ONC issues proposed technical standards to improve health information sharing
Proposed regulations bring healthcare providers and patients a step closer to gaining access to key health information stored in payer databases. Provisions in a proposed rule published Aug. 5 by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) support a CMS final rule released in 2020 and another issued early this year,…
Hospitals will get only a small bump in Medicare inpatient payments for FY25
Hospital representatives were less than excited about the rate update in Medicare’s FY25 final rule for inpatient care and long-term care hospitals. Published Aug. 1, the rule includes a 2.9% rate increase for acute care hospitals in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The increase is derived from a 3.4% hike in the market…
Healthcare organizations increasingly rely on third-party solutions for RCM tasks
While healthcare organizations rely on native EHR functionality for certain revenue cycle management (RCM) tasks, they increasingly look to third-party solutions for others. But what questions should they be asking? Check out key takeaways in this research report.
UChicago Medicine grows into role of AI innovator
UChicago Medicine discovered that they are ahead of other healthcare institutions in their use of AI for revenue cycle, and they are focusing on using AI to strengthen business outcomes, supporting a culture of AI innovation, implementing a governance framework, and measuring and optimizing performance.
Patient payment and provider collaboration
Chad Bloomberg of U.S. Bank Healthcare Payment Solutions shares insights on how payment preferences differ depending on demographics, and Oracle's Julie Jensen talks about collaboration as the key to cybersecurity in interviews recorded at HFMA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
As providers seek resolution of continuing Change Healthcare issues, UnitedHealth Group reports strong financials
The aftermath of the Change Healthcare cyberattack affected the second-quarter financials of parent company UnitedHealth Group (UHG), but not to the point of hindering the company’s continued “diversified and durable growth,” CEO Andrew Witty said during a recent investor call. Q2 revenues increased by 6% year-over-year, while profits dropped by 5.5% amid costs stemming from…
What have we agreed to? Cutting the knot with AI
In ancient Greek legend, the Gordian knot was a knot of extreme complexity that tied an oxcart to a post. Whoever could untie the knot was destined to become the ruler of Asia. By a popular account, when Alexander III of Macedonia (later Alexander the Great) was challenged to untie the knot, he came up…
The surest bets from HFMA’s Annual Conference in Las Vegas
Laxmi Patel from Savista discusses the potential for AI, and Kevin Hidenfelter from Millenia shares insights about generational payment preferences in interviews conducted live at HFMA's Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
Massive CrowdStrike crash poses big issues for hospital and clinic operations
July 22 updates With scattered exceptions, hospital and health system operations were largely reported as being back to normal Monday. There were few indications that nonurgent appointments needed to be canceled or diverted, although some organizations warned of the possibility of continued delays. On July 20, Microsoft released a recovery tool that it said would…
Fortifying defenses: essential cybersecurity strategies for revenue cycle management
Healthcare leaders understand that the quality of their organization’s revenue cycle is directly reflected in its bottom line. However, it is also reflected in quality outcomes and patient satisfaction scores. Inefficiencies in eligibility, coverage, prior authorization and other revenue cycle processes can lead to delays in care and surprise patient bills, in addition to poor…