Determining Compensation for Super-Specialized Physicians: What to Consider

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by Karin Chernoff Kaplan, Managing Director

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Before the early 20th century, there were virtually no physician specialists in the United States. Today, the list of physician specialties continues to expand as medical knowledge grows with new discoveries and advancements in technology. Now, healthcare leaders must consider: How does this super-specialization affect physician compensation? Specialization and Sub-Specialization Historically, physicians were generalists, but […]

Posted in Provider Compensation

Don’t Forget the Second Wave of WRVU Changes

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by Karin Chernoff Kaplan, Managing Director

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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. […]

Posted in Provider Compensation

Why is Kaiser/Geisinger Such a Big Deal?

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by John Harris, Managing Director
and Danielle Bangs, Director

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A colleague asked, “Why is the Kaiser/Geisinger announcement such a big deal? There have been a lot of mega mergers.” An excellent question. This was more than just a $95B insurer/health system acquiring a $7B one. Here’s why: Kaiser Permanente has long been recognized as an iconic leader in value-based care, but they have largely […]

Posted in Partnerships, M&A, and Finance, Strategy & Planning

Assigning Proxy wRVUs for Physician Activity: Pros and Cons

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by Richard Chasinoff, Director
and Monica Nuñez, Manager

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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 […]

Posted in Provider Compensation

Designing a Laborist Compensation Model: Key Considerations

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by Richard Chasinoff, Director
and Monica Nuñez,, Manager

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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 […]

Posted in Provider Compensation

2023 High-Impact Initiatives: Emerging from the Crisis

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by Mark Dubow, Director
and Meredith Inniger, Principal

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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 […]

Posted in Strategy & Planning

Prioritize Service Lines During Challenging Times

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by Mark Dubow, Director

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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 […]

Posted in Strategy & Planning

Making the Business Case for Healthcare M&A: Top 5 Reasons

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by Daniel M. Grauman, Managing Director & CEO
and Danielle Bangs, Principal

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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 […]

Posted in Partnerships, M&A, and Finance

Why Amazon’s One Medical Deal Matters

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by John Harris, Managing Director
and Danielle Bangs, Principal

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Amazon made a major move into healthcare in July when it announced plans to buy One Medical in a $3.9 billion deal. Suddenly, theoretical discussions about the future of healthcare—a future that could be dominated by tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Apple—came into sharp focus as the potential for Amazon to reinvent primary […]

Posted in Strategy & Planning

What’s Your Post-Merger Financial Outlook? Why a Pre-Merger Gut Check Is Critical

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by Danielle Bangs, Principal

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One of the most important considerations in finalizing a healthcare merger is how well the consolidated entity will perform, financially, after the deal is complete. Many times, leaders get so caught up in the blocking-and-tackling of due diligence—a time-consuming exercise that protects their organization from material risk—that their ability to see past the point of […]

Posted in Partnerships, M&A, and Finance