An emerging trend among not-for-profit hospitals positions them well for population health management but also carries significant credit risks, say Moody’s Investors Service analysts in a recent report. The trend is to enter the commercial health insurance business to both improve care management and gain market share, the analysts wrote. The effect on credit […]
As a board member, you may consider cybersecurity to be an operational issue for senior management and the IT department, but experts say, “its weighty implications for the entire organization now require directors to consider it as a critical risk management concern” that requires trustees to play an active role its oversight. 2015 has […]
Note: iProtean will take a short holiday over the Labor Day weekend. Look for the next post on September 9. Things appear to be looking up for U.S. hospitals and health systems. Moody’s Investors Service has revised the outlook for business conditions from negative to stable, signaling “an expectation of aggregate improvement despite continued […]
Because of significant changes in reimbursement, consolidation continues to accelerate. Small, distressed hospitals are seeking large partners to meet the demands of the evolving hospital/system market and to fund capital needs. A June Sector-in-Depth report from Moody’s Investors Service details why the authors expect merger and acquisition activity to remain high over the next one […]
Analysts at Moody’s Investors Service weighed in on the larger role consumer choice will play in determining where some healthcare services are delivered. According to its new Sector In-Depth report, hospitals that provide convenient, high-quality care and customer service will “gain patient loyalty, improve market share and boost credit strength.” The report details four […]
Healthcare spending in the first quarter of 2015 experienced its fastest growth in more than five years, and hospital spending led the way, according to a new Census Bureau report. Spending in the overall healthcare sector increased 7.2 percent compared to the first quarter last year; spending on hospital care increased 9.2 percent during […]
Kaufman Hall’s Mark Grube urges hospitals to consider consumers as they design and tailor their services to meet the demands of the new healthcare delivery system. “Health care’s new business model seeks to ensure delivery of the right services at the right location and time and at an appropriate cost, in turn achieving the Triple […]
Although consolidations appeared to slow in 2014, experts now report that transactions have substantially increased in the first quarter of 2015. One firm that tracks merger & acquisition activity noted 346 deals in January through March 2015, up 109 percent from the same quarter last year. A preliminary analysis of these transactions by Irving […]
Clinical Integration may be a smart addition to employing physicians. But how does a hospital/system start; where does it begin? Last week we wrote about the advantages and characteristics of a clinically integrated network. Today we focus on how to build one. Again, our source is the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s report, Taking Smart […]
As payment moves from volume to value, many hospitals/health systems have begun to employ physicians as a business strategy, seeking to align with physicians around common goals and objectives. The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) reports, however, “many health systems have found that alignment does not automatically follow employment and that the employment model can […]