Patient Engagement

High-deductible health plans and soaring prices for a new generation of drug therapies making paying for care harder than ever.

Front-end collections are increasingly important, as inpatient volumes have dropped since the recession, losing ground to outpatient procedures.

According to Intermountain CFO Albert Zimmerli, the problem comes down to how well organizations and providers answer these questions for patients: How much does this cost? And how do I find financing?

Jeffery D. Hurst, SVP Finance at Florida Hospital, describes changes in revenue cycle management at his organization, including a new focus on analytics and an emphasis on driving patient engagement.

The group's first priority is advancing the Medicare doctor payment legislation pending in the Senate because it includes a provision requiring Medicare to release for broader use a substantial amount of data on claims at the provider level.

Healthcare Finance analyzed Healthgrades' 2015 Patient Safety Excellence Awards and the 2015 Outstanding Patient Experience Awards to see which hospitals showed up on both.

Healthgrades list based on surveys from patients who stayed at these hospitals in 2013.

Nearly 1,000 hospitals were named either top hospitals for patient experience or patient safety on Tuesday by Denver-based healthcare ratings company Healthgrades.

Dallas Mavericks owner says patients need more testing, even when they aren't sick, a position medical experts say can do more harm than good.

Issue raises concerns about how well the insurance marketplaces can handle the flux.