HFMA SOUTH TEXAS LEADERSHIP FORUM January 20, 2017 at the Blanton Museum of the Art, The University of Texas at Austin HFMA South Texas at the Western Region Conference in Las Vegas
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Dear HFMA South Texas Colleagues, Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2017 is a year full of good health, opportunities, success and fun. As I get older I can’t believe how time goes by so fast. We are halfway through our fiscal year and it feels like we just started. As we look back on the last three months, the South Texas Chapter continues to THRIVE! We had a fantastic Region 9 meeting in New Orleans in November. Thanks to John Montaine and David Glazener for representing South Texas on the Region 9 planning committee. If you missed it, you missed a great time. Also, our Leadership Forum was held Jan. 20 at the Blanton Art Museum in Austin. The meeting was filled with interesting healthcare and leadership topics. The Forum ended with a guided tour of the museum and a networking event at Sholtz Beer Garten. I want to thank Chairman John Knighten and the program committee for all its hard work. We ask you to invite a colleague to join HFMA. We include the membership goal, set by National, and progress in each newsletter so you can see how we are doing. Please help us meet our membership goal by renewing your membership or sponsoring a colleague. This can be done online at www.hfma.org/membership. Membership satisfaction is also tracked. Thank you to those who took the time to complete the membership satisfaction survey. We value your feedback! We have many exciting programs scheduled in the upcoming months. Healthcare Landscape…
For the approximately 16,000 nursing home operators across the country, increased scrutiny and constant realignment have become a way of life. And if trying to prepare for a new administration that is likely to enact significant regulatory and reimbursement changes in the near future wasn’t enough, long-term care providers also end 2016 with a new 700-page rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The new rule, commonly referred to as either “The Final Rule” or the “Rules of Participation,” is a series of guidelines and requirements for long-term care facilities that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding. The guidelines will be implemented in three phases. The first phase was initiated on Nov. 28, 2016, phase two will be implemented by Nov. 28, 2017, and phase three will be implemented by Nov. 28, 2019 (Figure 1). The goal of the new regulations is to continue the advancement of service delivery and safety that has occurred over the past several years, as well as put in place a series of mechanisms designed to achieve improvements in quality of care while simultaneously attempting to reduce burdens on providers. The new regulations represent the most comprehensive update in decades. The first time Medicare and Medicaid requirements were published by CMS was in 1989, and although there have been periodic revisions since then, this is the most thorough overhaul since 1991. Clearly, the health care industry has experienced substantial changes in care delivery in the past decades, so the Final Rule’s arrival has…
Survey finds top drivers of healthcare IT investment are improving patient experience and engagement In an era of digital natives, new technological solutions to healthcare challenges appear almost daily. Not surprisingly, two-thirds of hospitals report increased tech budgets for this fiscal year. Additionally, over a quarter of hospitals have seen more than a 5 percent increase. A recent survey* by First American Healthcare Finance, in partnership with the American Hospital Association, identified this rise in budgeting for hospital and health system information technology. Where Are Healthcare Organizations Investing? With endless possibilities, where are providers investing IT? In 2016, First American met with over 700 unique healthcare organizations to learn about their top investment priorities. Out of 900+ projects, top IT investments fell into four buckets: Infrastructure to run operations and keep data safe with server, software, and wireless infrastructure upgrades. Communication to make verbal and digital flow of information more efficient, using tablets, iPhone, nurse call systems, EMR upgrades, and telehealth. Patient monitoring devices to boost preventative care using heart failure prevention devices (necklaces, wristbands, and watches), nutrition tracking devices and apps, and food scanners. Revenue generating items such as da Vinci robots, hybrid operating rooms, cutting-edge ultrasound and imaging equipment, artificial intelligence in robots, and 3D bio-printing. In the past, technology in healthcare organizations meant a handful of computers, some digital monitoring equipment, and a few pieces of imaging equipment. In today’s healthcare environment, technology has never been more aligned with every aspect of the patient experience. Additionally, as…
Abstract Swing-beds are one approach to addressing two problems in rural communities: the shortage of nursing home beds and the decline in rural hospital occupancy. In the past, swing-bed demonstration hospitals have shown the greatest potential for quality improvement compared to nursing homes in providing a continuum of care. Background A national swing-bed program was first authorized in the 1980 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allowing Medicare reimbursement of swing-bed care in rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds. The term “swing bed” is used to describe the level of care hospitalized patients receive once they are no longer in need of acute care. Swing bed admissions are limited to patients who require some level of skilled nursing care and are currently in a hospital acute care bed. Patients cannot be admitted to a swing bed from either the community or a skilled nursing facility unless they have spent three days in an acute care hospital bed for related needs within the past 30 days. Swing beds are generally limited to 40 days per patient under state law . Rural hospital leaders may be quick to blame Medicare and federal regulations for their collective financial crisis, but the biggest reasons so many rural hospitals are in danger of closing is because they simply do not have enough inpatients . Since the passage of ACA there has been a further downward utilization trend and subsequent cash flows issues in small rural hospitals. Increased out of pocket expenses for healthcare, associated with…
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