Healthcare Financial Management articles from May 2008

Healthcare Financial Management archives from May 2008

Bill would extend moratoriums on new Medicaid regulations.(Medicare/Medicaid)
May 1, 2008... Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on April 3 criticized new Medicaid regulations proposed by the Bush administration and said they would pass legislation to block the regulations from taking effect, CO....

Despite difficulties, states advance healthcare reform, says report.(State Watch)(Report)
May 1, 2008... A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State Coverage Initiatives program, State of the States 2008: Rising to the Challenge, outlines 2007 efforts to expand health insurance coverage and find new tools to address healthcare...

Physician, refer thyself.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... According to an AHA TrendWatch report (April 2008), analysis of Medicare cost reports found that in FYO, 57% of physician-owned, limited-service hospital had margins that high.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has added a new section (2021) to Chapter 2 of its manual, entitled "Non-accredited Hospitals," to provide guidance specific to the survey and certification of nonaccredited hospitals.(CMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has added a new section (2021) to Chapter 2 of its manual, entitled "Non-accredited Hospitals," to provide guidance specific to the survey and certification of nonaccredited hospitals....

CMS has updated the standard payment conversion factor per section 115 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 and has also provided hospitals a mechanism to submit "no-pay" bills to Medicare for Medicare Advantage (MA) patients.(CMS)(SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 )
May 1, 2008... ... CMS has updated the standard payment conversion factor per section 115 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 and has also provided hospitals a mechanism to submit "no-pay" bills to Medicare for Medicare Advantage (MA)...

CMS has updated its manual to clarify the use of the JW modifier when processing all drugs except competitive acquisition program (CAP) drugs.(CMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... CMS has updated its manual to clarify the use of the JW modifier when processing all drugs except competitive acquisition program (CAP) drugs. When processing all drugs except those provided under the CAP for Part B drugs and biologicals,...

Medicare Regulation 42 CFR [section]405.378 provides for the assessment of interest at the higher of the current value of funds rate (5 percent for CY08) or the private consumer rate as fixed by the Department of the Treasury.(CMS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... Medicare Regulation 42 CFR [section]405.378 provides for the assessment of interest at the higher of the current value of funds rate (5 percent for CY08) or the private consumer rate as fixed by the Department of the Treasury. The Treasury...

Pennsylvania House passes bill limiting insurers' ability to base rates on health history for individual, small-business plans.(NEWS WATCH)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Pennsylvania House on April 1 voted 131-72 to approve legislation (HB 2005) that would limit the ability of insurers to consider certain factors, such as health history, when setting rates for health plans offered to individuals and small...

... By means of a final rule (Federal Register, April 4, 2008), CMS is modernizing the Medicare conditions for coverage for the nation's dialysis centers.(FEDERAL REGISTER)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... By means of a final rule (Federal Register, April 4, 2008), CMS is modernizing the Medicare conditions for coverage for the nation's dialysis centers. The regulation updates the current requirements that were first published in 1976. ...

... By means of a final rule (Federal Register, April 3, 2008), CMS changes the weighting methodology used to calculate the low-income benchmark premium amount for 2009 and thereafter.(FEDERAL REGISTER)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... By means of a final rule (Federal Register, April 3, 2008), CMS changes the weighting methodology used to calculate the low-income benchmark premium amount for 2009 and thereafter. Under the final rule, the benchmark weighting methodology...

... By means of a proposed rule (Federal Register, March 17, 2008).(FEDERAL REGISTER)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... ... By means of a proposed rule (Federal Register, March 17, 2008), CMS proposes the procedures that the Department of Health and Human Services would follow at the administrative law judge and Medicare appeals council levels in deciding...

Financial status of Medicare serious: trustees.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... In their annual report, the Medicare trustees announced on March 25 that both the Medicare hospital trust fund and the supplementary medical insurance trust fund expenditures are growing faster than the rest of the economy. Expenditures were...

New CDC report shows increase in uninsured.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... From January 2007 to September 2007, the number of Americans uninsured at the time of the National Health Interview Survey was 43.7 million (14.7 percent) for people of all ages, according to a report released March 27 by the Centers for...

More Medicaid enrollees could get home care under new rule: CMS.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Medicaid beneficiaries who were previously limited to receiving care in an institutional setting may now be given the option to receive that care in their homes and communities, under a proposed rule announced April 1 by CMS.

Sharp increase in employers' health costs: Kaiser.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Employers who provide health care to their workers saw their costs climb to an average of $2.59 per hour in 2005--nearly a full dollar higher than the cost just six years earlier, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation study examining...

Enrollment in consumer-driven plans sees only slight rise: survey.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Enrollment in consumer-driven and high-deductible health plans increased in 2007, hut still makes up a small segment of the overall insurance market, according to the third Employee Benefit Research Institute/ Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in...

Patient satisfaction has steadily increased since 2003: report.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Patient satisfaction with the inpatient hospital experience has, for the most part, increased since 2003, with the most significant gains between April and October last year, according to the 2008 Hospital Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on...

Demands on nurses grow as hospital QI activities increase: study.(Quick Hits: Top News Stories of the Month)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Hospitals face growing tensions and tradeoffs when allocating nurses between the competing priorities of direct patient care and quality improvement efforts, according to a study released March 20 by the Center for Studying Health System...

Caring for May flowers.(Member Spotlight)
May 1, 2008... HFMA member Trudy Struck is a master gardener. If April showers bring May flowers, Trudy Struck has been waiting patiently for May to come. Struck, a member and past president of HFMA's Indiana Pressler Memorial Chapter and an A/R...

Overheard.(ETCETERA)
May 1, 2008... "The impact of any further cuts to the Medicare Advantage [MA] program would fall squarely on the shoulders of the 9 million beneficiaries who rely on MA plans. Funding reductions would result in premium increases, benefit reductions, and...

New legislation affects long-term care hospitals.(Author Commentary)
May 1, 2008... In January 2008, hfm featured an article entitled "Regulating Long-Term Care Hospitals: In Search of a Roadmap to Clarity." On Dec. 29, 2007, shortly after that article went to press, the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health...

What's new on our Web site.(ETCETERA)
May 1, 2008... The following documents are located in the Resource Library (www.hfma.org/library) unless otherwise noted. Improved Documentation. See "Revenue Cycle," then "Coding & Chargemaster," and click on the title of the document. Getting...

Avoiding fraudulent enrollments is the plans' responsibility--so why do the providers have to pay?(VIEWS)(Viewpoint essay)
May 1, 2008... On Feb. 12, 2008, the Los Angeles Times reported on the uproar over letters sent by Blue Cross of California to participating physicians, asking that they "identify [Blue Cross] members who have failed to disclose medical conditions on their...

Tools available to strengthen payer-provider connectivity.(VIEWS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... In his recent hfm article "Payer- Provider Connectivity: Progress Elusive, but Possible" (February 2008), author Jeff Goldsmith wrote at length about some of the challenges and shortcomings in payer-provider communications, as well as some of...

You have made a difference: my year as HFMA Chairman has been an enormous blessing and a humbling opportunity.(FROM THE CHAIRMAN)(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Viewpoint essay)
May 1, 2008... I have been forever changed by meeting and serving thousands of caring professionals who are committed to nurturing and improving the lives of others. As HFMA Chairman, I tried to help identify and meet your needs, knowing that you must...

Trying something: the big-time Broadway producer arrived at rehearsal to find dancers milling around and the choreographer sitting with his head in his hands.(FROM THE EDITOR)(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... A man of action, the producer bellowed to the choreographer, "What's going on?" The play, which had not yet opened, had been struggling from the start of rehearsals, and apparently the choreographer had reached a dead end. He looked up and...

Keynote address explores chronic care financial burden and strategies at HFMA event.(HFMA NEWS)(Healthcare Financial Management Association)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The increasing number of individuals living with chronic conditions should be a chief concern for today's healthcare finance executive, as uncompensated costs associated with caring for this patient population often...

CMS issues management advisory report? In its latest advisory, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has told hospitals, in so many words, that customer relationship management (CRM) is the wave of the future.(EYE ON WASHINGTON)
May 1, 2008... What? Has CMS entered the consulting world? CMS's advisory sure has the look and feel of a consultant's report. And it clearly spells out some ways CRM can deliver benefits to the Medicare program. Where can you get this advisory? It's nestled...

The conflict between ERISA and local healthcare reform.(MANAGED CARE)(Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974)(Law overview)
May 1, 2008... Persistent inaction by the executive and legislative branches of the federal government on the growing problems of uninsured persons and inadequate funding for Medicaid created a void for healthcare reform that is being filled at the state,...

10 steps toward ED profitability.(PHYSICIAN ISSUES)
May 1, 2008... It is almost impossible to find a hospital in the United States that has not either built a new emergency department (ED) or considered an ED expansion or renovation plan. All EDs are challenged by increasing volume, with a corresponding...

Tom Peters experiment your way to excellence.(hfm Q & A)(Interview)(Cover story)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tom Peters has been challenging business leaders to achieve excellence for many years. With the publication of the book In Search of Excellence, which he wrote with Bob Waterman, Peters caused businesses to...

Achieving scale strategies for sustained competitive performance: when it comes to competitive performance, bigger is often better. But there are strategies that healthcare organizations of any size can use to achieve scale.(Cover story)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In both the corporate and not-for-profit healthcare worlds, the capital markets have long favored larger organizations. Is this view held by investors, rating agencies, and bond insurers justified, and do size and...

Surviving the RAC: how to take back the take-backs: tracking RAC chart requests is just one of the things that can help you survive these audits.(FEATURE STORY)(recovery audit contractor)
May 1, 2008... Since the inception of the Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) program demonstration project (conducted in California, Florida, and New York) beginning in 2005, 27 Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) hospitals and medical centers have refunded...

Seamless service line management: service line organization is as important as market strategy if providers are to optimize their limited capital investment pool.(FEATURE STORY)(Company overview)
May 1, 2008... Systemwide service lines have been a "holy grail" of sorts for many of the nation's largest health systems over the past five years. Dozens of systems have invested considerable capital in new people, infrastructure, and marketing dollars in...

How to recover from the financial market flu: investors have endured an unsettling few months. But there are some things they can do to prevent a ease of investors' flu from turning into pneumonia.(FEATURE STORY)
May 1, 2008... Last fall, we began to get predictions about what kind of a flu season lay ahead. What type of strain would we encounter? Is the supply of vaccine sufficient? How bad would it get? We all were worried about the kind of flu that can send you to...

10 myths of strategic pricing: is your strategic pricing strategy based on fact or myth?(FEATURE STORY)
May 1, 2008... The state of the U.S. economy is making everyone more cost-conscious than usual. The healthcare industry is no exception. Always a sensitive issue, hospital pricing seems to be on the minds of many in the healthcare industry today. Survey...

Employed physician groups plugging the facilities cost drain: a rational approach to group practice facilities will curtail building and occupancy costs over the long run.(FEATURE STORY)
May 1, 2008... A hospital-employed primary care group has 36 providers (28 physicians and eight midlevel practitioners) in approximately 16 practice locations (about 2.3 providers per location). Ten of the 16 practice locations are located within a single zip...

Building green hospitals checklist.(TOOLBOX: Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care)
May 1, 2008... Canadian healthcare facilities are a powerful symbol of health and a recognized community leader. It is incompatible with the healing mission for these facilities to Be sources of environmental harm through air and wastewater emissions,...

Beyond consumerism: leveraging the power of employers: a recent study suggests employers are not exercising sufficient leadership to address the quality and cost issues they have complained about for decades.(LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT)
May 1, 2008... Providers should help resolve concerns about quality and cost by demonstrating leadership approaches. We advocate a change in emphasis away from consumer-directed health care (CDHC) to stakeholder coalitions that will unlock the potential for...

Think a privacy breach couldn't happen at your facility? Think again.(INSIDE IT)
May 1, 2008... "Britney Spears Medical Record Breach Nothing New, Says Privacy Expert" "This is the first I've heard of it," Clooney, 46, said in a statement. "I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers." You've seen...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2008... NATIONAL EVENTS June 23-26 HFMA's ANI 2008: The Healthcare Finance Conference Las Vegas ANI offers more than 80 current, practical, and expert-led sessions covering: * What's Next in Medicare, RACs, Policy, Tax, and Legal...

Jason L. Adams.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Adams has been appointed vice president of revenue cycle, MultiCare Health System, Tacoma, Wash. He had been manager, Wellspring Partners, Chicago.

Randall Bledsoe.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bledsoe has joined Sheltering Arms Physical Rehabilitation Centers, Richmond, Va., as director of patient accounting. Formerly, he was president, RGB & Associates, Charlottesville, Va.

Sidonie Oakland.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Oakland has been appointed vice president, managed care, Prexus Health, Cincinnati. Formerly, she was director, managed care operations, TriHealth, Cincinnati.

Deana Thomas.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Thomas has been promoted from assistant controller to director of accounting, Lake Regional Health System, Osage Beach, Mo.

J. Grant Trollope.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Trollope has been named CFO, Carlsbad Medical Center, Carlsbad, N.M. He had been controller, San Angelo Community Medical Center, San Angelo, Texas.

David Amos.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Amos has been appointed director of patient financial services, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. He had been director of business services, Lodi Memorial Hospital, Lodi, Calif.

Robert S. Amos.(PEOPLE)(appointments in Liberty Medical Supply)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Amos has been appointed vice president, operations analysis, Liberty Medical, Port Saint Lucie, Fla. Previously, he was financial reimbursement manager, National Healing Corporation, Boca Raton, Fla.

Olga Barone-Allan.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Barone-Allan has joined Saint Barnabas Health Care System, Oceanport, N.J., as director of support services. Formerly, she was manager, Besler Consulting, Princeton, N.J.

Anthony F. Consoli.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Consoli, a vice president with Marsh USA Inc., Morristown, N.J., has been promoted to North East zone growth leader for the firm's healthcare industry practice.

Paula R. Dillon.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Dillon has joined Rockford Health System, Rockford, Ill., as director of managed care. Previously, she was technical manager, HFMA, Westehester, Ill.

Anthony G. Evers, CPA.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Evers has joined ProHealth Care, Inc., Waukesha, Wis., as director of internal audit. He had been director of healthcare practice, Jefferson Wells, Milwaukee.

Does income determine HSA/FSA usage?(DATA TRENDS)(health savings account and flexible spending account)
May 1, 2008... For consumers facing rising healthcare costs, a health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) may offer an effective means to save money on helthcare expenditures. Yet results of a recent study disclose that usage and...

Size and focus: healthcare provider organizations are beginning to see the benefits of size.(FROM THE PRESIDENT)
May 1, 2008... As noted in the cover story of this month's hfm, "Achieving Scale, Strategies for Sustained Competitive Performance," organizations with more than $2 billion in revenue typically perform better related to key financial indicators than smaller...

Calculating and communicating patient financial responsibility.(HFMA EDUCATIONAL REPORT)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] How can point-of-service collection be considered a success if you don't collect? Just ask Lorraine Schnelle, executive vice president, Bridgefront, whose organization provides online training in revenue cycle...

Opportunities for supply chain improvement: highlights and expert insights regarding HFMA's 2008 Supply Chain Survey.(Healthcare Financial Management Association)(Survey)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Realizing significant improvement in a hospital's supply chain can be a somewhat daunting task. From its beginning with various product manufacturers to the time it ends with the patient, the healthcare supply chain...