Healthcare Financial Management articles from March 2004

Healthcare Financial Management archives from March 2004

Bush outlines election-year healthcare agenda.(Policy Watch)(George W. Bush)
March 1, 2004... Two recent events serve to outline the Bush administration's healthcare agenda as the nation enters election season. On February 2, President Bush outlined his spending priorities in his proposed FY05 HHS budget, which would grow to $580...

Payments increased for CAHs.(Policy Watch)(critical access hospitals )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Payments to critical access hospitals (CAHs) will increase from 100 percent to 101 percent of reasonable costs, CMS announced January 22. In its announcement, CMS also said it will allow these hospitals to use up to 25 beds for acute care...

CMS publishes final rule for National Provider Identifier.(Policy Watch)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... HHS has published a final rule adopting the National Provider Identifier (NPI) as the standard unique health identifier for healthcare providers. The rule appeared in the January 23, 2004, Federal Register. NPIs are intended to provide...

Proposed 2005 LTCH update: 2.9 percent.(Policy Watch)(long-term care hospitals)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... On January 23, CMS issued a proposed rule that would increase Medicare payment rates for long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) by 2-9 percent, effective for the payment year July 1, 2004, to June 30, 2005. The proposed rule also would change the...

Hospital quality reporting deadlines set.(Policy Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... To qualify for the full market basket update to PPS payments in FY05, hospitals must sign up with the quality improvement organizations' data warehouse by June 1, 2004, and transmit the required data by July 1, 2004, according to hospital data...

Instructions issued for M+C patients' new review rights.(Policy Watch)(Medicare+Choice)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Effective January 1, 2004, enrollees of Medicare+Choice (M+C) plans have the right to an expedited review by a quality improvement organization when enrollees disagree with their M+C plan's decision to terminate Medicare coverage of services...

... Nursing homes are not permitted to require that Medicare beneficiaries pay in advance to be admitted for Medicare-covered services, CMS explained in a January 8, 2004, letter to state survey agencies and CMS regional offices.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... ... Nursing homes are not permitted to require that Medicare beneficiaries pay in advance to be admitted for Medicare-covered services, CMS explained in a January 8, 2004, letter to state survey agencies and CMS regional offices. Furthermore,...

... Upper payment limits for rural health centers (RHCs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) will increase by 2.9 percent over 2003 rates, according to a one-time notification published by CMS on January 20.(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... ... Upper payment limits for rural health centers (RHCs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) will increase by 2.9 percent over 2003 rates, according to a one-time notification published by CMS on January 20. The 2004 upper payment...

CMS comment-submission process goes on-line.(Policy Watch)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CMS is now accepting comments from the public on proposed and final regulations electronically through the Internet, according to a press release. The new electronic process, implemented as part of the President's Electronic Government...

CMS addresses payment cap moratorium, evaluation period for therapy services.(Policy Watch)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CMS has published a one-time notification regarding the renewed moratorium on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology service payment caps for claims received from December 8, 2003, through December 31, 2005. The...

States look to improve patient safety in 2004: patient safety continues to be an important concern for state lawmakers.(State Policy Watch)
March 1, 2004... In response to a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures' Health Policy Tracking Service, 32 state legislatures indicated that they plan to address patient safety, with a particular focus on reducing medical errors, during the...

Reaching out in time of need: some HFMA members touch the lives of others every day through their leadership, support, and enthusiasm. Gloria Adams, a member of HFMA for more than 20 years, was such a member.(From The Chairman)(Healthcare Financial Management Association)
March 1, 2004... Carolyn Moffitt, FHFMA, compliance officer at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis and a past president of HFMA's Tennessee Chapter, relates Gloria's HFMA story. "My story is not about me, although I could discuss...

Hospital operating revenues to outpace inflation through 2005.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Growth in net operating revenues is expected to peak at 5.3 percent in 2003, then decline to 5 percent in 2004 and 4.5 percent in 2005, according to projections from R-C Healthcare Management Services. Although projections for 2003 through 2005...

Study urges caution on expanding hospital capacity.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Increasing capacity might be necessary as a response to rising admissions in some markets, but the best way to address many capacity constraints might be to manage existing resources better, according to a study published in the...

Operating costs for orthopedists increasing.(Industry Watch)
March 1, 2004... Operating costs for orthopedists continue to rise, according to the new Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Cost Survey for Orthopedic Practice. The 2003 report is based on 2002 data. The survey attributes the increases to high...

Tenet to sell 27 hospitals.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... On January 28, Tenet Healthcare Corporation announced that it is seeking buyers for 27 hospitals, including 19 in California and eight others in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Texas. Tenet expects the restructuring and the planned...

States spend billions to treat obesity-related illness.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The costs for treating illnesses attributable to obesity reached $75 billion in 2003, according to research conducted by RTI International and the Centers far Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The study's authors assert that about half of...

Rising healthcare spending tops list of healthcare leaders' concerns.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The rising rate of healthcare spending is considered the biggest threat to the healthcare industry over the next two to five years by nearly a third of the 106 healthcare leaders surveyed on January 26 by Harris Interactive[R] in Washington,...

Net health facility revenues increase in 2002.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Total net revenue for hospital units increased by 8.9 percent in 2002. according to the American Hospital Association's 2004 Hospital Statistics. Total expenses for hospital units rose by $32.9 billion, or 8.6 percent. Inpatient admissions...

Survey identifies top IHNs, indicates stabilized growth.(Industry Watch)
March 1, 2004... The growth of integrated health networks (IHNs) across the country has stabilized over the past five years, with more affiliation activity among facilities linking with existing IHNs, according to the findings of the 2004 Verispan IHN 100....

2002 household income by race.(Industry Watch)(Illustration)
March 1, 2004... 2002 Household Income by Race Percentage of Population $150,000 $50,000-$150,000 $10,000-$50,000 Less than or more $10,000 ...

Employers eliminate retiree health plan benefits.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Double-digit cost increases are prompting employers to re-examine certain benefit packages that they offer to their employees. A study conducted jointly by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates finds that large, private-sector...

Quotes of note.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... "The Medicare bill had lots of moving parts. We could not make a final analysis of the cost until it became law." --William A. Pierce, an HHS spokesman, commenting on calculation errors that led to raising the cost-estimates for DIMA to...

More women lead healthcare industry.(Industry Watch)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentage of women in senior management perform the best financially, with the highest return on equity and total return to shareholders, according to a recent report released by Catalyst. Health care has...

Shelton named to Hall of Fame.(Robert M. Shelton)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Robert M. Shelton, FHFMA, CAE, past president of HFMA, has been posthumously inducted into Modern Healthcare magazine's Hall of Fame. The program honors men and women who have made outstanding contributions to health care in this country and...

Virginia hosts Spring Seminar.(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... HFMA continues its Spring Seminar Series from April 21-22 in Alexandria, Va. (near Washington, D.C). Topics include: * Turning Data into useful Information: How to Effectively Collect, Analyze and Report Financial and Clinical Data to...

HFMA hosts revenue-cycle workshops.(Healthcare Financial Management Association)
March 1, 2004... HFMA will host the 2004 Revenue-Cycle Strategies Workshops on April 18-20 in Alexandria, Va. (near Washington, D.C). Topics discussed will include: * Denials management * Patient Friendly Billing * Managed care administration ...

DIMA resource available.(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... HFMA's resource center recently published "Highlights: DIMA Medicare+Choice Provisions: Part I," a document that examines the impact the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 has had on Medicare+Choice...

First-dollar coverage: an idea whose time has passed: back in the days before most managed care, in the Middle Ages of health care, when hospital payment was still cost-based, the idea of copayments and deductibles seemed almost alien.(Eye On Washington)
March 1, 2004... Most employment-based health care and all of Medicare were geared to the indemnity concept--that the provider would be "made whole" for providing needed services. Insured patients paid virtually nothing for covered services, and the minimal...

The new Medicare Advantage a disadvantage for providers?(Managed Care)
March 1, 2004... For providers, the most significant effect of the hotly debated Medicare reform legislation may well come from the reinvigorated Medicare risk program called Medicare Advantage. In a nutshell, if the Medicare Advantage program increases...

Medicare payment for resident training in nonprovider settings.(Medicare/Medicaid)
March 1, 2004... Hospitals may receive direct graduate medical education (GME) and indirect medical education (IME) payments under Medicare Part A for residents' training in a physician office, freestanding clinic, or other nonhospital setting. The rules...

How are hospitals financing the future? The future of capital spending.(Report 3: executive summary)
March 1, 2004... Hospitals have a responsibility to reinvest in their plants and equipment every year. Yet the rate at which they do so is highly variable, depending on their own profits, growth rate, prior investments, and other spending priorities. Hospitals...

Divide and compete: a new look at service lines: service lines are back. The concept that first surfaced in health care in the mid-1980s is once again in vogue and on point.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... The main difference with this iteration is that the model is better understood and more widely applied. So, the question on the table (and in the executive suites) is, "Will service lines succeed?" The answer is an unequivocal depends. ...

Consumer-driven health care: freeing providers to innovate: consumer-driven health care offers salvation to a healthcare industry that penalizes providers that dare to be innovative.(Commentary)
March 1, 2004... Can you imagine a major industry whose executives are not permitted to create the goods or services they offer? Or one in which they cannot quote their prices, but, instead, are forced to accept the price quotes of their customers? After...

Strategies to take hospitals off (revenue) diversion: for many hospitals, diverting patients to other facilities has become routine. But diversion can mean death to certain hospital revenues.(Feature Story)
March 1, 2004... The majority of hospital emergency departments (EDs) perceive they are at or over operating capacity, according to an American Hospital Association survey (The Lewin Group Analysis of AHA ED and Hospital Capacity Survey, 2002). This ED...

How to structure a compliant hospital-physician ASC: if you want to open a joint-venture ambulatory surgical center with physicians, you should familiarize yourself with the OIG's position regarding the safe harbor for such arrangements.(Feature Story)(ambulatory surgical center)(Office of Inspector General)
March 1, 2004... Imagine the following scenario. It was a big day for "XYZ Health System." The organizational was opening the doors to its new multimillion-dollar joint-venture ambulatory surgical center (ASC). All of the executives who had played important...

Increasing up-front collections: millions of dollars in revenue can be gained by retooling some front-office operations.(Feature Story)
March 1, 2004... The stakes were high. The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women's Health at Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) in New York was seeing red. Its accounts receivables were growing at twice the pace of revenue. MMC managers recognized...

Back to basics: a self-help approach to achieving financial success.
March 1, 2004... Mary Smith, CFO of Community Memorial Hospital, returned to her office at 5:45 after a lengthy meeting with her CEO. Slumping in her chair, she glumly reviewed the list of the hospital's needs the CEO had presented to her. It was time to...

Are you a "new-age" CFO? If not, start making the transformation as quickly as you can.(Leadership And Management)(Chief financial officer)
March 1, 2004... Your organization's financial health is at risk, not to mention your job. Things simply aren't like they used to be, and the future is similarly unfamiliar. The turbulent healthcare environment of the 21st century demands radically different...

Using vectors to minimize the mystery of IT strategy development: one of the most challenging aspects of IT strategy development is represented by statements such as, "our discussion around our goal of improving patient safety resulted in a decision to invest in computerized provider order entry.".(Digital Perspectives)
March 1, 2004... How exactly does an organization conclude that a particular goal or strategy will result in a decision to make a particular IT investment? Although trying to describe this process is likely to be forever challenging, the notion of strategy...

Looking for revenue? Try tapping on your keyboard: new revenue for your organization may be just a few keystrokes away.(New Revenue Growth)(Health care industry)
March 1, 2004... During my career in healthcare marketing (since around the mid-1980s), I've been baffled by how aggressively healthcare organizations continually work to acquire new patients. Thousands of new patients every year, and millions of dollars spent...

Ideas that work.
March 1, 2004... HFMA'S ANI 2004 Nashville ANI: The Healthcare Finance Conference June 27-July 1, 2004 Nashville, Tennessee Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Education and Inspiration Find real solutions to all of your organization's...

Plante & Moran: helping hospitals meet the financial challenges facing the industry.
March 1, 2004... Hospitals continue to be faced with rising costs, declining reimbursement, and limited resources. Aggressive planning and ongoing cost management are critical to survival in today's health care environment. Additionally, hospitals need to...

Calendar.(Calendar)
March 1, 2004... Spring 2004 Seminars Level Seminar 3/15-18 New Orleans Financial Management/Reimbursement 2 Using Activity-Based Information ...

Mark B. Carten FHFMA, CPA (Kentucky Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Carter has been named senior vice president, strategic planning, Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services, Louisville, Ky. Previously, he was partner, BKD, LLP, Louisville.

Bonnie S. Cassidy (Georgia Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ms. Cassidy has joined Precyse Solutions, LLC, Atlanta, as vice president, southeast region. She had been principal, North Highland, Atlanta.

Richard Cohan (Lone Star Chapter).(People)(Exempla Healthcare)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Cohan has joined Exempla Healthcare, Denver, as vice president, corporate responsibility. He had been ethics and compliance officer, Poudre Valley Health System, Fort Collins, Colo.

Dennis W. Doody (New Jersey Chapter).(People)(Commonfund Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Doody has been appointed managing director, Commonfund Group, Wilton, Conn. Previously, he was director of healthcare practice, PKF Certified Public Accounts, New York.

Michael J. Tengeres (Maryland Chapter).(People)(Franklin Square Hospital Center)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Tengeres has been promoted from corporate finance manager to director of finance, Franklin Square Hospital Center, Baltimore.

Brad H. Price (Virginia Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Price has been appointed vice president, finance and operations, Wellmont Bristol Regional Medical Center, Bristol, Tenn. He had been vice president, finance and operations, Wellmont Lonesome Pine Hospital, Big Stone Gap, Va.

James Alexander (New Jersey Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Alexander has been named director of accounting and reimbursement, Community Medical Center, Toms River, N.J. Formerly, he was director of accounting services, Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, N.J.

Regan D. Calhoun (Oklahoma Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ms. Calhoun has been promoted from financial analyst to financial services supervisor, Saint Francis Health System, Tulsa, Okla.

Jeff Eppinette, CPA, MBA (South Texas Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Eppinette has been promoted from finance director to CFO, region services, Baptist Health System, San Antonio.

Daniel Fehr (Heart of America Chapter).(People)(Research Psychiatric Center)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Fehr has been promoted from manager, reimbursement to controller, Research Psychiatric Center, Kansas City, Mo.

Margaret Garen (Western Michigan Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ms. Garen has been appointed director of reimbursement. Spectrum Health Continuing Care, Grand Rapids, Mich. She had been manager, Deloilte & Touche, National Health Care Regulatory Practice, Grand Rapids.

Daron W. Whisman (Louisiana Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Whisman has joined Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston, as director of financial services, system pharmacy and supply chain operations. He had been controller, supply chain, HCA--Delta Division, New Orleans.

Howard Fredrick Hahn, LLN, JD (Nebraska Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Hahn has joined Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, Omaha, Nebr., as partner. Previously, he was principal and managing director, Gross & Welch, P.C., Omaha.

Stephen W. Simpson, Jr., CFA (New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Simpson has been appointed principal, RBC Dain Rauscher, Boston. Previously, he was vice president, public finance department, Advest, Boston.

Joel W. Mercer, CHFP, CPA (North Carolina Chapter).(People)(ACS State Healthcare LLC)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Mercer has been named account manager, ACS State Healthcare, LLC, Durham, N.C. Formerly, he was director, Medicare operations, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Durham.

Richard S. Reid, CPA (Western Michigan Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Reid has been appointed director of revenue management, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami. Previously, he was assistant controller, Bronson Healthcare Group, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Robert F. Drewniak (Northern California Chapter).(People)(Glendale Memorial Hospital)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mr. Drewniak has joined Catholic Healthcare West, Glendale Memorial Hospital, Glendale, Calif., as senior vice president, clinical resources. Previously, he was director, operations and applied technology practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers...

LuAnn Russo (McMahon-Illini Chapter).(People)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ms. Russo has joined Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Memphis, Tenn., as director, payer relations. She had been corporate director of managed care, Rockford Health System, Rockford, Ill.

Tide rises on pay for performance with voluntary reporting initiative.(Data Trends)(Hospitals)
March 1, 2004... The era of reporting hospital performance to the public and tying payment to quality is now a reality. In 2003, the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the Association of American Medical Colleges launched a...

Healthcare reform: consumers lead the way: HFMA's employee health insurance costs jumped more than 20 percent in 2004 from the 2003 level. As HFMA's CEO, I had to make difficult decisions regarding benefits, employee cost sharing, and insurance carriers.(From The President)
March 1, 2004... I don't like being put into that position--attempting to balance what is best for HFMA's 80 employees versus what is best for HFMA the organization. And I'm not alone. I recently attended a lunch with Henry Clay Ford, Jr., chairman and CEO...