Kelsey Brimmer

While the United States pays the most for healthcare among all other developed nations, it also ranks last when it comes to the quality of care received compared to 10 other western, industrialized nations.

There are more inpatient safety complications happening in hospitals that result in greater costs to patients and the healthcare system than are being monitored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

This year's Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) annual ANI conference to be held June 22-25 in Las Vegas is focused around specific overarching themes important for driving change.

In a move to diversify its business, Tenet Healthcare has expanded into urgent care, launching last month its national brand of 23 urgent care centers called MedPost Urgent Care.

On Monday, Chicago-based Ventas Inc., the largest U.S. healthcare real estate investment trust by market value, approved a pair of deals that total $3.5 billion.

Patient satisfaction surveys suggest patients are unsatisfied and hospitals must do more to engage them. New technologies and techniques can help organizations find new ways to involve patients in their care and connect them with their caregivers.

Back in January, U.S. hospitals began to experience a serious shortage of intravenous saline solutions, caused mainly by a spike in demand during the beginning of the 2013 flu season. Fast forward to May, and hospitals are still struggling with the shortage.

In March, Consumer Reports released new safety scores for 2,591 U.S. hospitals. The magazine is just one of a number of organizations that rates hospitals on safety.

Many hospitals are facing tough financial times, but for some, the finances just fall apart. What happens then?

Hospitals of all sizes face the same challenges when it comes to collections. The tricky part of collections at smaller, community hospitals, however, is that everyone in a small community knows each other.