verification.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... CMS has clarified the existing policy on determining whether inpatient rehabilitation facilities meet PPS payment criteria. The transmittal outlines the timing of reviews, the compliance assessment period, the compliance percentage...

CMS urges provider action to head off denials.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... CMS issued special instructions Feb. 16 to address increased denials due to claims and beneficiary record data conflicts. An October 2004 software change that required an exact match on beneficiary first initial, surname, and health insurance...

Not-for-profit sector panel makes recommendations.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has received recommendations from the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector for the improvement of governance and oversight of charities and foundations. Considered an...

CMS adds guidance on employer drug benefit subsidy.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The subsidy to employers or unions for providing drug coverage to retirees is expected to average about $668 per person per year, according to new CMS guidance on the subsidy and employer responsibilities. The CMS guidance supplements the...

Looking for a Medicaid fix: since late 2001, the states' fiscal crises have commanded national media attention and dominated the agenda of state governors and legislators.( )
April 1, 2005... During the past four fiscal years, the states have closed an aggregated budget gap of $236 billion. Although the overall economy has improved in 2005 and states' revenue problems have stabilized, Medicaid continues to exert pressure on state...

Controlling costs is everyone's job: all of us have experienced the angst of the annual budgeting process.
April 1, 2005... As we put together assumptions for the coming year, we see cost and technology inflation far outpace rate increases from third-party payers. That gap eats into our revenue, sometimes even sending the organization into a loss status. Thus, cost...

Consumer-driven plans gain popularity among employees.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... More employees than ever are enrolling in consumer-driven plans, according to a Hewitt study released Feb. 9. On average, more than half (56 percent) of all employees at each company who were offered a consumer-driven customized design plan...

Medicare seniors' access to physician care stabilized.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... After a significant decline in 2001, Medicare seniors' access to physician services stabilized in 2003, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change. Privately insured people between the ages of 55 and 64 experienced...

U.S. public divided on EHR privacy risks.(Industry Watch)(electronic health record )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... U.S. adults are divided on whether potential privacy risks associated with a patient electronic health record system outweigh the expected benefits to patients and society, according to Alan F. Westin, PhD, professor emeritus of public law and...

January consumer medical costs increase slightly.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Consumers' out-of-pocket costs for medical care in January increased 0.4 percent, after increasing 0.3 percent in December 2004, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By comparison, the January Consumer Price Index for all urban...

Hospital philanthropy outlook troubled.(Industry Watch)
April 1, 2005... Although the future of philanthropy looks bright, the outlook is less robust for hospital philanthropy, especially for community hospitals, according to Forces of Change: The Coming Challenges in Hospital Philanthropy, a new book published by...

Hospitals recognize inevitability of EHRs.(Industry Watch)(electronic health record )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The electronic health record is the most important IT application to be dealt with in the next year, according to more than 60 percent of respondents to the 16th annual leadership survey conducted by the Health Information and Management...

HMOs show strong profitability in first half of 2004.(health maintenance organizations)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Fifty percent of the nation's HMOs are considered financially strong, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and other financial data. According to figures in the second quarter of 2004, the...

Americans value prescription drug benefits, but say companies prioritize profits.(Industry Watch)
April 1, 2005... Americans believe prescription drugs are improving their lives, but most say the drug industry cares more about profits than people, according to the latest Kaiser Health Poll Report, issued by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Nearly eight in...

Majority of ED physicians experience violence.(emergency department)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Seventy-six percent of 171 emergency department physicians responded to an Annals of Emergency Medicine survey that they experienced at least one violent act over the previous 12 months. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they had...

Study: employers look for root causes of healthcare cost inflation.( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Although there are signs of cost trend moderation, employers are concerned with the business effects of increasing healthcare costs and are looking beyond cost shifting to attack the root causes of growing costs, according to a recent study by...

JupiterResearch: more consumers turn to online health advice.( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Twenty percent of online consumers look to other consumers for health advice online, according to JupiterResearch's recent study Online Health Support Groups and Consumer-Created Health Content: Mitigating the Threat to Loyalty and Drug Sales....

Quotes of note.( )
April 1, 2005... "There's no question that there is an unfunded liability inherent in Medicare that Congress and the administration is going to have to deal with over time." --President Bush, addressing the Medicare funding problem "We could well be on...

2005 poverty guidelines published.( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The federal poverty level for a family of four rose from $18,850 in 2004 to $19,350 in the latest version of HHS poverty guidelines published in the Feb. 18 Federal Register. The updated guidelines reflect the increase in prices as measured by...

2005-06 regional executives announced.
April 1, 2005... Eleven new regional executives will serve one-year terms effective June 1, 2005. The individuals have served as regional executives-elect since June 1, 2004, and were elected by chapter presidents-elect during the 2003 Fall Presidents Meetings...

Revenue Cycle Conference focuses on operational assessments, technology.(Healthcare Financial Management Association's conference)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... HFMA's Revenue Cycle Strategies Conference will be held May 1-3 in New Orleans. General sessions include "Operational Assessments for Immediate Results," "Turning Your Revenue Cycle into a HOT ROD Using Bolt-On Technology, and "Technologies...

Hospitals discuss financial policies for the uninsured.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The latest report from the PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING[R] project is now available on HFMA's web site at www.hfma.org/resource. In the report, hospitals share their insights for improving their financial policies for uninsured patients. Topics...

Executive Leadership Day focuses on patient safety.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... HFMA is supporting an Executive Leadership Day to kick off the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) Congress in Orlando on May 4. The event will focus on the leadership steps necessary to create an organizational culture that supports...

The growing challenge of Medicare: the Congressional Budget Office projects Medicare spending will grow at an average annual rate of 9 percent over the next 10 years, reaching $766 billion by 2015.(Eye On Washington)
April 1, 2005... > The Bush administration released an estimate that total spending for Medicare Part D (the new prescription drug benefit) over the period 2006 to 2015 will be about $720 billion. > According to the 2004 Medicare Trustees report, Medicare...

A philosophy in PHD: in ancient Greece, Hippocrates taught medicine to his students in the spreading shade of a great planetree. He taught that patients should be the focus of care and that the environment was an important factor in healing.
April 1, 2005... The tree's association with the father of medicine is the source of the name of the Planetree Alliance, an organization of hospitals dedicated to personalizing, humanizing, and demystifying ("PHD") the healthcare experience. The Planetree...

No place like home: telemonitoring can improve home care.( )
April 1, 2005... Telemedicine may represent the salvation for home health agencies reeling under the effects of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Implementation of the home health PPS under the BBA mandate created a tremendous challenge for these agencies to...

Employer-directed marketing: a boon for hospitals.
April 1, 2005... How can we penetrate an insured population? How can we ensure that our marketing dollars are maximized? How can we correlate marketing expenditures to revenue? How do we know what's working and what isn't when it comes to our marketing efforts?...

Top 10 questions for rural, community hospital CFOs.
April 1, 2005... Inadequate payment, staff turnover, inexperienced personnel, and lack of cash are just some of the challenges the typical rural community hospital faces. Add to these difficulties the fact that CFOs must wear many hats, and it's no surprise...

Containing costs in the ED: tired of high costs associated with slow patient throughput in the ED? Find out what several hospitals have done to improve their patient flow and optimize department performance.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2005... A Shakespearean actor slips on stage one night and breaks his wrist. He is rushed to the closest hospital, where he waits his turn in the crowded emergency department. As the charge nurse walks by and casts a disapproving eye at the...

HFMA focus financial billing policies for the uninsured: what can hospitals expect from recent legal developments? Learn more in this discussion featuring Richard Scruggs, Joanne Judge, and Richard Clarke.
April 1, 2005... In lawsuits across the country, hospitals are being accused of setting prices for the uninsured that are unfair and unreasonable and engaging in abusive collection tactics. Over the past year, 68 federal lawsuits of this nature have been filed...

Strategic supply cost management physician preference without deference: adopting a strategic approach to managing supply chain costs can lead to a productive dialogue between physicians and financial leaders.( )
April 1, 2005... The quest for cash. If you are a healthcare CFO, it's probably foremost on your mind. To find cash, you work at reducing expenses, improving existing operations, and speeding the payment cycle. You've probably focused your attention on the...

Taking a new look at the hosted applications model: although it offers many advantages, implementing hosted application solutions is not necessarily for every organization. The pros and cons need to be weighed carefully.
April 1, 2005... Faced with limited capital, rapid developments in technology, and the need for secure, efficient data management, many healthcare organizations are turning to hosted application vendor solutions. Use of hosted applications is a growing trend in...

Harnessing technology to redesign labor cost management reports: labor costs typically represent over 50 percent of a hospital's total operating expenses. Can the data management process be harnessed to create meaningful labor cost management tools?(Feature Story)
April 1, 2005... When cost based Medicare programs transitioned to diagnosis related groups in 1983, and HMOs were being introduced, hospitals realized their need to become more cost efficient to survive in the new era of managed care competition. However, the...

Understanding statements now a virtual cinch: patient-friendly statements and e-bills join forces.( )
April 1, 2005... The scenario plays out every day. Patients receive hospital bills in the mail. They don't understand them. It may take a few phone calls and several minutes of waiting on hold before they reach a live person in the business office. Even after...

Northwest synergy a lesson in effective collaboration: Spokane, Wash.-based Inland Northwest Health Services exemplifies the benefits of effective collaboration between providers operating within the same competitive market.
April 1, 2005... "United we stand. Divided we fall." It's easy to dismiss this saying as a cliche, but it is germane to the business of health care. Healthcare executives have been asking themselves for years whether competition or collaboration is the...

Analyzing your hospital's labor productivity.( )
April 1, 2005... When fringe benefits and contract labor are added to salaries and wages, total hospital labor costs constitute more than half of total revenue. As an example, Fitch Ratings reported in August 2004 that across its 215 rated not-for-profit...

Cost management and leadership: the ethical high ground: what comes to mind when you think of cost management?
April 1, 2005... Usually efficiency, belt tightening, and doing more with less. Such talk inevitably makes staff anxious. Managers everywhere know the drill on cost management from this perspective. In a departure from tradition, however, managing cost can...

Not another gizmo!(digital perspectives)
April 1, 2005... Few financial managers are able to go for several months without encountering a conversation that goes something like this: Them: We should implement the Gorbal 5000! You wouldn't believe what it can do. It's powered by a 5000 GHz processor...

Annexing the neighbor's backyard increasing service area: Doylestown Hospital in Doylestown, Pa., developed a large-scale, innovative ambulatory care center on the southern fringe of its service area.(Column)
April 1, 2005... The center has drawn millions of dollars of new business from outside its traditional service area, and essentially extended Doylestown Hospital's primary service area five miles to the south. > AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Atlantic...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... CALENDAR Spring 2005 Seminars Level Seminar April 11-14 May 16-19 Alexandria, VA Minneapolis Financial Management I/A Achieving Successful...

Peter J. Avellino (Metropolitan New York Chapter).( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Avellino has been named a director, Besler Consulting, New York. Formerly, he was the principal founder of Healthcare Business Solutions Group, Inc., New York.

Mark A. Bogen, CPA (Metropolitan New York Chapter).( )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Bogen has been named a director, Besler Consulting, New York. Previously, he founded The Bogen Consulting Group, Inc., New York.

Carlene Williams (Florida Chapter).(gets appointed as CFO at Glades General Hospital)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. Williams has been appointed CFO, Glades General Hospital, West Palm Beach, Fla. She had been controller, Delray Medical Center, Delray Beach, Fla.

Dana Watts, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P (Texas Lone Star Chapter).(joins CampbellWilson LLP)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. Watts has joined CampbellWilson, LLP, Dallas, as a consultant. Formerly, she was coding compliance officer, Zale Lipshy University Hospital, Dallas.

Aaron S. Henry (Florida Chapter).(gets appointed as CFO at National Deaf Academy)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Henry has been appointed CFO, National Deaf Academy, Mount Dora, Fla. He had been manager of accounting, West Penn Allegheny Health System, Pittsburgh.

Ronald W. Holder, Jr., CMPE (Kentucky Chapter).(appointed at Scott and White Clinic)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Holder has been appointed assistant executive director-surgery, clinic administration, Scott and White Clinic, Temple, Texas. Formerly, he was administrator, University of Louisville Department of Anesthesiology and University...

Stephen M. Stewart: HFMA gives back multiples.(Spotlight On HFMA Members)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... My HFMA membership has been one of the very most rewarding and beneficial experiences of my professional life. When I joined, there was a singular selfish reason: To meet people who could potentially help me professionally. That reason has been...

Kirk W. Kamien, (Metropolitan New York Chapter).(appointed at Besler Consulting)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Kamien has been appointed senior manager, Besler Consulting, New York. He had been president, MRK Healthcare Consulting, Inc., New York.

Steven Vance (Utah Chapter).(appointed at Intermountain Health Care)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Vance has been named director of planning, Intermountain Health Care, Dixie Regional Medical Center, St. George, Utah. Previously, he was finance manager, Intermountain Health Care, Corporate Office, Salt Lake City.

Carlos Mendoza (Tennessee Chapter).(appointed at Baptist Memorial Hospital)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Mendoza has been promoted from cost accounting analyst, decision support services, to assistant controller, financial planning and analysis, Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.

Robert Ettinger (Northeast Ohio Chapter).(appointed at Cleveland Clinic)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Ettinger has been promoted from manager, patient access services to administrator, The Center for Neurological Restoration, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland.

Louis Galich (Northeast Ohio Chapter).(appointed at Summa Health System)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Galich has joined Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio, as senior internal auditor. He had been supervision senior accountant, audit and risk advisory services, KPMG, LLP, Cleveland.

Harry L. Hutchinson, FHFMA, CPA (Arkansas Chapter).(appointment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Hutchinson has been named vice president, finance, and CFO, St. Bernards Healthcare, Jonesboro, Ark. He had been vice president, finance, Arkansas Methodist Medical Center, Paragold, Ark.

Kristina Gursky, CHCS (Iowa Chapter).(appointment)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. Gursky has been named national healthcare account manager, I.e. System, Mason City, Iowa. Previously, she was collections specialist, Wright Medical Center, Clarion, Iowa.

Gregory M. Hathorne, CHFP, CPA (South Carolina Chapter).(appointed at Kirkland & Beauston LLP)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Hathorne has joined Moore Kirkland & Beauston, LLP, West Columbia, S.C., as audit manager. He had been manager, Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co., LLP, Charlotte, N.C.

Bruce Houlihan, CHFP (Washington/Alaska Chapter).(appointed at Mary Bridge Children's Health Alliance)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Mr. Houlihan has joined Mary Bridge Children's Health Alliance, Tacoma, Wash., as director, finance and contracting. He had been payer contracts manager, Swedish Health Services, Seattle.

Nancy H. McCarthy (Metropolitan New York Chapter).(appointed at Center for Reproductive Medicine & Infertility)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. McCarthy has been appointed department administrator, Center for Reproductive Medicine & Infertility, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. Formerly, she was administrative manager, Department of Radiation Oncology, NS-LIJ Health System,...

Kimberly Schilling (Nebraska Chapter).(appointed at CHRISTUS Spohn Health System)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. Schilling has been named system director, business and facility development, CHRISTUS Spohn Health System, Corpus Christi, Texas. Previously, she was healthcare consultant, HDR Architecture, Omaha, Neb.

Peggy A. Taylor (Metropolitan New York Chapter).(APPOINTMENTS)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Ms. Taylor has been appointed manager, Besler Consulting, New York. She had been an independent consultant, New York. HFMA WANTS TO KNOW Do you have any HFMA memories or experiences you would like to share, or do you know an HFMA...

Dudley Medlock: HFMA can offer unexpected benefits.(Healthcare Financial Management Association )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... I have been a member of HFMA for almost 20 years, and those years have bestowed many benefits on me. Some of them you would expect--making many new friends and acquaintances, staying abreast of industry changes, seeing different parts of the...

Controlling supply costs key to profitability for spinal fusion.
April 1, 2005... Advances in the devices used in spinal fusion surgeries are changing the way these services are processed and paid under the Medicare program. Emerging technologies now allow surgeons to fuse the anterior and posterior sections of a patient's...

ROI on clinical IT systems--beyond the numbers: finance professionals know the importance of determining ROI for significant capital expenditures.(Return on investment)
April 1, 2005... Every organization must ensure that invested assets produce an ROI that at least covers their cost of capital. But what about clinical IT systems? How is their return calculated? In mid-March, HFMA convened a meeting of 31 CFOs from around...