In a recent press release, the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management announced that it will hold its Annual National Institute from October 14-16 in Scottsdale, AZ at the Fairmont Princess Resort and Spa.  The conference will focus on the future of health care in the U.S.’s changing economy. 

Over the three days, there will be educational sessions, opportunities to hear from keynote speakers-over 50 of them-as well as networking in an exhibit hall.  The speaker series will focus on five health care topics: management/revenue cycle, access/quality management, compliance, leadership/professional development, and specialty. 

For more information about the event, visit www.aaham.org or contact AAHAM directly at (703) 281-4043.

According to an article in the Miami Herald, the Jackson Health System in Miami-Dade is running out of money.  As its tax revenues continue to fall, a record number of uninsured patients are flooding emergency rooms and receiving free care.  In addition, the hospital system is expected to have $56 million in losses this year and $168 million in losses next year.  Many hospitals across the country are facing the same challenges as Jackson.

The root of Jackson’s problem is its $121 million shortfall in tax support needed to pay for charity care.  This number is estimated to increase substantially over the next couple of years as the number of uninsured patients is expected to increase 27% this year and the amount of revenue from sales taxes is expected to fall. 

Eneida Roldan, Jackson’s chief executive, has come up with a 100 Day Plan to cut costs and improve efficiencies.  She has two main goals for the plan: improve billing and collecting practices and improve cash reserves by getting quicker payments from insurers and governments.  Improving cash flow is a difficult task because of slow-paying insurance companies, but is absolutely necessary due to a recent finding that Jackson will be unable to make payroll by the end of 2011. 

Jackson is fighting to get stimulus dollars, but these proposals have not been approved by Washington.  Presently, the system is making internal structural improvements.  However, it is holding off on some long-term capital improvements so that operating losses can be funded.

Healthcare vendors currently working with Miami-Dade should pay close attention to future developments on this story.

To read the entire article, click here: Miami-Dade’s financially-strapped public hospital system to ask for more tax money 

President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors released a report Monday surveying the parts of the labor force that are expected to grow most rapidly in the future.  The report is a reminder to everyone in the health care industry that it is one of the few industries still growing.

Specifically, professions in health care including home health care, outpatient care, and medical laboratory positions will add the most jobs. 

This is good news to our clients as well as to entrepreneurs looking to start their own healthcare-related business!

Click here to read the complete New York Times article: Job Growth in Health is Expected to be Strong

As President Obama advocates for a health care system overhaul, many Americans are questioning how it will function as well as how the country will pay for it.  The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog profiled Obama’s televised town hall meeting on ABC last week to try and explain his plans in more detail. 

The President assured Americans that the government will not force them to switch doctors or health insurance plans.  Also, private companies will still be able to choose different plans for their employees on their own.  However, critics argue that given a cheaper government option, most businesses will jump ship from private insurance companies. 

Health insurance companies feel threatened by the proposal, stating that a government program would put them out of business.  Obama responded to these concerns by admitting he wasn’t sure a government plan would be included in his final proposal. 

Additionally, Obama explained that the funding for his health care system would either come from lowering the amount that wealthy Americans can deduct on their taxes or from taxing health benefits. Regardless of how he accomplishes this, many wonder if Obama will be the first president to solve the problem of uninsured Americans. 

Little is known right now about how President Obama’s healthcare reform will affect healthcare vendors like medical billing and coding companies and/or temporary nurse staffing agencies. They will have to wait patiently to see how the President’s changes will affect them. 

To read the entire Wall Street Journal Blog article, click here: Separating Fact from Fiction on Health-Care Reform

To view a clip of the town hall meeting, click here: President Obama Defends Right to Choose Best Care

For a full transcript of the meeting, click here: Questions for the President: Prescription for America

While doctors’ offices are beginning to overflow, the demand for medical billing companies continues to rise.  The medical billing factoring specialists at PRN Funding came across an interesting article on Ocala.com and thought this information would be useful to our medical billing readers.

Accounting for about 17% of the U.S.’s GDP, the healthcare industry is growing at an alarming rate.  The reason for the sudden influx in the system is the 78 million baby boomers who are now approaching retirement.  Getting older means increased frequency in doctor visits, and medical billing companies are being called in as a result.

Because of this, doctors will need more time to deal with patient care and less time to handle the business side of their practices.  Instead of hiring full-time employees to take care of the billing, practices can save money in these harsh economic times by outsourcing this service to subcontractors.  Submitting claims, tracking denials, and making collections calls can be very time-consuming tasks. So many doctors will outsource the billing aspect of their business to a medical billing company.

Cyndee Weston, executive director of the American Medical Billing Association, reports that over the last 3 years, membership has increased 33%, from 900 members in 2006 to over 1,200 members currently.  “Health care providers have been slower to embrace the outsourcing of their billing, but with the downturned economy they’re trying to save money just like everyone else.  Billing is costly, especially when claims aren’t paid the first time.”

Click here to read the entire article: With doctors’ workloads increasing, medical billing becomes growth industry