Healthcare Finance News
FierceHealthFinance covers trends and challenges in healthcare and hospital finance. Find news on revenue cycle management, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, healthcare payment reform, hospital strikes and more. For more information and analysis on these topics, please visit our health care reports.
Best hospitals have lower Medicare costs
The best hospitals in the country also have Medicare costs that are below other facilities, reported Kaiser Health News. The news organization compared the 16 hospitals placed on the U.S. News and Read more...
Former CMS chiefs want SGR repeal
Four former administrators of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were all in agreement last week: The sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for physicians is completely broken and needs Read more...
Children's hospitals have stronger financial bearings
Children's hospitals are faring better financially than their general acute counterparts, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. The ratings firm reported that the average standalone Read more...
Hospitals ask HUD to drop interest rate hike
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to back off from a proposal to increase interest rates for its Section 242 program that insures Read more...
Providers missing out on billions of incentives
New research suggests that providers are missing out on as much as $20 billion a year in incentives because their availability is poorly communicated. The study, by Illinois-based ZS Associates, Read more...
Tax breaks aim to lure providers from Massachusetts
New Hampshire policymakers are pushing for tax breaks and incentives to draw specialty hospitals along its southern border in the hopes of gaining patients from much more populous Massachusetts, Read more...
Providers praise proposed SGR repeal, fee-for-service phase out
A proposed House bill would permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, preventing a 30 percent Medicare pay cut in 2013, and would phase out fee-for-service payments. The Medicare Read more...
Hospitals face potential $5B Medicaid shortfall in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's hospitals are facing a potential shortfall in Medicaid payments that could total more than $5 billion by 2015, according to the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania Read more...
Facing tighter revenues, hospitals boost efficiencies
In response to the changing revenue climate, systems such as University Hospitals in Ohio are entering into accountable care organizations, expanding the use of electronic medical records and merging Read more...
Bill would cut state healthcare spending growth in half
Massachusetts lawmakers have introduced legislation that, if enacted, would limit what hospitals and physicians could charge for services and create an agency that would monitor medical spending, The Read more...
Hospital-payer billing errors abound
Billing between hospitals and payers is often riddled with errors, creating a confusing situation as to how much healthcare delivery actually costs, reported The Plain Dealer. Up to 40 percent of Read more...
Will too many future docs forgo primary care for specialties?
The nation's medical schools are gearing up to graduate nearly a third more doctors than in the past, but concerns are rising that too many will be trained for specialties rather than primary care, Read more...
Healthcare workers, hospitals agree to drop minimum charity care, pricing caps
A major healthcare labor union in California has reached an agreement with the state's hospitals to drop ballot initiatives that would have put charity care floors and pricing caps on many Read more...
Health system backs off patient debt collections
Fairview Health Services in Minnesota has pulled back on collecting patient debts after the state's Attorney General accused the firm it hired to obtain payments of widespread abuses, according to Read more...
Looming reimbursement cuts stifle hospital budgets
A sizable percentage of hospitals expect to reduce their spending on capital projects during 2012 as they confront a variety of budget issues, according to a new survey of 730 hospitals from Premier Read more...
