Tag: Hospitals

Psychiatric Facilities

Psychiatric Facilities Could See Payments of $75 Million In 2020

CMS has released the inpatient psychiatric facility proposed rule. Approximately $75million is projected to be paid to inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed 2020 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) released on April 19. IPF-PPS applies to inpatient services for psychiatric hospitals and distinct psychiatric units of […]
Urgent Need for New Revenue Streams will Shape Providers Strategies

Urgent Need for New Revenue Streams will Shape Providers Strategies

Building alternative revenue streams source will play a bigger role in healthcare providers’ strategies, according to a new study. Ninety percent of hospital and health system executives surveyed indicated that new revenue streams were an urgent priority expected to yield a return in the next three years, a new study from Boston-based Partners Health Care […]
AI Driven Medical Billing

Could AI-Driven Medical Billing be The Key to Keeping Struggling Hospitals in the Black?

The entrepreneurs behind Sift Healthcare are using predictive analytics (AI) to crack the code on unpaid medical bills, helping health facilities work smarter when managing budgets. Last month, Alabama’s Georgiana Medical Center closed its doors, making it the 13th Alabama hospital to close in eight years. Seven of the 13 shuttered hospitals served rural communities. In […]
How Blockchain Can Solve Healthcare’s Data Reconciliation Problem

How Blockchain Can Solve Healthcare’s Data Reconciliation Problem

The U.S. healthcare industry has a $1 trillion opportunity to cut costs and reduce waste, according to a 2015 Harvard Business Review analysis. While there are various areas waste accumulates, costly data reconciliation is a prominent problem for hospitals and health systems. Change Healthcare defines data reconciliation as “the process of compiling information across companies […]
Surprise Medical Bills

Insurers, Providers Spar Over Solution to Surprise Medical Bills

America’s Health Insurance Plans called on Congress to set a fixed reimbursement rate based on what insurers pay in a region. Providers are pushing back against an insurer proposal for legislation to set reimbursement rates to avoid surprise medical bills. In a letter to Senate and House leaders this week, America’s Health Insurance Plans and 16 other […]
Medicare Advantage Plans and the Two-Midnight Rule

Medicare Advantage Plans and the Two-Midnight Rule

Controversy continues to swirl around this subject. A recent article of mine focused on the argument that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have to follow the two-midnight rule. It certainly generated buzz; I received a number of emails with comments and questions. First, I want to note that I love getting comments and questions. I can’t […]
3 Key Strategies to Increase Healthcare Revenue Cycle Efficiency

3 Key Strategies to Increase Healthcare Revenue Cycle Efficiency

As providers engage in complex payment models and collect more from patients, they must learn to automate key functions to improve healthcare revenue efficiency. The healthcare revenue cycle has many moving parts. From patient access and registration to medical billing and coding, provider organizations of all sizes must achieve revenue cycle efficiency to ensure providers […]
Federal Policy to End Surprise Billing

Federal Policy to End Surprise Billing: Building on Prior Approaches

Ending surprise medical bills has risen to a national priority with bipartisan political interest. In January, President Donald Trump directed Cabinet officials to find a solution, and multiple congressional bills were proposed in the last Congress with the same goal. Surprise medical bills consist of unanticipated charges from out-of-network clinicians—often when the facility or primary physician is […]
MACRA Readiness for Healthcare Organizations

MACRA Readiness for Healthcare Organizations

Without even putting too much effort into listening to or reading the news, you understand that healthcare costs have steadily risen over the last couple decades, and yet we don’t really have any significant and correlating rise in outcomes to show for it.  CMS or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has also noticed […]