HFMA’s MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle recognizes organizations whose innovative and effective strategies have enabled them to achieve excellence in revenue cycle performance. There are five (5) award categories including hospitals, critical access hospitals, hospital systems, integrated delivery systems, and physician practices. Winners excel in meeting industry standard revenue cycle benchmarks (MAP Keys), implementing the patient-centered recommendations and best practices embodied in HFMA’s Healthcare Dollars & Sense™ initiatives, and achieving outstanding patient satisfaction. Award recipients are acknowledged as industry leaders and share proven strategies with HFMA members and other professionals.
Winners are determined through analysis of the publicly available MAP Keys metrics (KPIs), narrative questions, additional materials required during the application process, and selected finalist interviews.
Winners must meet or exceed performance levels based on defined, comparable revenue cycle metrics that have been widely recognized throughout the industry for completeness, validity, relevancy, and ability to support performance conclusions. The metrics used have been identified through HFMA’s KPI Task Force and have been vetted by HFMA’s National Board of Directors and National Advisory Counsels. Winners also must display through narrative response a commitment to the pursuit of evidence-based and innovative revenue cycle strategies, including elevating the quality of financial interactions with patients.
A. All acute care hospitals are eligible to apply for the individual hospital or hospital system awards, as appropriate. All physician practices, including Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), regardless of affiliation or ownership may apply for the physician practice award. Hospital systems may apply for a hospital system award OR submit individual hospital applications for hospitals within the system. Hospital systems may not submit applications for BOTH the system and individual hospitals within the system. Additionally, hospital systems may apply for a hospital system award or IDS award but they may not submit applications for both.
An executive leader in your organization must be a member of HFMA.
HFMA requires all hospitals, hospital system, and IDS applicants to have either applied for or achieved PFC Adopter status by the time they submit part two of their application. This requirement applies to all hospitals that will be included on the application. If during the initial application, the entire IDS has not attested to PFC best practices, it is expected that process toward further adoption be reflected on the renewal application.
Learn more about the Patient Financial Communication Best Practices, the Adopter Recognition Program, and apply for recognition. The application process is complimentary and requires only a few metrics and descriptions of how you are leveraging best practices in your organization. Note that PFC Adopter status is not a requirement for physician practice applicants.
Your organization does not need to be a MAP App subscriber to apply.
A. All facilities are encouraged to apply. HFMA has created an interactive online calculator, HFMA’s Revenue Cycle Score, which allows hospitals, hospital systems, and physician practices to see how their revenue cycle score compares to that of previous applicants. The calculator makes application readiness recommendations based on user input across the five MAP Keys used to evaluate MAP Award applicants.
A. Yes, there is a small administrative application fee of $100 for individual hospitals, critical access hospitals, and physician practices. The fee for hospital systems and integrated delivery systems is $200.
A. There is one link to the online application which, when open, is accessible from the MAP Award page. The first application question will ask you to identify the award category you are interested in pursuing. The application will then align questions based on your response.
A. The 2025 MAP Award application window is shifting from early 2025 to the fall, and winners will be recognized at the Revenue Cycle Conference in March 2026. This change ensures that celebration of the winning organizations occurs in front of a dedicated revenue cycle audience, where the focus and networking opportunities are most relevant. In addition, this year, you’ll notice new metrics and updated weights in the MAP Award process — designed to keep the program competitive, modern, and aligned with today’s revenue cycle excellence.
We’re also excited to announce that the application process will now take place on Cvent, providing a more streamlined and user-friendly experience for all applicants.
And that’s not all — we’ve launched a MAP Award Community where you can connect with fellow applicants, past recipients, and HFMA revenue cycle experts. This interactive forum is your go-to space for sharing insights, asking questions, and discussing all things MAP Award. Whether you’re new to the process or a returning participant, this community is here to support your journey.
The 2025 MAP Award application window is shifting from early 2025 to the fall. When applications are open, links will be found on the MAP Award page. You will be asked to log in or create an account.
A. The application will be available online starting Tuesday, September 2nd and will remain open until Wednesday, December 31st. If your application is selected to move forward to Part 2 of the award process, you will be notified by Friday, January 30th. Interviews will take place the week of February 9th, and winners will be announced the week of February 16th.
A. For the MAP Award application, please use the most recent fiscal year end.
A. MAP Award applicants can enter the preliminary numbers from the financial statements until an audit is finalized. Once the audit is final, the applicant can send the updated information.
A. Educating consumers about healthcare billing and payment, and avoiding surprise bills, is an important part of a consumer-centric revenue cycle. Please consider posting one or both of HFMA’s consumer educational guides on the relevant page of your organization’s website. No permission is needed. Posting the guides is recommended but not required for the application process.
A. Yes, however, physician practice data should be excluded from other hospital/system applications. The system application is a hospital system application and not an application for a fully integrated network of care.
A. Organizations who wish to apply as an IDS will be required to include data from all service types in their organization. No carve outs will be allowed. This also means that an organization choosing to apply as an IDS will NOT be allowed to apply for the PPM award, as one of the requirements to apply as an IDS is that all physician practice data shall be included in the IDS application. Additionally, an organization choosing to apply as an IDS will not be allowed to apply for the hospital system or individual hospital award, as one of the requirements to apply as an IDS is that all hospital data shall be included in the IDS application. Review IDS Eligibility Criteria information.
A. If you’re unable to complete the application in one sitting, don’t worry- the system will save your progress! Once you’ve entered your organization and contact information on the first page of the application and click Next, the system will recognize that you’ve already started an application. You’ll see a notification pop up that says “We see you started this application already. Would you like to resume?” If you select Yes, you’ll be taken right back to where you left off. To ensure financial accuracy, applicants will be required to download the Metric Submission Checklist which helps validate each required metric prior to application submission.
A. Yes, the application allows you to attach supporting documentation and manage those attachments so retrieving, deleting, updating, and verifying that the attachments are included in the application is easier than ever.
A. The HFMA Review Committee, comprised of HFMA staff and industry leaders and experts in the revenue cycle, determine the winners.
A: In addition to recognition via a press release and on the HFMA website, winners are awarded a trophy and recognized at key HFMA conferences. In 2016, HFMA introduced the MAP Certificate of Recognition in Revenue Cycle Achievement. The certificate recognizes applicants who have achieved superior revenue cycle performance, as evidenced by meeting industry-standard performance benchmarks, implementing a patient-centered approach to revenue cycle, and attaining favorable levels of patient satisfaction.
A. Winners of the MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle are notified by telephone.
A. Yes. We’ve developed a template that can be customized by your organization and sent to your clients either as an email or direct mail. The content of the letter focuses on defining the program, how the award fits into HFMA’s MAP initiative, and provides the application URL so clients can learn more.
A. Contact the MAP Award team at mapaward@hfma.org.