New guidance for No Surprises Act arbitration looks like an improvement for providers
Responding to a recent court ruling, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated the application of criteria for deciding No Surprises Act (NSA) independent dispute resolution (IDR) cases. Certified IDR entities (i.e., arbitrators) received guidance March 17 instructing them to more directly consider multiple factors when deciding on an out-of-network payment…
Here comes the Medicaid unwinding: The healthcare industry braces for coverage disruptions
A potentially tumultuous period for revenue cycle teams in particular and the U.S. healthcare system in general begins April 1, with the phasing out of a three-year run of Medicaid continuous enrollment. The so-called Medicaid “unwinding” originally was connected to end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), which is scheduled for May 11. But…
The media blame game regarding patient financial conversations
Brad Dennison, HFMA chief content executive, discusses the March hfm cover story about patient-friendly payment and what some media organizations get wrong.
Monument Health revamps its revenue cycle leadership structure for the benefit of patients and the organization
Looking to break through the cultural silos that can hamper operations at hospitals and health systems, Monument Health has engineered a new brand of clinical-finance collaboration. Headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota, the community-based health system established a dyad leadership structure in which a clinical leader has joint oversight of the revenue cycle. It’s a…
New ways of working spur updated training, automation
Learn how changes implemented during the pandemic are transforming multiple healthcare finance executives' workplaces and driving them to rethink how work gets done.
Hospital price transparency update: Regulatory enforcement soon could become stricter, CMS leaders say
Although nothing is official, CMS leaders indicate enforcement of hospital price transparency regulations is set to become more stringent. For an article published in Health Affairs, the Center for Medicare’s Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, director, and Douglas Jacobs, MD, chief transformation officer, touted progress that has been made since the rules took effect Jan. 1,…
How to meet your patients’ communication preferences and improve your bottom line
In this HFMA executive roundtable, seven health system leaders share their efforts to effectively engage patients and the lessons they have learned along the way.
Professional Credit eases the collections process for both staff and healthcare consumers
Debt collections are often the last communication touch point a patient has, and health systems should ensure their business partner is representing the organization in the best possible manner. See how one company eases the collections process for staff and consumers.
Hospitals have options for effectively managing complicated reimbursements
How can health systems and patients both win when it comes to payment? Read this article to learn how hospitals can maximize collections and get paid for provided services on top of how patients can identify source of payment that is not out of pocket.
Medicare contractors should more closely examine providers’ bad debt claims, HHS watchdog says
Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) soon could apply more scrutiny to providers’ reported bad debts if CMS implements recommendations from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG in December issued a report in which it examined bad-debt reimbursement claims on Medicare cost reports spanning 2016 through 2018 for 67 randomly selected providers (including 29 hospitals). In those…