Soaring charity care grabs hospital leaders’ attention
Across the country, hospitals are reexamining their approach to uncompensated care, with first movers in this space increasing the availability of financial assistance and working harder to reduce the chances that an account will be sent to collections. And now, new data paints a picture of the collective impact of these efforts and other trends…
People: HFMA members step into new CFO roles
Jessica Graham is serving as CFO of Banner – University Medical Center Tucson Banner – University Medical Center Tucson appointed Jessica Graham, MBA, as CFO in May. Graham’s previous appointments include more than six years with Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System and a 10-month stint as interim vice president and chief business officer with University…
Taking a pulse on healthcare capital investment: 3 insights
Dive into this roundtable to discover the trends shaping market activity and how to accelerate healthcare investments — including support from private equity and venture capital partners.
Jill Geisler: Success without hubris — Why the best leaders are confident, not arrogant
Picture this: You’re in a high-stakes situation with lots of tension. It could be in an emergency department, a board room or a boiler room. People must make quick, important decisions. Then one person walks in, and everyone’s anxiety seems to diminish. It’s the leader you respect. All eyes turn to that person, who calmly…
4 areas where a CFO-CIO partnership is a strategic imperative in healthcare
Hospitals and health systems face mounting challenges today in managing IT cost and strategy. While responsibility for guiding their organizations through these challenges invariably falls to the CIO, finance leaders also have a critical role to play in this effort as partners with IT leaders — and often from a position of providing oversight of…
New data points to financial upsides in rethinking patient payment plans
According to a recent survey conducted with more than 200 healthcare finance professionals, providers struggle to obtain out-of-pocket costs from patients. Now, providers collect just 24% of patient billings, or the amount owed after insurance covered its portion.
HFMA’s editorial team earns 25 awards
HFMA’s editorial team has earned 25 honors from two media organizations — the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) and the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) — for work spanning its 2024 healthcare industry coverage, special reports, newsletters, podcasts and design. (See the sidebar “4 HFMA editorial pieces earn Neal Award honor,” below.)…
David Johnson: Lessons in solving the nation’s current revenue cycle dilemma
In April 1999, “The Modern Library” published its list of the top one hundred nonfiction books of the 20th century. Number one was “The Education of Henry Adams,” an intellectual autobiography written in 1905 by the great grandson and grandson of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, respectively, the second and sixth presidents of the…
Ken Perez: The NIH research grant cuts — their magnitude, impact and the road ahead
Moves by the Trump administration to reduce HHS’s discretionary budget by 26.2% could have unintended adverse consequences. They not only could undermine the nation’s standing in the field of medical research, but also could derail progress in human health advances, promising medical findings and public health preparedness. Cuts to discretionary spending by the National Institutes…
How to empower revenue cycle employees to solve problems: a case study of Mass General Brigham
In traditional revenue cycle structures, managers move up the hierarchy because they are good at getting work done and solving problems. However, a successful continuous improvement culture needs not only effective managers but also empowered front-line staff who can share their insights and expertise. With this premise in mind, leaders at Mass General Brigham (MGB)…