Healthcare Management Advisor
Showing 17–32 of 132 results
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3 tips for cutting your supply chain costs
Summer 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 418
Abstract: Enhancing supply chain management can help hospitals significantly cut costs and increase efficiency. This brief article offers some tips for improving a hospital’s bottom line, such as getting clinicians on board with product standardization and introducing automation to improve the accuracy of data capture. Analyzing vendor relationships to determine the level of value they’re providing is also key.
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Get well with metrics – Measuring the right data can improve revenue cycle management
Summer 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 646
Abstract: Hospitals that are most successful at revenue cycle management (RCM) almost always rely on close monitoring of specific metrics. This article provides several examples of relevant metrics that hospital management should track to optimize their revenue cycle, including the net collection rate, the clean claim rate and denial rates. The article points out that making continual adjustments to RCM based on frequent updates of these important rates will help institutions thrive.
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Share your expertise: Partner with your community
Summer 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 639
Abstract: Partnering with local employers to help provide health-based services can generate significant benefits over time for both the hospital and the community. A hospital can offer local businesses a track record of accomplishment, diversity and flexibility of services, and certified expertise. This article suggests some steps a hospital can take to share its medical expertise and establish itself and its physicians as the health care “providers of choice” for local employers and their workforces. In turn, the hospital’s resources can help improve employee health — and the companies’ bottom lines.
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Is gainsharing illegal? CMS cites clash between antifraud laws and value-based purchasing
Summer 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 796
Abstract: In gainsharing, participants share in cost savings or increased profits resulting from the efforts or actions of the provider receiving payment. But some federal regulations intended to fight health care fraud may have the unintended effect of impeding some of these incentive compensation arrangements. This article discusses several antifraud laws, including the Stark Law. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Stark Law “presents a particularly difficult obstacle to structuring effective programs that do not run afoul of the fraud and abuse laws.” The CMS suggests that waivers of some of these antifraud laws may be on the way. A sidebar explains that the Department of Health and Human Services has previously waived some fraud and abuse laws.
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Price transparency tools don’t necessarily lead to lower health care costs
Spring 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 469
Abstract: With increasing price transparency in health care, patients have more options than ever for comparing prices. This article discusses a recent JAMA study that looked at the outpatient spending of two national employers offering their workers an online price transparency tool. Researchers found, among other things, that offering a price transparency tool wasn’t associated with lower outpatient spending, even for employees with higher deductibles. The study shows that transparency may have far less impact than widely believed.
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Plan for the long term: Invest in IT
Spring 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 575
Abstract: Wise investments in information technology (IT) can be key to a hospital’s survival — helping it stay on top of changing requirements and ensuring it thrives in the long term. This article explains IT best practices and suggests several strategies for making the most out of IT investments, such as ensuring the IT system is interoperable with existing systems and confirming data ownership within the hospital.
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Could a patient loan program improve your collections?
Spring 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 516
Abstract: With high-deductible health insurance plans becoming increasingly commonplace, many organizations have been dealing with higher collection costs and write-offs. To counter this trend, some hospitals are establishing patient loan programs, thus creating a win-win situation for both hospitals and patients. This article describes the benefits of a patient loan program and notes several options hospitals can consider when developing such a program.
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CMS’s 2017 final OPPS rule adopts revised site-neutral payments
Spring 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 788
Abstract: When the CMS released its preliminary draft of the Calendar Year 2017 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System policy changes, hospitals were alarmed over its proposed site-neutral payments. This article discusses the requirements of the final rule and its implications for hospital billing of outpatient services. The article concludes that the site-neutral payment provisions could make it difficult for hospitals with off-campus PBDs to recover related capital outlays and operational expenses. A sidebar discusses the final OPPS rule’s new measures that affect the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (Hospital OQR) Program.
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Reach for the stars – New CMS ratings system looks at multiple metrics
Winter 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 424
Abstract: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the first of its Quality Star Ratings in July 2016, and many hospitals received the lowest rating. This brief article suggests that low-rated hospitals may be able to improve their standing by familiarizing themselves with the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating system. The system makes it easier for consumers to compare hospitals and interpret complex quality information by summarizing data from 64 existing quality measures into a single rating.
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The new overtime rule: What it means for hospitals
Winter 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 625
Abstract: With the new overtime rule issued by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2016, the number of employees who qualify for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act has expanded dramatically. This article explains the impact of the new rule on hospital staff. It also looks at the options hospitals have in determining how to best meet the compensation requirements while balancing budgetary constraints.
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Those amazing shrinking profit margins – 6 strategies for spotting trouble before it starts
Winter 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 745
Abstract: In addition to changing federal regulations, increasingly competitive markets can cause hospital profit margins to shrink. This article lists six strategies for addressing potentially troublesome areas and keeping profit margins growing, including reducing readmissions, adding service lines and checking supply costs. The article suggests that hospitals need to ensure they are operating efficiently and profitably on every level.
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Could you lose your property tax exemption?
Winter 2017
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 769
Abstract: A recent ruling from the New Jersey Tax Court in AHS Hospital Corp. v. Town of Morristown provides a powerful example of how a hospital can lose its property tax exemption if it engages in certain financial practices. This article discusses the pertinent issues of the case and the court’s exemption analysis, noting that the analysis focused mainly on the hospital’s operations rather than the charitable benefits it provided the community. A sidebar looks at recent IRS guidance on how to determine whether executive compensation is reasonable. AHS Hospital Corp. v. Town of Morristown, No. 010900-2007, N.J. Tax Court, 2015
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Revised guidelines give auditors more power to collect claims data
Fall 2016
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 446
Abstract: The CMS has issued revised guidelines allowing Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) to review a greater number of hospital claims in specific circumstances. The guidelines lay out a new method for calculating additional documentation request limits for hospitals. This brief article discusses the new limit and the RAC allowances and responsibilities when performing their audits.
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The value of intangibles in health care
Fall 2016
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 671
Abstract: Health care organizations typically possess many types of valuable intangible assets, such as personal and professional goodwill, practice protocols and treatment plans, and noncompete covenants. This article talks about several of these intangible assets and notes that their value shouldn’t be overlooked for valuation or tax planning purposes. The article explains which valuation approaches might be most appropriate in assessing these assets’ value and notes the importance of seeking experienced valuation advice.
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CMS releases updated managed-care regulations
Fall 2016
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 548
Abstract: The CMS recently issued a final rule that updates the Medicaid managed-care regulations for the first time in more than a decade. The rule will affect Medicaid managed-care plans and their beneficiaries as well as the hospitals that serve these beneficiaries. This article explains the details of how the final rule phases out states’ abilities to use pass-through payments and discusses several other relevant provisions of which hospitals need to be aware.
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Formula for success – Putting the hospital lab under the revenue microscope
Fall 2016
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 805
Abstract: In-house hospital laboratories often operate inefficiently and below capacity —making them potentially ripe for juicing up revenues. This article lists several ways hospitals can expand their labs from mere diagnostic factories into revenue-stream generators, including developing outreach programs, tailoring up-sell programs for particular practice specialty areas existing in the community and cross-selling services to physicians already using the hospital for nonlab services. A sidebar looks at how to control lab costs.