The HHS Office of Inspector General expects to generate more than $4 billion in investigative and audit recoveries for the 2020 fiscal year, according to the Fall 2020 Semiannual Report to Congress.

Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health said it will lay off 102 employees in finance and accounting roles as part of an effort to reshape operations and reduce costs, according to The Dallas Morning News. 

CMS confirmed its radiation oncology payment model will not start until July in the 2021 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment Final Rule.

In every industry, data insights are helping organizations better understand their customers, serve their needs, and deliver better products and services, while also lowering the cost of doing business.

In working to recoup millions of dollars in overdue bills, Memphis, Tenn.-based Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare hardly ever presented patients with financial assistance options and financially rewarded staff for collecting payments, according to new information analyzed by ProPublica and MLK50.

The health systems listed below recently released financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30. 

Ten parties have indicated they are interested in purchasing some or all assets of bankrupt LRGHealthcare, according to the Concord Monitor. 

CMS on Nov. 3 unveiled the Geographic Direct Contracting Model, a voluntary payment model that aims to improve health outcomes and lower healthcare costs for Medicare beneficiaries in several regions across the country. 

Criteria that determine which providers in alternative payment models get bonuses should stay the same, more than 500 ACOs, providers and health system leaders urged in a Dec. 2 letter to Congress. 

Here are eight health systems with strong operational metrics and solid financial positions, according to reports from Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings.

Commercial health plans are abusing practices like prior authorization and claim denials, leading to more burnout among clinicians and barriers to care for patients, the American Hospital Association said in a Dec. 2 report. 

Cumberland River Hospital in Celina, Tenn., will remain closed, owner and CEO Johnny Presley told the Livingston Enterprise. 

CMS released its Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for 2021, which raises Medicare outpatient rates by 2.4 percent next year and phases out the inpatient only list. 

Acceptance into an MBA program may be especially challenging in 2021 due to the alignment of several factors, Wall Street Journal reports. 

Chris Acker, MD, urged Iowa's congressional delegation to support legislation preventing CMS' implementation of a new rule that would lower reimbursement rates in a Nov. 30 op-ed he wrote for the Des Moines Register.

As a result of VCU Health System's decision to outsource its revenue cycle functions, more than 570 VCU Health employees will move to Ensemble Health Partners on Dec. 20, a spokesperson for VCU Health confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review. 

Through the third quarter of 2020, health services spending is down 2.4 percent compared to 2019, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's quarterly services survey analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Moody's Investors Service has changed the outlook for U.S. for-profit hospitals from negative to stable. At the same time, the credit rating agency warned that managing costs will be difficult for providers. 

  PatientKeeper, an EHR optimization software company, is used by healthcare revenue cycle professionals to manage billing and charge aggregation. During a Nov. 18 webinar, "Electronic charge aggregation: The key to streamlining central billing office workflow," panelists discussed their experiences utilizing a charge aggregation solution and how it's helped them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 60 organizations representing consumers, employers and unions sent a letter to Congress urging it to pass legislation that protects patients from surprise medical bills.