A recent study showed that for the 10th year in a row, financial challenges are #1 on hospital CEO’s list of concerns. More than healthcare reform, government mandates, and patient safety, the constant battle to be financially stable is the what keeps the healthcare C-suite up at night.
So what factors are contributing the the financial worries? Let’s take a look.
In order for hospitals to be successful in 2015, there are a few very important issues that need to be addressed. Today, we’ll address 5 of the most pressing issues that will help hospitals overcome the obstacles to success.
The results are in from the early HIPAA audits by Health and Human Services (HHS). Want to know what was the major weakness found by the government’s auditors? The compliance deficiency all-to-common among healthcare practices? It was, according to HHS, “the lack of a thorough risk analysis.”
Time after time, auditors would ask to see evidence that the covered entity had performed a risk analysis. And time after time, much to their dismay, the answer they heard was, “A what?”
It’s unclear whether President Obama’s request for funding to combat HAIs will be met by Congress, but regardless of whether or not the funding comes from the federal government, hospitals will need to find the money somewhere to continue investing in HAI prevention, especially as it becomes more inextricably linked with reimbursement as we march forward this year.
Since 2010 there have been 47 rural hospital closures. The reasons behind the closures vary but the message rings true, rural hospitals are struggling. With difficulties from implanting EHR to the re-evaluation of Medicare reimbursements, rural hospitals are looking for new ways to stay afloat. Here are the top 4 trends we see effecting rural hospitals in 2015.
As payment continues to become more closely linked with patient experience and patient reported outcomes, the information gleaned from assessments such as the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) will be a major area of focus for hospitals and providers in 2015. One area that has not previously been included within the HCAHPS, or any federal or statewide assessments, is the perspective of parents of pediatric patients.
For the third year in a row, Medicare will be increasing the percent penalty for hospitals who have high readmission rates: up now to 3% in 2015. Despite efforts through the ACA and readmission reductions programs, the rate of readmissions continues to rise.
Initially, Medicare attempted to stifle this by forcing hospitals to be transparent about their numbers. By making the number of readmissions public, the hope was that there would be a certain accountability and hospitals would then attempt to discern why their rates were so high. When this didn’t prove to drop the rates as much as Medicare would have hoped, they tacked on a financial penalty that hospitals would need to pay if their rates continued to rise.
Many hospitals are currently asking themselves, “How can we improve our revenue cycle in 2015?”
This topic is also one many C-suite executives are facing in 2015, which is proving to be another year of vast changes. Financial departments will have to stay on top of contract management, as well as planning for shifts in how payments are received.
Today, we’ve put together a list of 5 ways healthcare providers can reboot their revenue cycles and stay ahead of those changes that impact the bottom line.
With the new roll out date of ICD-10 finally on the calendar, healthcare providers and payers alike have been preparing for the change.
In the ever-changing healthcare industry, the C-suite executives always have to be on their toes. But the best leaders are making some smart, calculated moves to stay on top of their game in 2015. These moves are not always executed easily, but those who make them help their organizations perform better and provide a higher level of patient care.
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