Tag Archives: Hospital
Cost Control Efforts Working ‘So Far’ in MA
Health policy veteran Stuart Altman, PhD, is hopeful, but not optimistic, about healthcare delivery reforms and thinks hospitals will be forced to bring costs down because patients won’t tolerate any more cost shifting.
Each year, we put together a cost trend report that outlines what forces are at play in the state in terms of raising spending and we have hearings every October. We are trying to play an interesting role which is not be regulatory, but really to be in the face of the healthcare system in terms of saying, “Hey be careful. Don’t go the extra mile on in spending or pricing.”
We want to do it in a way that doesn’t destroy or even hurt the health system. In any attempt to do that, some of the forces within the health industry scream.
But, for the most part, the hospitals have been supportive of our efforts. If we were to squeeze too hard, they would react more negatively. Everyone is engaged in a very interesting balancing act. We are trying getting the system to work more efficiently… and they are trying to control costs without destroying themselves. So far it’s working.
CBO: Hospitals’ future finances depend on increasing productivity
- A new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has recognized that changes in laws and regulations, prompted primarily by the ACA–notablyreduced Medicare payment updates and expanded insurance coverage–can be expected to significantly impact hospitals’ future finances.
- To help provide a sense of the impacts, the CBO’s working paper predicted hospitals’ profit margins, and the share of hospitals that could lose money in 2025 under several different scenarios.
- The researchers noted that they provided a wide range of estimates due to “substantial uncertainty” around the predictions and how hospitals will respond to the pressures of the federal healthcare law.
AHA urges CMS to withdraw Medicaid DSH proposal
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/aha-urges-cms-to-withdraw-medicaid-dsh-proposal.html
Click to access 160914-cl-medicaid-dsh.pdf
The American Hospital Association submitted a letter Tuesday to CMS, asking the agency to withdraw a proposed rule to include third-party payments when calculating the hospital-specific limitation on Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments.
In its proposal, CMS says the rule is simply a clarification on existing policy.
“Specifically, the rule would make clearer in the text of the regulation that uncompensated care costs include only those costs for Medicaid eligible individuals that remain after accounting for payments received by hospitals or on behalf of Medicaid eligible individuals, including Medicare and other third-party payments that compensate the hospitals for care furnished to such individuals,” the proposed rule states.
In the letter to CMS, the AHA argues the proposed rule is more than a clarification and actually establishes new policy. According to the AHA, CMS proposed the rule to avoid potentially unfavorable rulings in cases pending in federal court that address the DSH payment calculation.
20 financial benchmarks for hospital executives
Here are 20 benchmarks related to one of the most important day-to-day areas hospital executives oversee — finance.
Source: Moody’s Investors Service, “U.S. Not-for-Profit Hospital 2015 Medians” report, September 2016.
The medians are based on an analysis of audited 2015 financial statements for 340 freestanding hospitals, single-state health systems and multi-state health systems, representing 81 percent of all Moody’s rated healthcare entities. Children’s hospitals, hospitals for which five years of data are not available and certain specialty hospitals were not eligible for inclusion in the medians.
Senior finance executives name their top 10 RCM initiatives
To optimize revenue cycle workflows, senior healthcare finance executives are more likely to implement updated IT and hire additional staff than contract with outside consulting services, according to a recent survey by Connance.
Connance, in conjunction with Porter Research, surveyed 93 senior finance executives in an 11-question online survey regarding their organizations’ revenue cycle improvement priorities. Respondents completed the questionnaire in July.
Below are six survey findings.
Ascension’s expansion efforts pay off as operating surplus swells to $753M
Click to access ES819017-ES642670-.pdf
St. Louis-based Ascension reported $21.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2015, up 6.6 percent from revenue of $20.5 billion in the year prior, according to financial documents filed with bondholders.
The financial boost was partially attributable to an increase in patient volume due to Ascension’s expansion efforts in the past year. During the year ended June 30, 2016, Ascension acquired Glendale, Wis.-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and added hospitals in Michigan and Tennessee as well.
Including these recently acquired facilities, the nonprofit system said inpatient admissions and inpatient surgeries increased 3.2 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, as compared to the year prior. Ascension also said emergency room visits increased 3.7 percent year over year.
After accounting for a year-over-year increase in expenses of 6.1 percent, Ascension ended FY 2015 with an operating surplus of $753.2 million, up from $696.5 million in the year prior.
Medicare audits up 936% in last 5 years
Editor’s Corner: Geisinger’s new-school/old-school approach to retain, recruit staff
“You can give out bonuses, trinkets, t-shirts and keychains. But at the end of the day people want to be listened to and feel valued, respected and cared for by their colleagues and the leadership team.”
‘Bedless’ hospitals grow as industry moves toward outpatient care
The changing nature of healthcare and patients’ desire for convenience have given rise to nontraditional care formats such as stand-alone emergency rooms and “micro-hospitals,” and now “bedless hospitals” are joining the push.
Such hospitals still have standard hospital features, including infusion suites, emergency rooms, helipads and operating areas, but no overnight space, according to STAT. For example, MetroHealth System recently opened a $48 million bedless facility in the Cleveland area. CEO Akram Boutros, M.D., said staff is expecting to serve around 3,000 patients during this first year.
“It reduces cost, and it reduces the risk of infection,” Boutros told the publication. “People go home to a less-risky environment, where they tend to get better faster.”
HENRY KOTULA 