Community Benefit
According to a report by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, U.S. nonprofit hospitals and health systems managed an 8 percent increase in philanthropic donations last year. However, the results of the study were not entirely positive, as fundraising costs climb and ROI dips.
Recent research and commentary about going green indicates consumers are embracing organizations that operate in environmentally sustainable ways and that offer products and services that can be accessed using new technologies.
All healthcare spending in the United States is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 5.8 percent for the period 2010 through 2020, according to a report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
To make real progress in healthcare fraud prevention, both government and private payers must integrate fraud risk controls at the front end of their claims payment workflow processes. The most effective fraud detection programs use a layered approach to analyzing claims that includes analytics that focus on identity integrity, claims legitimacy and relationships.
Highmark's efforts to acquire struggling hospital operator West Penn Allegheny Health System has brought into sharp focus the acrimonious relationship between the insurer and the region's dominant hospital operator, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
The Minnesota-based insurer sees a greater need for healthcare in rural America, as well as an increase in people on government-funded insurance programs and a decrease in physicians, and points to telehealth and telemedicine as possible solutions.
Patients may need to take a walk instead of a pill, according to some healthcare providers. Programs that promote parks for health are gaining popularity.
The best treatment for patients with mental health issues needs clinical coordination.
For some reason the Boston Globe devotes its top slot on the July 25 Opinion page to a tired and faulty argument from former US GOP Senator John Sununu against the employer mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
A new academic research consortium has been established to study healthcare and consumer engagement pilot programs in New Jersey.