HEALTH CARE WEEK IN REVIEW: Hospital Revenue Cycle Transformation Needed to Boost Performance, Seniors' Telehealth Use Holds Steady But Rural Access Lags, Patients Doing More Of Their Own Research Online, How Is Physician Ownership Changing In 2021?

Here's The Latest in Health Care:
• Hospital revenue cycle transformation is needed to elevate poor enterprise performance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts from healthcare management consulting firm Kaufman Hall. Three-quarters of hospital and health system leaders said their organization experienced “adverse revenue cycle impacts” during the pandemic, including a higher percentage of Medicaid patients and increased rates of denials. Read More
• While nearly 16% of doctors' visits by seniors were done remotely, either by phone or online over the past two years, the rural elderly appear to be behind the curve, according to a new analysis of telehealth visits billed to Medicare. One-third of rural older adults had at least one virtual visit in 2020, compared with nearly half of seniors in suburban and urban areas. Read More
• The majority of Americans don’t fully understand the information their provider tells them, leading them to consult third-party resources like the internet, a new survey found. In fact, according to the survey, three in four Americans leave the doctor confused and dissatisfied for reasons that include disappointment in the level of Q&A they have with their doctor, confusion about their health, and a need to do more research. Read More
• More physicians are migrating to hospital employment, changing the traditional physician-ownership models of ASCs. According to ASC leaders, there are a number of contributing factors, including the fear of declining reimbursements combined with the complexity of new payment models. Health care has become a "big cap" business requiring market scale, data analytics, and risk management, concepts that small practices are worried they can’t handle on their own. Read More
Each Friday, Signor Goat reports the latest from the week in health care. Check back next Friday for your dose of our little medical corner of health care news. Brought to you by pMD, innovators in charge capture, medical billing, revenue cycle management, telehealth, secure messaging, clinical communication, and care navigation software.