Healthcare Finance Final

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

HEALTH CARE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FALL 6160

FINAL EXAM

The hospital CFO wants to improve their image with patients concerning surprise billing and stop all of the complaints and media stories, but the board is reluctant do anything because they feel it may cause unhappiness with the medical staff. The CFO has assigned you to develop a “white paper” and a board presentation that will summarize the white paper so he can present it to the board to convince them the hospital needs to address this issue.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

1. Develop the white paper which should cover the current landscape of the surprise bill issue and how consumers have been affected by them.

a. Include examples of patients that have shared their horror stories with the news media. (We’ve discussed several in the current events discussions throughout the course). Make sure you site the sources of the patient stories – news media and date of article.

b. Include what is being done on the legislative side to make patients aware of surprise bills and stop providers and insurance companies from billing patients for exorbitant fees all because the provider is “out of network” but the location of service (hospital) is in network. Include what congress is proposing and who is sponsoring the bill(s) as well as mentioning various state initiatives. Make sure you include any state bills that have been signed into law and the state of proposed bills. You should include a short paragraph that summarizes what each bill will accomplish.

c. The end of the white paper should be your recommendation to the board as to what the hospital should do. Your recommendation can include the following:

i. Distribute printed material to all patients

ii. Post signage in the ED and admitting areas that will explain which provider groups are in network

iii. Post information on the hospital’s website with similar information to include who to call if there are questions.

iv. Consider giving out the joint HFMA/AHA guide to surprise billing, this will be posted on Canvas for your use.

2. Prepare a short power point presentation for the board meeting. The slides should cover what is in your white paper with your recommendations.

3. There is no limit to the length of this assignment so it is up to you to make sure you cover everything listed. Please use a standard font and 12 point size. You can single space the document and print on both sides of the paper. The power point can be in color with graphics if you want. It will be graded both on content and presentation style.

4. You may contact me if you have questions. The final is due via email to me (DO NOT POST ON CANVAS) by midnight Monday, December 3.