Healthcare Blame Game

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, and a special musical treat. Mentioned in this episode: Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

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 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.

HFMA Policy Director Andrew Donahue’s column, “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. Also mentioned in this episode: Healthcare 2030: Restoring Trust in Healthcare Assessing Reality in Healthcare Financial Information | HFMA

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 Medical debt relief: How helpful? The inconvenient truth about medical debt relief

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 Northwell, NYC Public Schools announce Northwell School of Health Sciences The fight for transparency health care prices in America

Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) has engaged hip hop artists like Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and Method Man in its “Power to the Patients” campaign, claiming that regulations around price transparency are not being enforced, allowing hospitals to hide their prices and “charge whatever they want.” On this episode, HFMA Policy Director Shawn Stack and Ruth Lande, vice president of hospital relations at RIP Medical Debt, discuss PRA’s misinterpretation of price transparency regulations and hospital pricing. Mentioned in this episode: Power to the Patients: Fat Joe Public Service Announcement PatientRightsAdvocate.org misinterprets CMS rules in low estimate of hospital price transparency compliance Patient Rights Advocate continues to misinterpret price transparency data with latest report Healthcare Blame Game: Why CFOs should build media relationships Do you have feedback on an episode or an idea for the Blame Game team? Email us here.

Brad speaks with retired CFO and longtime HFMA member Jim Heffernan about why CFOs should be at the forefront of telling an organization’s financial story. Also in this episode, a physician takes to TIME to explain what’s happening in primary care, and the AHA corrects the record on a Modern Healthcare story about charity care.

Brad talks with Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of America’s Physician Groups, about why healthcare consolidation is more nuanced than critics understand. Mentioned in this episode: PRESS RELEASE: Lown Institute awarded $1.5M to study U.S. hospital tax exemptions, financial practices Susan Dentzer: Is consolidation in healthcare the work of modern-day robber barons — or the result of overdue reengineering?

Brad and Erika are joined by Shawn Stack, policy director at HFMA, and Ruth Lande, vice president of hospital relations at RIP Medical Debt, at HFMA’s Annual Conference in Nashville for a discussion about what hospitals get right and wrong when it comes to patient and media communications.

Media veteran Jean Hodges joins Brad to discuss a Washington Post error and the inner workings of the modern newsroom.   Mentioned in this episode: Americans are knee-deep in medical debt. Most owe hospitals. Healthcare Blame Game: How news outlets mishandled a medical debt study Most adults with post-due medical debt owe money to hospitals