Officials with the American Hospital Association have urged the Internal Revenue Service to update rules surrounding tax-exempt bonds when it comes to healthcare reform provisions, according to an AHA News Now report.

Boston-based Partners HealthCare is one of the largest health systems in the country, and with $7.5 billion in assets, the health system relies heavily on the volatility of the stock market, according to a Boston Globe report.

Last year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued new guidance on bad debt for healthcare organizations, including hospitals, and financial leaders may or may not be fully aware of its impact and the potential to misinterpret its applicability.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission held its most recent meeting last week. Here are four major items discussed from its agenda.

More than 25 hospitals in Arkansas have received bonus payments from the state's Medicaid program for improving birth outcomes and quality care, according to a Hope Star report.

In the third quarter of the 2012 federal fiscal year, Medicare Recovery Auditors (RACs) collected $657.2 million in overpayments — the highest total of any quarter since October 2009, according to CMS' quarterly RAC newsletter (pdf).

The Parish Hospital Service District of the Parish of Orleans has received a $97.6 million loan from the Federal Housing Administration to construct an 80-bed hospital in New Orleans East to replace Pendleton Methodist Hospital, which closed after Hurricane Katrina.

Health insurer UnitedHealthcare recently provided $20 million in financing to 11 critical access hospitals in California to implement electronic health records and other health IT measures.

Naya Kehayes, managing principal and CEO of Eveia Health Consulting and Management, recommends hospitals and other providers ask payors these three questions regarding enforcement within managed care contracts during negotiations.

With the deadline for ICD-10 compliance now set for Oct. 1, 2014, it's good to reflect back on why we as an industry are transitioning to ICD-10 in the first place. The greater specificity levels within clinical documentation will provide…