New York Times medical debt piece dubbed "laziest story of the year,' plus revisiting charity care policies

The crumbling wall between journalism and advocacy

Editor, professor, author, columnist and commentator Otis Sanford talks with Brad about decades of change in the journalism industry, and how reporter biases and opinions are seeping into healthcare news writing. Also in this episode, people who celebrate meeting their deductible [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/business/health-care-deductible-party.html], and a special musical treat. Mentioned in this episode: Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics [https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp]

Healthcare Blame Game, Live from Las Vegas!

Deepak Manmohan Goyal, MD, MBBS, MBA, joins Brad and Erika at HFMA Annual on June 27, 2024, to discuss his work as executive director for revenue cycle and supply chain at Monument Health in Rapid City, S.D. and the financial assistance program [https://www.hfma.org/revenue-cycle/charity-care/reimagining-charity-care/] that has increased the system’s charity care by $7.8 million in its first year. Also in this episode, the best tactic for recovering from a routine screening according to an eight year old.

What media and lawmakers don’t understand about hospital finances

HFMA Policy Director Andrew Donahue’s column, “An open letter to Congress on nonprofit hospital finances [https://www.hfma.org/healthcare-finance/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 [https://www.hfma.org/guidance/curing-payment-confusion/]. Also mentioned in this episode: Healthcare 2030: Restoring Trust in Healthcare [https://www.hfma.org/healthcare-finance/an-open-letter-to-congress-on-nonprofit-hospital-finances/] Assessing Reality in Healthcare Financial Information | HFMA [https://www.hfma.org/accounting-and-financial-reporting/assessing-reality-in-healthcare-financial-information/]

New York Times medical debt piece dubbed "laziest story of the year,' plus revisiting charity care policies

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 identify charity care patients. HFMA Policy Director Shawn Stack discusses why good financial assistance policies and process are essential to patient care. Sources: Paying off people’s medical debt has little impact on their lives, study finds [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/08/science/rip-medical-debt.html] Medical debt relief: How helpful? [https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2024/04/11/medical-debt-relief-how-helpful/?sh=405c2abb569a] The inconvenient truth about medical debt relief [https://www.forbes.com/sites/gebai/2024/04/15/the-inconvenient-truth-about-medical-debt-relief/]

Bloomberg Philanthropies puts $250 million into educating new healthcare workers while Patient Rights Advocate spends on spreading misinformation

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 [https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/healthcare-high-coming-to-woodside/article_2ff9d021-72e7-594a-9fd6-90d623ee71c4.html] Northwell, NYC Public Schools announce Northwell School of Health Sciences [https://www.northwell.edu/news/the-latest/northwell-school-of-health-sciences-announced] The fight for transparency health care prices in America [https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/02/13/the-fight-for-transparent-health-care-prices-in-america]