The New York Times reports that the Bush administration'ss proposed Medicare reimbursement changes include basing hospital reimbursement for procedures on the severity of illness. (See
www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/us/17medicare.html). These changes will affect the profitability of certain hospital Service
Lines. Those hospitals that focus on primary contribution margins from Cardiovascular and Orthopedics procedures will benefit from projecting the impact of the Medicare reimbursement
changes on overall hospital profitability.
The administration'ss proposed hospital Medicare reimbursement changes confirms HMC'ss strategic focus on clinical cost data organized around Service Lines. According to Tom Day,
President of The Healthcare Management Council, Inc., Long ago we made a strategic decision to offer Service Line analysis. Using our tools, analyzing your performance using the new
schemes and methodologies doesn'st require any conversion or re-organization effort on your end.
HMC has been analyzing Service Line profitability for many years and has a rich database of cost comparisons that will help identify savings goals as well as specific areas (Pharmacy,
Respiratory, Supplies, Nursing, etc.) for savings opportunities. Integrated with actual practice information from the KnowledgeWeb and operational cost comparisons from the Functional
Benchmark, the Clinical Service Review and Clinical Analyzer help bring all the players to the table with a cost-effective focus.
For those that want to get out front of the Bush administration'ss proposed Medicare reimbursement changes now'ss the time.
The Healthcare Management Council (www.HMC-Benchmarks.com) is a hospital performance improvement company that helps hospitals lower costs and
increase quality.