The First Wave 2021 was the big year for WRVU changes associated with CMS’s extensive and far-reaching updates to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). The changes, designed to ultimately be budget neutral, restructured reimbursement to increase payments to cognitive specialists (such as primary care and other medical specialties) and reduce reimbursement to procedure-based specialists. […]
Given the financial realities, it is imperative that Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) have a funds flow model that is equitable, rules-based, and aligned with the goals of the institution at large. Review this checklist of criteria to determine whether your institution should consider revisiting its funds flow model. Review this checklist of criteria to determine […]
Academic medical centers’ survival increasingly depends on strong relations with community physicians. More AMCs are developing their own community physician enterprises with the goal of supporting the tripartite mission of academic medicine. Even as AMC-led health systems consider new relationships with large independent physician practices and emerging practice aggregators, they must have a sound model […]
As hospitals and health systems continue to evaluate how they compensate physicians, some have expanded upon their work relative value unit (wRVU) based compensation models to include activities for which wRVUs may not currently be assigned. We are seeing this trend applied to administrative activities—such as attendance and participation in committee meetings—and clinical activities that […]
Laborist models continue to gain traction as hospitals seek ways to improve patient safety and professional satisfaction and respond to the national OBGYN shortage. But there are two aspects of the laborist model that hospital leaders often grapple with: reimbursement and compensation. Many hospitals are shifting from “traditional” management of labor and delivery where each […]
Leaders of hospitals and health systems face an array of difficult challenges as they move into 2023. In light of the challenges providers face, the Veralon team has identified high-impact initiatives that may help systems turn the corner for a brighter 2023. Briefly, the challenges include: Weakened balance sheets that limit capital available for new […]
Analyzing and prioritizing service lines like a portfolio can support focused growth, even during a financial crisis. Cost cutting is critical but insufficient to ensure viability and success when the financial crisis faced by health systems is prolonged, as it has been in 2022. Health systems must also grow revenue. Tight budgets and limited access […]
Seventy percent of healthcare executives expect more mergers and acquisitions across healthcare sectors in 2022, a KPMG survey found, while 30 percent of healthcare investors plan to increase deal activity by 10 percent or more. For hospital and health system leaders, it’s a good time to consider: What’s your business case for M&A? We’ve seen […]
Challenge: Design a strategy to become the market leader for oncology services across a broad region that accounted for implications of emerging trends specific to: incidence of tumor sites, population, evolution of care, competitor vulnerabilities, and oncology reimbursement. Contact our Thought Leader: Mark Dubow, Director, mdubow@veralon.com
It’s not easy to determine if there is equity in provider compensation across your organization, given the many departments, specialties, and roles—but it’s essential. Consider the following hypothetical: A local news source reports a 30% pay discrepancy between your male and female maintenance employees performing the same work. Chances are you would rather not have […]