Topics
Reimbursement
Smoking cessation efforts may reduce avoidable hospital readmissions
Smoking linked to higher readmissions
Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue cycle, billing improvements trump lawsuits when it comes to collecting
Rev cycle, billing improvements boost collections
Strategic Planning
Close to one-third of healthcare employees have never received cybersecurity training, report shows
One-third of healthcare employees lack cybersecurity training
Capital Finance
Half of healthcare leaders say artificial intelligence will yield positive return on investment in 3 years
Half of leaders say AI will yield ROI in 3 years
Supply Chain
Hospital bottom lines could benefit from more clinical integration in the supply chain
Clinical integration in supply chain boosts bottom lines
Accounting & Financial Management
Profitability declined in August as volumes begin to soften, says Kaufman Hall
Report: Profitability down, volumes soft
Budgeting
Pressures of value-based care reforms trigger sharp increase in clinical outsourcing partnerships
Value-based care pressures driving outsourcing
Quality and Safety
Hospitals face rising risk of sophisticated cyberattacks
Hospitals face rising risk of cyberattacks
Billing and Collections
Poor digital billing process associated with uncollected payments
Poor digital billing associated with collections
Claims Processing
BCBS Institute and Solera partner, pay SDoH organizations through outcomes-based medical claims
BCBS Institute, Solera, to pay organizations through outcomes-based claims
Workforce
2018 cohort of newly-certified physician assistants is the youngest and largest yet
Largest and youngest group of PAs now certified
Operations
Some ICU admissions may be preventable, saving money and improving care
Preventing some ICU admissions can save money
Medical Devices
Apple is developing custom health information tracking chips
Apple is developing custom health chips
Hospital/physician relations
Women in healthcare face more harassment, have fewer opportunities and lower wages, study shows
Women: Fewer opportunities, lower wages
Construction & Facilities Management
Cape Cod Healthcare building $180M patient tower, investing in EHR
CCHC building $180M patient tower
Compliance & Legal
Sutter Health avoids trial, settles antitrust case with California Attorney General
Sutter Health settles antitrust case
Policy and Legislation
Public health insurance options would cut into industry margins, Moody's says
Public health insurance poses a threat for industry margins
Community Benefit
Advocate Aurora Health contributed $2.1 billion to community charitable care and services in 2018
Advocate Aurora: $2.1B in charity care
Accountable Care
Physician-led accountable care organizations outperform hospital-led counterparts
Physician-led ACOs outperform hospital ACOs
Acute Care
Pressure ulcers cost the health system $26.8 billion a year
Pressure ulcers cost the health system $26.8B a year
Ambulatory Care
Medical schools, teaching hospitals account for 3% of US GDP, report shows
Med schools, teaching hospitals are 3% of GDP
Analytics
Anthem, MassChallenge HealthTech to collaborate on accelerator launch
Anthem, MassChallenge HealthTech launching accelerator
Business Intelligence
While the price of healthcare is growing, utilization is dropping and price variations persist, report says
HCCI: Price of healthcare is growing, utilization is dropping, price variations persist
ICD-10 & Coding
Physician practices examine risk adjustment coding in wake of federal lawsuits
Practices keeping close watch on risk adjustment coding
Meaningful Use
CMS overhauls meaningful use EHR program, renames it 'Promoting Interoperability'
CMS overhauls meaningful use as 'Promoting Interoperability'
Medicare & Medicaid
Medicaid rebates central to the concern over 340B drug program, survey shows
Medicaid rebate picture for 340B uncertain
Patient Engagement
Online patient portal usage linked to higher rates of flu shots, blood pressure checks
Patient portals linked to more flu shots, blood pressure checks
Pharmacy
Majority of physicians fear another prescription drug crisis
Most physicians fear another drug crisis
Population Health
Old is not necessarily elderly as seniors want both lifespan and health span
Old is not necessarily elderly
Risk Management
Hospital employees are clicking on phishing emails, and that's a problem, JAMA study shows
JAMA: Hospital employees are clicking on phishing emails
Telehealth
Telehealth eliminates time and distance to save money
Telehealth eliminates time and distance to save money
Mergers & Acquisitions
Federal court sides with CVS Health/Aetna on their merger
Federal court sides with CVS/Aetna
View more

Fitch Ratings

In-depth

Smaller, nonprofit hospitals led a turnaround in margins, says Fitch

Smaller, nonprofit hospitals led a turnaround in margins, says Fitch

Following two years of falling margins, the trend has reversed course, with median margins…

Struggles will continue for nonprofit hospitals in 2019, Fitch says

Struggles will continue for nonprofit hospitals in 2019, Fitch says

The downcast outlook is due largely to ongoing operational weaknesses, which have evolved…

Whitepapers

A New Approach to Comparative Analytics Drives Improvement Enterprise-wide

A New Approach to Comparative Analytics Drives Improvement Enterprise-wide

Today's healthcare environment requires a new means to get the right comparative…

Solving Revenue Cycle Challenges with Short-term Outsourcing

Solving Revenue Cycle Challenges with Short-term Outsourcing

Hospitals' cash flow is under siege. Short-term outsourcing can quickly infuse four key revenue…

Latest News

September 4, 2019 | Jeff Lagasse

Smaller, nonprofit hospitals led a turnaround in margins, says Fitch

December 6, 2018 | Jeff Lagasse

Struggles will continue for nonprofit hospitals in 2019, Fitch says

September 26, 2018 | Jeff Lagasse

Operating margins stunted for nonprofit hospitals, says Fitch

November 27, 2017 | Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News

Ambulance rides often result in surprise bills

August 7, 2017 | Beth Jones Sanborn

Fitch: States will take the lead on Medicaid reform despite ACA repeal and replace failure

April 14, 2017 | Susan Morse

Fitch: Outlook negative for nonprofits under political uncertainty, Medicaid expansion could help

April 3, 2017 | Kaiser Health News

Proliferation of medical device importation complicates tax reform, potential import tariff

VIEW ALL NEWS

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Cigna expands its ACA footprint

Cigna expands its ACA footprint

BCBS of Illinois invests $1M in housing

BCBS of Illinois invests $1M in housing

Hospitals, insurers object to posting negotiated rates

Hospitals, insurers object to posting negotiated rates

UPDATED: List of 2020 Medicare Advantage star ratings

UPDATED: List of 2020 Medicare Advantage star ratings

List: CMS 2019 Star ratings show Kaiser on top

List: CMS 2019 Star ratings show Kaiser on top

Optum: UnitedHealth's secret weapon

Optum: UnitedHealth's secret weapon

A quarter of U.S. health spending is waste

A quarter of U.S. health spending is waste

News

Once-failing hospitals say accountability, transparency key to surviving fallout from failing patient safety grades

Once-failing hospitals say accountability, transparency key to surviving fallout from failing patient safety grades

When Leapfrog released their Spring 2016 patient safety grades recently, 15 hospitals got slapped with a very public 'F' grade casting a spotlight on them that no institution wants. But with more patients weighing public hospital grades, experts, as well as a few…

Analyze this: Health systems, health plans get to the core of big data

Analyze this: Health systems, health plans get to the core of big data

Pamela Peele knows that people who subscribe to cooking magazines have a much higher risk of going to the emergency room. But how she knows that is a whole other story.

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions in 2016: Running list

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions in 2016: Running list

While 2015 was a record-breaking year in healthcare mergers and acquisitions, 2016 saw more change as organizations across the industry adjust and adapt to the evolving financial landscape.

Whitepapers

Gaining Actionable Insight into Financial Systems and Areas Impacting the Revenue Cycle

Gaining Actionable Insight into Financial Systems and Areas Impacting the Revenue Cycle

Hospital systems across the country are looking to streamline their billing and collection processes to become more efficient and better compete in their markets. The challenge many face is how to turn the data that's already flowing through financial systems into…

Clinical Quality Measures 101

Clinical Quality Measures 101

Although quality-reporting programs such as meaningful use provide incentives to help providers implement and use electronic health records (EHRs) to collect and report on clinical data, practices often need help deciding what data to collect, which measures to…

Credible, Defensible Estimates

Credible, Defensible Estimates

In healthcare, every interaction with the patient matters. Especially in today's environment of continuous improvement, efforts have been concentrated on coordination among providers, the patient care experience and quality outcomes - all laudable goals.