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HealthLeaders Media •

Spark Joy, Vanquish Vapor: How Mass General Brigham Uses Tech to Rev Up RCM

Let's face it: We're not getting any younger.

"Our population [is] getting older, more complex, more challenging, so there's always going to be more volume than we can keep up with," says Michael Mercurio, vice president of revenue cycle operations at Mass General Brigham, a 12-hospital system headquartered in Boston.

For revenue cycle teams, it means the pressure is on "to not only perform well and bring in as much cash as we can as effectively, compliantly, and quickly as we can, but [to] do it...
HealthLeaders Media •

Stuck in denial

HealthLeaders christened 2023 the year of managing denials, but a spate of recent reports suggests revenue cycle leaders could be in for more of an era.

Payer denial activity was chief among the contributors to Community Health Systems' (CHS) net loss of $391 million in the third quarter, according to the Franklin, Tennessee–headquartered organization's report for the fiscal period ending September 30.

"We are seeing some payers aggressively deny payment for medically necessary services that have...
Design & Make •

6 future-focused applications of green building technology

When it comes to experience, green building practitioners are far from green. 

The global green buildings market surpassed $0.5T last year, and could more than double—topping $1T—in the coming decade, fueled by the worldwide sprint to achieve net zero by 2050. 

The industry’s propulsive growth is a necessary step: Globally, the built environment is responsible for roughly 42% of energy consumption, according to Architecture 2030. It’s also a major culprit of environmental degradation, energy u...
Spine Tingler •

Death becomes you, darling

Kill your darlings.

It’s a common adage in writing. Variants will have you murdering kittens or even babies — basically anything precious that you’ve been nurturing on the page to the detriment of your overarching story. It’s about getting cold-blooded and clear-eyed: sacrificing the saccharine for your prose’s higher purpose.

In horror, some creators take this directive literally, making quick work of a would-be final girl...
Healthcare Purchasing News •

Optimizing Sourcing and Logistics: 6 Proven Strategies

For today’s healthcare procurement leader, a focus on the future is crucial to building an operation that stands the test of time.

Sourcing and logistics — the cornerstones of a thriving supply chain — are the right place to start, according to more than 170 leaders surveyed for HPN and SBA’s 2024 Healthcare Procurement and AI report.

“We need to enhance our ability for technological innovation to cope with the changes brought about by various developments,” one respondent notes.

Headwinds range...
Healthcare Purchasing News •

Mastering the 3 ‘P’s of Post-Pandemic Procurement Efficiency: Price, Process, Product

As the healthcare industry recovers from the pandemic’s peak, procurement leaders continue to face uncertain economic conditions, stubborn supply shortages, and a proliferation of new settings in their purview, among other aftershocks.

To overcome these challenges, a relentless focus on efficiency is crucial. According to the 170+ leaders surveyed for HPN and SBA’s 2024 Healthcare Procurement and AI report, efficiency is one of the three key mandates shaping the future of procurement.
Interact Software •

Guided attention: use your modern intranet to reduce digital friction and drive dexterity | Interact software

Despite its promises of faster, smoother workflows, digital transformation often breeds multitudinous platforms, logins, and complex navigation menus that squander your people’s productivity and satisfaction instead of enhancing their experience.

In practice, this “digital friction,” which Gartner defines as the “unnecessary effort an employee has to exer...
Healthcare Purchasing News •

Optimizing Healthcare Procurement: Balancing Quality and Cost

Healthcare procurement has navigated a complex and volatile landscape in recent years. Confronted with tightening margins, rapid industry evolution, and geopolitical instability ranging from cybersecurity threats to climate change, procurement leaders have demonstrated exceptional resilience.

“We are facing challenges due to disruptions in the global supply chain, leading to delays in the delivery of essential medical supplies and equipment,” says one hospital supply chain executive in an April...
Staples Business Advantage •

2024 Healthcare Procurement and AI: Your Playbook for Increased Efficiency, Cost Savings, and Cybersecurity

The past few years in healthcare have been marked by tightening margins, disrupted supply chains, escalating geopolitical tensions, and a surge in cyber threats. Yet, through it all, healthcare procurement leaders have emerged as resourceful heroes, continuously finding innovative solutions to keep their systems running.

New research from Healthcare Purchasing News and Staples Business Advantage (SBA) signals AI could help unlock solutions for top challenges that today’s procurement teams are facing, from bracing for cybersecurity disruption to controlling rogue spending.

But there’s room for improvement.
Interact Software •

Marketing tricks to try in your internal communications

As today’s workforce grows ever-more purpose-driven and distributed, internal communications must sweep, soar, and sing to hit their mark and inspirit their recipients. Yet many efforts just wilt. In this article we explore how internal communicators can take cues from marketing to improve connection and engagement with their audiences.

According to Gallup, only 27% of U.S. employees strongly believe in their organization’s values, and less than half even know what those values are. Maybe tha...
Psyche •

Why do so many of us blame ourselves after a loved one’s death? | Psyche Ideas

My dad had a bad death.

The lead-up was long – a decade-old stroke had forced an early retirement from carpentry – but the end was abrupt, avoidable. Shocking.

A night out drinking with friends like he’d done countless times before, but that his body, now 68 and sustained by blood thinners, could no longer handle. A slip getting into bed that caused a brain bleed, invisible and irrevocable by the time his roommate found him the next day.

My sister and I, both in the thick of COVID-19 bouts, need...
HealthLeaders Media •

4-Pillar Culture and 3-Legged Stool: Sanford's New CFO Gets Real on What it Takes to Build a 'Premier Rural Health System'

For all the ground they cover, rural health providers sometimes get short shrift when it comes to coverage of healthcare innovation.

"We have over 250,000 square miles of geography that our footprint covers," says Nick Olson, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Sanford Health, a nonprofit organization based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Sanford is the largest rural health system in the U.S., with 48 medical centers across South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota, and h...
Interact Software •

Employee activation: the evolution of employee engagement

Employee activation will set top-performing organizations apart. It’s not quite listening, or empowerment, or advocacy, but a propulsive combination that puts workers at the helm of company culture, strategy, and reputation.

Today, just 22% of companies consider employee experience at all when designing work—even though it’s a force multiplier for customer and worker happiness as well as financial performance—and a paltry 10% involve their employees in organization and work design, according to recent research from the Josh Bersin Company.

Given this gap, setting your employee activation strategy now can put you ahead in an ever-tighter talent market.
Interact Software •

Discussing politics in the workplace: how to keep the peace

In 2024, the world will hold an unprecedented number of elections. By year’s end, nearly half the global population, spread across more than 60 countries, will experience a national election that stands to shape life – and work – for the foreseeable future.

Since 2020, people have watched their employers speak out on hot button topics ranging from coronavirus and civil rights to Brexit and the Israel-Hamas war – and they’ve learned how to parse genuine stands from opportunistic grandstanding.

It means political discourse, once considered a corporate taboo, is becoming table stakes for a growing segment of the workforce.
Interact Software •

Marketing tips for internal communications

As today’s workforce grows ever-more purpose-driven and distributed, internal communications must sweep, soar, and sing to hit their mark and inspirit their recipients. Instead, many efforts just wilt.

According to Gallup, only 27% of U.S. employees strongly believe in their organization’s values, and less than half even know what those values are. Maybe that’s because just 7% strongly agree that communication in their workplace is open, accurate, and timely.

The best way to uplift listless communications? Adopt an internal marketing mindset.
Interact Software •

Employee mobile apps: taking your intranet from desktop to pocket

Whether frontline, hybrid, remote, or office-based, your team members should all have somewhere they can collectively call home.

An employee mobile app such as a mobile intranet will enable your entire workforce – including members who are on the go far more often than they are at a desk – to instantly access the tools and information they need from a shared digital headquarters.

It’s about meeting your workers where they’re reliably spending their time and attention, regardless of where they’re clocking in from.
HealthLeaders Media •

Yay for MA? System CFOs Bittersweet on New CMS Rules

CMS released finalized 2025 payment updates for the Medicare Advantage (MA) program on April 1, and the aftershocks were no joke: Confirmed cuts to base pay sent insurer share values plummeting 6–12% the next day.  

Under the final rule, which followed on April 4, average benchmark payments for 2025 MA plans stand to drop by 0.16%, as proposed at the start of the year.

The announcement comes on the heels of a January 17 final rule requiring MA plans and their federally facilitated insuranc...
HealthLeaders Media •

Beyond the Big Number: 3 Federal Regs for CFOs to Watch

The fiscal year (FY) 2025 IPPS proposed rule, released April 10, bodes ever-tighter financial futures for hospitals: Next year's projected increase is 2.6%, down from this year's 3.1% bump.

"That will truly be a challenge for us, and I'm sure all healthcare systems," says Denise Scoffic, CFO, east region, at Mercy, a St. Louis, Missouri–headquartered health system with more than 50 hospitals and 50,000 team members across four states. "It's disappointing to see the lack of recognition of the...
HealthLeaders Media •

Let's Make a Deal: 7 Dimensions of a Winning M&A Play

M&As are all the rage.

The past 12 months have seen 81 health system deals announced—the highest volume in the past few years, according to an April report from healthcare investment banking firm Cain Brothers.

The first quarter of 2024 has been especially busy, racking up 18 prospective transactions, worth $10 billion for buyers. That's a 50% uptick in deal volume and 194% increase in revenue compared to the same period last year.

For the savvy CFO, it all spells opportunity to forge n...
Interact Software •

Beyond engagement: Employee activation

Around the world, workplace stress is at a record high and less than a quarter of employees are engaged. Meanwhile, worker demands are evolving at warp speed and trends like “quiet quitting” and “bare minimum Mondays” are breaching digital realms to make real-life ripples.

For People practitioners in the fray, the pressure to not only attract top talent, but also keep them around and inspired has never been greater. Or grayer.

So what’s the best way to make headway? The answer, work experts say, is this: Step aside, and let employees take the wheel.
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