HFMA Policy Director Andrew Donahue’s column, “An open letter to Congress on nonprofit hospital finances,” has struck a chord with members. In this episode, he discusses margins, investments and M&A and what measure tells the real story of hospital finance. Also in this episode, Brad talks about the recent HFMA report Curing Payment Confusion. Also…

Brad examines a New York Times article by investigative reporter Sarah Kliff about a recent study of patients whose debt was eliminated by RIP Medical Debt. Researchers say the results surprised them. Also in this episode: The cover story in the May issue of hfm magazine focuses on a South Dakota health system that developed a new process to identi…

Chad Mulvany, vice president of federal policy for the California Hospital Association and former HFMA policy director, discusses Bloomberg Philanthropies $250 million investment in the future healthcare workforce, as well as what will actually move the needle on price transparency. Discussed in this episode: ‘Healthcare High’ coming to Woodside No…

Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) has engaged hip hop artists like Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and Method Man in its “Power to the Patients” campaign, claiming that regulations around price transparency are not being enforced, allowing hospitals to hide their prices and “charge whatever they want.” On this episode, HFMA Policy Director Shawn Stack and Ruth L…

Brad speaks with retired CFO and longtime HFMA member Jim Heffernan about why CFOs should be at the forefront of telling an organization’s financial story. Also in this episode, a physician takes to TIME to explain what’s happening in primary care, and the AHA corrects the record on a Modern Healthcare story about charity care.…

Brad talks with Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of America’s Physician Groups, about why healthcare consolidation is more nuanced than critics understand. Mentioned in this episode: PRESS RELEASE: Lown Institute awarded $1.5M to study U.S. hospital tax exemptions, financial practices Susan Dentzer: Is consolidation in healthcare the work of modern…

Brad and Erika are joined by Shawn Stack, policy director at HFMA, and Ruth Lande, vice president of hospital relations at RIP Medical Debt, at HFMA’s Annual Conference in Nashville for a discussion about what hospitals get right and wrong when it comes to patient and media communications.By healthcareblamegame

Media veteran Jean Hodges joins Brad to discuss a Washington Post error and the inner workings of the modern newsroom. Mentioned in this episode: Americans are knee-deep in medical debt. Most owe hospitals. Healthcare Blame Game: How news outlets mishandled a medical debt study Most adults with post-due medical debt owe money to hospitals…

A blog post by HFMA Chief Content Executive Brad Dennison has caught the attention of healthcare and media leaders. In this episode, Dennison and Executive Producer Erika Grotto discuss the article that made them question the narrative of a recent Kaiser Health News investigation.By healthcareblamegame