Healthcare Financial Management articles from February 2006

Healthcare Financial Management archives from February 2006

Interest in nursing careers on upswing--yet nursing schools forced to turn away more than 30,000 applicants in 2005.(survey)
February 1, 2006... The American Association of Colleges of Nursing released preliminary survey data on Dec. 12, 2005, which show that enrollment in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs increased by 13 percent from 2004 to 2005. Last year's increase in...

CMS.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)
February 1, 2006... ... CMS has outlined several changes for inpatient prospective payment system hospitals and skilled nursing facilities for FY05 and FY06. Most of the SNF FY06 wage index corrections involve the core-based statistical area and transition wage...

Stakeholder groups release joint roadmap for promoting and implementing EHRS in long-term care.(electronic health records)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... A coalition of 14 stakeholder groups released a joint roadmap Jan. 5 to focus private and public sector efforts toward promoting and implementing electronic health records and other information technologies in long-term care settings. A...

Alisa Ray joins CCHIT as executive director, brings industry experience as certification pilot kicks off.(Commission for Healthcare Information Technology)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology[TM] announced on Jan. 4 that Alisa Ray has joined the organization as its first executive director. In this new role, Ray will support the work of CCHIT's board of commissioners...

Federal register.
February 1, 2006... ... The FY07 federal medical assistance percentages and enhanced federal medical assistance percentages were published in the Nov. 30, 2005, Federal Register. They are used to determine the amount of federal matching funds for medical services...

Hospitals' patient safety progress too slow: report.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Despite the Institute of Medicine's sobering reports in 1999 and 2001 on the lack of patient safety systems in U.S. health care, hospitals are still "not close to meeting IOM recommendations," according to a report in the Journal of the...

Majority of U.S. health leaders reject fully taxpayer-funded universal healthcare system: study.(survey)
February 1, 2006... Despite rising healthcare costs and repeated calls for universal healthcare, nine in 10 U.S. healthcare leaders say that a primarily taxpayer-funded healthcare system, as in Canada and Britain, is not the best way to solve the nation's...

Washington Post series on reprocessed medical devices raises quality concerns.(Healthcare Quality)
February 1, 2006... A two-part series on the reprocessing of medical devices that appeared in the Washington Post (Dec. 11 and 12,2005) has focused attention on a particular patient safety issue: the reuse of devices labeled for single use. The Post claimed that a...

Nearly three-quarters of physicians continue to accept Medicare patients.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Despite a 5-4 percent physician payment cut in 2002 and only modest subsequent annual increases, physicians have not been deterred from treating Medicare patients, according to a national study released by the Center for Studying Health System...

Stable outlook predicted for hospitals in 2006.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Fitch Ratings has issued a stable but guarded outlook for the for-profit acute care hospital management sector for 2006. Many of the same trends that affected 2005 will repeat in 2006, such as bad debts and volumes plaguing the middle quarters...

Financial concerns still most worrisome for hospital CEOs.(survey)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... For three years running, hospital CEOs have ranked financial concerns at the top of the list of challenges facing U.S. hospitals, reports Modern Healthcare. According to the recent survey of CEOs by the American College of Healthcare...

Hospital profits highest in six years.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Despite a construction boom not seen in 50 years, hospitals reported an average 5.2 percent profit margin in 2004--the highest in six years--and 2005 margins are expected to be even higher, USA Today reported. According to the American Hospital...

States temporarily paying for prescriptions for low-income seniors.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Faced with low-income Medicare beneficiaries being denied or overcharged for medications due to federal problems implementing Medicare Part D, at least four states--Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Vermont--have stepped in to temporarily...

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow ...(Member Spotlight)
February 1, 2006... For Sarah Hull, few things are better than a winter wonderland. Hull, a member of HFMA's Wisconsin Chapter, spends about 120 hours each winter volunteering with the National Ski Patrol in Wausau, Wis. It's an activity she became...

CFOs brace themselves for increased price negotiations--this time, by consumers.(chief financial services)
February 1, 2006... HFMA recently brought together a group of healthcare finance executives to learn how they are adjusting their processes to accommodate the increase in consumer-directed health plans. The following is an excerpt of their discussion. ...

Twenty years ago in hfm.(health facilities management)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... In February 1986, the cover story for hfm, "Understanding Antitrust: Focus on the Relevant Market," was the first in a series of stories in hfm on antitrust issues in health care. The article examined an increase in antitrust cases involving...

Reader poll.(ETCETERA)
February 1, 2006... Each month in Etcetera, hfm will pose a question to readers. Responses will be included in the following issue of the magazine. This month's question was, "Would you recommend a career in healthcare finance to your children? Why or why...

Overheard.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... "A person that has health insurance has stability." --Rep. Marcia G. Moody, D-N.H., on state legislation she has sponsored that would require companies with more than 1,500 employees to devote 8 percent of payroll to health...

If you build them, will they come?(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... The U.S. hospital industry is in the midst of its biggest building boom in half a century--a development expected to increase the use of high-tech medicine and add fuel to rising healthcare costs. The hospital industry has spent nearly $100...

The newest vital sign.(From the Headlines)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... How well could patients at your system understand a nutritional label on a carton of ice cream? A new test that asks patients to read an ice cream nutritional label, then answer six simple questions based on the information, is helping...

Without a trace.(From the Headlines)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Many of the articles that appear in scientific journals under the bylines of prominent academics are actually written by ghostwriters paid by drug companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. These articles, which physicians around the world...

Site seeing.(From the Headlines)
February 1, 2006... When was the last time you visited www.hfma.org? You could be missing out on some of the latest additions to HFMA's web site, including technical documents on: Strategic Disaster Recovery Planning, a Power Point presentation that discusses...

Trends and challenges: "in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.".(FROM THE CHAIRMAN)
February 1, 2006... I keep that quote by Albert Einstein in my office. You can't be complacent about healthcare financial management. The healthcare industry is dynamic. Keeping up with regulatory changes alone is an ongoing challenge. Building a bridge...

Ann Mond Johnson: simplifying the complex.(hfm Q & A)(Interview)
February 1, 2006... Ann Mond Johnson is president of Subimo, a Chicago-based company she founded that provides interactive tools to help employers and health plans improve health care and reduce costs. Johnson frequently speaks on consumer-driven health care and...

We have the technology: I was surrounded by obstetricians--at least 30 of them.(electronic health record)
February 1, 2006... No, this was not an anxiety dream about childbirth. I was sitting in a hotel conference room, and these obstetricians were talking about what could go wrong and what should go right in obstetrical care. It was 1986, and this group was one of...

Meeting of the minds on universal EHR adoption.(HFMA NEWS)(electronic health records)
February 1, 2006... Government can best facilitate adoption of electronic health records with grant funding, development of national standards, and payment incentives. These findings are the result of research by HFMA, amplified by two roundtable discussions...

On the road to a national performance measurement system: it's one thing to conceive of a pay-for-performance system in health care; it's quite another thing to set up the system so it will work.(EYE ON WASHINGTON)
February 1, 2006... In a previous Eye on Washington column, I described the current interest in pay for performance as a way of rewarding practitioners and institutions that "do it well, do it right, and do it efficiently, the first time around." Although...

Financing the Future II, Report 4: joint ventures with physicians and other partners executive summary.(health care management)
February 1, 2006... HFMA's Financing the Future series began a process of highlighting strategies hospitals and other healthcare providers could use to improve access to capital. HFMA's Financing the Future II project continues this process. By providing...

'To make a difference'.(Catholic Health Initiatives )(Interview)(Company Profile)
February 1, 2006... When Catholic Health Initiatives was founded in 1996, it was the nation's largest Catholic healthcare system, with facilities in 22 states. That broad coverage was the result of the consolidation of three large systems--Catholic Health...

Why information security belongs on the CFO's agenda.(BUSINESS)(chief financial officers)
February 1, 2006... Just a few years ago, healthcare CFOs and other senior financial executives didn't think twice about referring security issues across the hall to the hospital's CIO or head of IT. Not so today. IT is now called upon to support an...

Teaming up for medical necessity compliance.(REVENUE CYCLE)
February 1, 2006... The saying, "If you want something done right, do it yourself," doesn't apply when it comes to ensuring clean claims. One person-even one department-is hard pressed to take on this challenge in today's environment, where the task of coding...

Process mapping the revenue cycle.
February 1, 2006... At first blush, process mapping would seem to be nothing more than flowcharting. Actually, it is flowcharting--but with double the operational power: With process mapping, organizations create not only an "is" map, which is a flowchart that...

Wired for success: take a look at the best in healthcare IT and you'll find these key elements: a healthy organizational foundation, a sound link between organizational strategies and the IT plan, and strong project management skills.(Cover Story)
February 1, 2006... Imagine you are at a senior management meeting at your hospital. A question is posed to the group: "Tell us about an IT project that was implemented on schedule and brought about all the benefits that the vendor promised." Imagine just how...

Selecting technology to rev up your revenue cycle: does your revenue cycle need revving up? Technology could be just the thing to make it go "vroom"!(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... Multimillion-dollar losses of earned revenue. High percentages of claims denials and underpayments. Excessive numbers of days in accounts receivable. Unfortunately, problems such as these are not uncommon in many hospital revenue cycles....

Steps toward an automated scorecard system: for an at-a-glance understanding of how your revenue cycle metrics are tracking, one of the best tools is a well-designed scorecard system.(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... I never keep a scorecard. I hate statistics. What I got to know, I keep in my head. --"Dizzy" Dean, American professional baseball pitcher (1910-74) In health care and much of the rest of the corporate world, scorecards have taken on...

Outside IT the case for full IT outsourcing: study findings indicate many hospitals are turning to full IT outsourcing to achieve IT excellence. What's the best approach for your organization?(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... Managing health IT... (sigh)! Can you relate to this feeling? It's one that's unfortunately all too familiar to many hospital leaders. As if it weren't enough of a challenge deciding how best to manage the delivery of health care, you...

Web-based claims management systems: communication is paramount to expediting claims. A claims management system that operates online can improve the provider-payer relationship.(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... In recent years, managing a hospital's revenue cycle has become more than a dollars-and-cents proposition. Communication--between provider and payer organizations and between claims management and claims processing systems--has become...

A new look at informed consent: automating the informed consent process helps hospitals contain costs and minimize malpractice exposure--and improves patient care and safety in the process.(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... Virtually every hospital in the country uses an informed consent process--in one form or another--to document patients' agreement to undergo medical procedures. The bad news is that the majority of these processes do not meet their...

Mobile hospital provides care when disaster strikes: when disaster strikes, a well-thought-out plan goes a long way in a successful deployment of emergency services.(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... "When the convoy rolled in, it was like the cavalry had arrived. It would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up," said Tom Blackwell, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C. Blackwell headed up...

The "write" choice: a primer on outsourcing transcription services: deciding whether to outsource transcription services and then, if you do, picking the right vendor are not decisions to be taken lightly. The consequences of a too-hasty decision can affect the entire revenue cycle.(FEATURE STORY)
February 1, 2006... Face it, medical transcription is not "sexy." It's definitely not an area that's topmost on the minds of most hospital administrators. But it is a cornerstone of hospital, physician office, and clinical operations, and if the quality of a...

Steps to success for healthcare IT: advertisers in the technology issue of hfm magazine offer their thoughts.
February 1, 2006... Question: "What is the greatest challenge to the effective use of IT in health care and one key step to overcoming this challenge?" "The greatest challenge to the effective use of IT in health care is to clearly identify healthcare issues...

HIPAA privacy audit tool.(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
February 1, 2006... Many covered entities (healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses) heaved a sigh of relief after finalizing their Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Notice of Privacy Practices, adopting policies and...

Learning to look forward: are you looking through the windshield or the rearview mirror?(LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT)
February 1, 2006... So much of finance is about the accurate review and analysis of past events, and ensuring that existing data and historical trends are analyzed and presented correctly. This view is ingrained in accounting students at an early age--and...

When EHRs are A-OK: can an electronic health record benefit your organization's revenue cycle?(DIGITAL PERSPECTIVES)
February 1, 2006... This may seem like a strange question. After all, enhanced applications such as EHRs should support more complete and accurate charge capture. In turn, better documentation should improve coding, and automation should speed up the billing...

Centers of excellence: big opportunities, big dividends: no topic in the field of healthcare growth strategies is as hot as centers of excellence.(NEW REVENUE GROWTH)
February 1, 2006... Healthcare organizations recognize that focused attention on clinical service lines yields big dividends--more patients, higher margins, and funds to support continued growth. And focus--a key term for organizations pursuing competitive...

Calendar.(Healthcare Financial Management Association's seminars)(Illustration)(Calendar)
February 1, 2006... Spring 2006 Seminars Feb. 6-9 Ft. Lauderdale, March 13-16 Level Seminar Fla. San Diego Financial Management ...

Gary Marker (Indiana Pressler Memorial Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to St. Vincent Health)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mr. Marker has been named director of reimbursement, St. Vincent Health, Indianapolis. He had been senior manager, Ernst & Young, LLP, Health Sciences Advisory Practice, Indianapolis.

Richard L. Slater, CPA (West Virginia Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to West Virginia Economic Development Authority)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mr. Slater has been appointed by Gov. Joe Manchin to vice chairman of the governor of the West Virginia Economic Development Authority. The governor also appointed Mr. Slater to the West Virginia Industrial Council, the new state board...

Mark Carroll (Florida Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to Nemours Foundation, Center for Process Excellence)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mr. Carroll has joined Nemours Foundation, Center for Process Excellence, Jacksonville, Fla., as business process consultant. He had been project manager for professional business services, Children's Hospital, Cincinnati.

Jan Kalgaard (Montana Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to Mountainview Medical Center)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Ms. Kalgaard has been named CFO, Mountainview Medical Center, Helena, Mont. Previously, she was CFO, Shodair Hospital, Helena.

Sandrae Lehman (Idaho Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to East Adams Rural Hospital)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Ms. Lehman has been appointed CFO, East Adams Rural Hospital, Ritzville, Wash. She had been CFO, Harms Memorial Hospital District, American Falls, Idaho.

James E. Massey, CPA (Northeast Ohio Chapter).(PEOPLE)(certified public accountant appointed to Cleveland Clinic Foundation)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Mr. Massey has joined Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, as director of finance, division of nursing. Formerly, he was controller, Medina General Hospital, Medina, Ohio. To have your professional announcement published in "People,"...

David A. Williams, FHFMA, CPA: HFMA helps you prepare for the unexpected.(Fellow of Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Certified public accountants)
February 1, 2006... I believe HFMA is important to all healthcare leaders, regardless of their responsibilities in administrative or financial areas. And the reasons go beyond just the access to information and services that HFMA provides. The Association is also...

Declining operating margins show U.S. hospitals still face challenges.(DATA TRENDS)
February 1, 2006... Recent analysis of key hospital operating indicators show hospitals continue to post lower operating margins since the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The operating margin for the average hospital in 2004 was 4.0 percent, a decline of 20 percent...

Universal EHR by 2014? Is universal adoption of electronic health records possible in less than 10 years? What are the barriers? What is the role of government?(FROM THE PRESIDENT)
February 1, 2006... These are important questions facing healthcare financial executives as the year 2006 begins. To help answer these questions, HFMA facilitated two roundtable discussions on universal adoption of EHRs by hospitals and health systems with Health...