David Weldon

The role of the chief financial officer is one in flux, and areas not traditionally under their authority are now taking center stage.

As healthcare mergers continue to pick up pace due to industry conditions that favor large-scale systems, it can be a difficult transition when organizations with different work cultures are forced to combine.

While certain technology jobs have gotten much of the glory this year - data analysts, security professionals and mobile application developers, to name a few - ICD-10 coders have also been in high demand and most have been scooped up.

While the role of healthcare CFO is pretty standard from one organization to another, the role of treasurer can vary from a volunteer position to a unique function of the CFO.

One of the greatest challenges for RCM directors this summer is ensuring that the organization has enough skilled coders to handle the demands of ICD-10, which will more than quadruple the number of procedure designations required for patient documentation and payment reimbursements.

Using social media, web technologies and data analytics, healthcare marketing professionals can engage current patients, future patients, and the broader community in ways like never before.

For many hospitals and healthcare centers, the CFO, the controller, and the reimbursement manager - form the new 'trinity' of finance leadership.

When Healthcare Finance last year asked experts to name the top industry trends, they selected insurance exchanges, mergers and acquisitions, new payment models, and technology. Things don't look much different in 2015.

Most healthcare organizations offer benefit programs aimed at keeping workers in both good physical and mental health. But less common are healthcare employers that can prove those same programs actually save the organization money.

The relationship between a Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Financial Officer can become adversarial when external pressures are calling for change to healthcare's economic model. But a partnership between the two can become the foundation for moving forward in a challenging environment.