Healthcare Financial Management articles from February 2002

Healthcare Financial Management archives from February 2002

Outpatient PPS changes delayed; No suspension of claims processing. (Updata).(prospective payment system)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... On December 31, 2001, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a notice in the Federal Register formally delaying implementation of the 2002 update to the outpatient prospective payment system (PPS). The 2002 update has...

Bush signs transaction standards delay bill. (Updata).(Administrative Simplification Compliance Act)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... On December 27, 2001, President Bush signed H.R. 3323, "The Administrative Simplification Compliance Act," authorizing a one-year delay in the compliance deadline for the final rule on electronic transactions and code sets mandated by the 1996...

Final rule changes ambulance restocking safe harbor. (Updata).(HHS Office of Inspector General )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) published in the December 4, 2001, Federal Register, a final rule describing safe-harbor protections for ambulance restocking. Under specific conditions, the safe harbor enables receiving facilities to...

Reform efforts continue at CMS. (Updata).(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted on its Web site a list of actions it has taken to address physicians' complaints about 25 administratively burdensome Medicare regulations. Highlights include the following: *...

MedPAC predicts decline in hospitals' Medicare margins. (Updata).(Medicare Payment Advisory Commission)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Overall, hospitals' Medicare margins will average 3.8 percent in 2002, down from 4.7 percent in 1999, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) estimates. However, Medicare profits will vary dramatically based on the type of hospital....

The Medicare program will scrap local medical review in favor of uniform coverage policies for 23 clinical laboratory tests. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The Medicare program will scrap local medical review in favor of uniform coverage policies for 23 clinical laboratory tests, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in a final rule published in the November 23, 2001,...

The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). (In Brief).(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, regulation of safe harbor and fraud alerts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) published in the December 19, 2001, Federal Register, its annual request for recommendations to create new, or modify existing, safe harbor provisions and special fraud alerts. A safe harbor specifies...

Hospital underwriting: Why not? (Vantage Point).(Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... In my new role as CFO for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, I am faced with the challenge of improving our net revenues to help our organization begin generating an appropriate operating margin. In the face of government payment...

Achieving our vision. (Viewpoint).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... "To be an indispensable professional resource for healthcare financial professionals." The above phrase represents the vision HFMA wishes to achieve. This vision was developed because members and customers have told us that it is critical...

Financial outlook stable for U.S. not-for-profit hospitals in 2002. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Fitch and Moody's Investors Services, both New York City-based ratings agencies, have projected an overall stable financial outlook for U.S. not-for-profit hospitals in 2002. Fitch believes that cost management, more favorable managed care...

http://rnjobs.stpetershealthcare.org. (Web Sights).(St. Peter's Health Care Services Web site)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... This St. Peter's Health Care Services site describes the process used by the health system to let nurses bid on shifts and wages.

http://yosemite1.epa.gov/ESTAR/business.nsf/webmenus/Healthcare. (Web Sights).(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... This Environmental Protection Agency site provides information on the energy performance of hospital buildings and an energy-performance benchmarking tool for hospitals.

www.regreform.hhs.gov. (Web Sights).
February 1, 2002... This site provides access to information about the HHS initiative to reduce regulatory burdens in health care.

www.andersen.com/valuereport. (Web Sights).
February 1, 2002... Visitors to this vendor site will find the report The Value of e-Commerce in the Healthcare Supply Chain: An Industry Study Report.

College nursing program enrollments rising. (In the News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... Enrollments in baccalaureate programs in nursing increased in fall 2001, ending a six-year decline, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). This increase occurred as the need for nurses with baccalaureate and...

New initiative to study rising healthcare costs. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... The Washington Business Group on Health, Washington, D.C., has launched the Institute on Health Care Costs and Solutions to address the rapid rise of the nation's healthcare costs. The collaboration of large employers and healthcare leaders...

Loss of health insurance hurts low-wage workers. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Being without health insurance coverage even for a short time could have long-term health and economic consequences, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund, Washington, D.C. Insured people who were uninsured for a time during the past...

Gender gap still exists in healthcare management. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Female healthcare executives earn an average of 19 percent less than their male counterparts, according to a study by the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), Chicago, Illinois. The study compared career attainments of male and...

National healthcare spending rises in 2000. (In the News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... U.S. healthcare spending rose to $1.3 trillion in 2000, a 6.9 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The increase for 2000 compared with a 5.7 percent growth rate in 1999 and...

Kaiser appeals $1.1 million administrative penalty. (In the News).(Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Oakland, California, is appealing a $1.1 million fine levied by the California Department of Managed Health Care. The agency assessed the administrative penalty against the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the...

HFMA board of directors approves changes in Governance Structure. (HFMA News).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... HFMA's Board of Directors has announced actions taken at its meeting held on December 10, 2001. Governance Structure The HFMA National Board of Directors has approved changes to HFMA's governance structure, based on recommendations of...

Health care: The engine that drives economic recovery? (FYI).(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... "A lot of people would rather have a new knee than a new Mercedes." -- Professor William Fogel, Nobel Laureate in Economics, University of Chicago, on the role of health care in driving the nation's economy. Throughout the past year, the...

Smith: Consolidating Catholic and community health systems benefits the community. (Executive Insights).
February 1, 2002... Kirby O. Smith, FHFMA, MBA, is the president and CEO of Susquehanna Health System, an integrated delivery system management company in rural central Pennsylvania. Smith was an active participant in the consolidation of services and the...

Leading IDSs heed the call to invest in IT. (Integrated Delivery Systems).
February 1, 2002... Case studies of 11 leading integrated delivery systems (IDSs) found all of these organizations are committed to investing in the development of sophisticated IT systems. The case-study IDSs' primary concerns regarding IT investments were...

Projecting the budget impacts of HIPAA.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)
February 1, 2002... Although the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 was meant to simplify and reduce the cost of delivering health care, the initial steps to comply with all areas of the law are projected to be very costly....

The HIPAA privacy rule: Practical advice for academic and research institutions.
February 1, 2002... The Final Standards for Privacy of individually Identifiable Health Information (privacy rule) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 holds particular importance for academic and research organizations...

Business associates: A HIPAA compliance challenge.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)
February 1, 2002... The final rule implementing the privacy standards mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 imposes substantial requirements on covered entities with respect to their business associates--those parties...

AICPA allows low-cost options for compiled financial statements.
February 1, 2002... The AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee's (ARSC) SSARS No. 8, Amendment to Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services No. 1, Compilation and Review of Financial Statements, issued in October 2000, allows financial...

Cost analysis can help a group practice increase revenues. (Group Practice Management).
February 1, 2002... Undertaking a cost analysis to determine the cost of providing specific services can help group practices negotiate increased payment and identify areas for cost reduction. An OB/GYN practice in Pennsylvania undertook a cost analysis using the...

Healthcare providers face bumpy transition to 2002 outpatient PPS rates. (Medicare/Medicaid).
February 1, 2002... Less than two weeks before the scheduled implementation of the calendar year 2002 changes to the Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (PPS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the implementation date...

15 Essential steps of IT project management. (Digital Perspectives).
February 1, 2002... Healthcare CFOs often experience trepidation when presenting major information technology (IT) initiatives to their organizations' boards for approval. The CFOs typically are concerned about whether such a project can be completed on time and...

Tax Act of 2001 enhances retirement-plan opportunities. (Personal Finance).(Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001)
February 1, 2002... The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) of 2001, which was signed into law on June 7, 2001, provides the largest tax cut in more than 20 years and primarily benefits individuals, rather than corporations. More than...

Evaluating a defined-contribution employee pension plan. (Treasury Management).
February 1, 2002... The recent downturn in the U.S. economy has caused many individuals who have invested in the stock market through employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans to suffer extreme financial losses. After watching their retirement portfolios...

People.(multiple personnel changes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2002... Steven A. Ballock, CHFR MBA. CPA (Montana Chapter), has been promoted from director of finance to vice president of financial services, St. Vincent Healthcare, Billings, Montana. Debra A. Miller, MS (Wisconsin Chapter), has been named...

Hospital direct costs once again on the rise. (Data Trends).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2002... Patient accounting departments incurred a higher total direct cost per adjusted discharge in the second quarter of 2001 than in the past two years of flat costs. The data, supplied by more than 300 of the nation's not-for-profit community...