The Veralon Views blog is an extension of our partnership with leaders who are transforming the healthcare industry. Here, we share expert perspectives from our nationally recognized senior consulting team on issues that are key to the success of your organization.
Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) receive a substantial portion of their revenue through shared savings programs in which payers pay the ACO a portion of total cost savings generated by member providers through effective care management. The ACOs then distribute part of the shared savings to participating healthcare providers, based on a distribution formula; the remainder […]
(Source: Veralon, a healthcare consulting company providing services in strategic planning, mergers & acquisitions, healthcare valuation and physician compensation, and clinical transformation and value-based payment. Dan Grauman, an iProtean, now part of Veralon expert who appears in many iProtean, now part of Veralon courses, is the managing director and CEO.) In addition to setting […]
Although the final form of the tax bills in Congress has not been determined, it appears that discussion is progressing quickly. As it stands now, the final tax bill could affect not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals very differently, according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association. The Senate’s version of the bill would repeal the Affordable […]
Advanced practice clinicians are sometimes casually thought of as a cheaper alternative to physicians by healthcare administrators. In actuality, there are many compelling reasons to bring these clinicians into a practice; economics is not the whole picture. Many high-performing practices have found that advanced practice clinicians (APCs), including nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and […]
The Obama Administration used the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to advance value-based payments. The current administration, however, has been making a series of regulatory changes that “slow or shrink some of these initiatives and let many doctors delay adopting the new system.” Decreased incentives to participate in value-based care and a reduction in reimbursement […]
CMS’s final rule for the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) will increase overall 2018 hospital OPPS payment rates by 1.35 percent, according to a CMS fact sheet. However, hospitals are expected to see financial losses from Medicare payment changes related to drugs and knee replacements under the rule finalized this week. According to […]
(A preview of iProtean, now part of Veralon’s upcoming course, The Board’s Role in Leading Through Transition, featuring Karma Bass and Marian Jennings) Innovative boards are paying attention to their-risk taking appetite. Hospital and health system boards traditionally have been very conservative organizations. It’s a strong history, and it’s a good place from which […]
“As the Trump administration moves to reform the federal tax code, the country’s tax-exempt hospitals are bracing for potential challenges to their not-for-profit (NFP) status, with billions of dollars in federal taxes at stake,” according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) in an article released last week. NFP hospitals face increased scrutiny from […]
If your organization is like most health systems and hospitals, your physician recruitment plan may be based on a less than complete picture of your existing physician base. Many medical staff recruitment plans do not consider the extent to which the organization’s physicians and their patients are making use of the organizations inpatient and ambulatory […]
The finances of acquired hospitals generally suffer for two years after mergers and acquisitions (M&A), according to a recent report from HFMA and the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. M&A activity has increased significantly in the past decade, driven by the pursuit of economies of scale and the potential for reducing the cost of […]