John Andrews

The degree of resurgence in the healthcare capital market relies heavily on whether the banking community can once again start lending with regularity. But in looking at the state of capital provision in early 2010, financial analysts haven’t yet seen much to get enthused about.

With an overwhelming number of vectors and variables to consider, planning a hospital budget might now be considered in the same league as rocket science.

Aside from a few key differences, the healthcare reform bill set for a Saturday vote in the Senate contains essentially the same provisions supported by provider groups in the House version.

When it comes to financial health, the hospital emergency department has sustained major trauma from the economy

Though medical professionals continue to be the key decision-makers and influencers on drug formularies, hospitals executives are gaining in stature on these agreements, a new study has found.

There are so many fiscal issues facing hospitals that it’s easy to dismiss “green” initiatives as “nice to do,” as opposed to the more pressing problems of obtaining capital, regulatory compliance, improving accounts receivables and preserving operating margins.

PURSUING OVERDUE BILL PAYMENTS from ordinary people in a severe recession is tantamount to walking through a public relations minefield for healthcare providers. With all the amplified rhetoric in the healthcare reform debate over the high cost of healthcare and how regular citizens are financial victims of a broken system, it’s easy for providers to be cast as the villains.

Putting together a budget has never been at the top of any executive’s “fun list,” but today’s dire economic climate makes the process more strenuous than ever.

The weakness of the U.S. economy is giving rise to an issue that hospital executives may not have paid much attention to before – qualifying indigent patients for Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security Disability.

Take heed, hospital administrators - Uncle Sam is watching. Because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is getting pickier about what it pays for in the acute care setting, the agency is looking inside the hospital to find claim denials.