Becker's Hospital Review

21 CFO / FINANCE CMS updates hospital price transparency requirement — again By Ayla Ellison C MS has published an additional FAQ document that provides guidance for hospitals required to post their standard charges online. In August 2018, CMS finalized a rule requiring hospitals to pub- lish a list of their standard charges online in a machine-read- able format and to update this information at least annually. In the months leading up to when the rule took effect, CMS at- tempted to answer questions about the new requirement. The rule took effect Jan. 1. CMS posted a document in September 2018 that defined "machine readable" and answered five other frequently asked questions about the price transparency rule. CMS then published an additional document in Decem- ber 2018 that expanded on the rule. The agency answered sev- en questions about the new requirement, including one about whether hospitals are required to post information online that isn't included in their chargemasters. CMS clarified that even if a hospital's chargemaster does not include standard charges for drugs, biologicals or other items and services it provides, those charges must be posted online. n South Carolina hospital closes after 63 years By Ayla Ellison F airfield Memorial Hospital in Winnsboro, S.C., the only hospital in its county, closed Dec. 18. Fairfield Memorial Hospital, which was open for 63 years, experienced financial challenges due to a dwin- dling population in its rural county, hospital CEO Su- zie Doscher told WACH. In August 2017, leaders an- nounced plans to close the hospital, which gave the community time to prepare. Local leaders have strengthened the county's ambu- lance system, and Columbia, S.C.-based Providence Health opened a standalone emergency room about 2 miles from the hospital. Providence hired most of Fair- field Memorial's employees for the new ER. The closure of Fairfield Memorial Hospital is part of a national trend. Ninety-three other rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and Fairfield Memorial Hospital is the fourth hospital in South Carolina to shut down, according to research from the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program. n Aetna's chief digital officer: 'Insurance will change dramatically' By Morgan Haefner J ust over two years ago, Aetna hired Firdaus Bhathena as chief digital officer to lead the health insurer's technology strategy. Mr. Bhathena, a startup veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the field, told Becker's Hospital Review he's excited about Aetna's soware production. "It's not oen you get to build technology and solutions to enable members to lead healthier lives," he said. Here, Mr. Bhathena answered three questions for Becker's about the future of health insur- ance and Aetna's technology strategy: Editor's Note: Responses were edited lightly for length and clarity. Question: What will insurance signup look like in the future? Firdaus Bhathena: e biggest change will be a shi in focus to open enrollment. e future is going to be more like, "Here are the kinds of experiences we're going to enable. What do you need?" People are going to be given a lot more choice and incentive to engage in healthcare experiences that are more effective and less expensive. We won't always get this right, but we'll dou- ble down on what's working. Our push is to take the work our data science team does and bring it to life. Q: How will artificial intelligence, telemedicine and connected devices change healthcare? FB: Healthcare needs to be high value and easy to use. My wife is a pediatrician in Bos- ton. In the summer, Lyme disease is a big con- cern for her patients. She gets a lot of texts with pictures with captions like, "I saw this black dot. Can you tell me if this is a deer tick?" and "Should I take my child to the ER?" She does her best to help them out and give them advice. In my opinion, we're not going to be doing that for much longer. Fast forward: AI and deep learning will do that initial triage for us. A patient will open up their health app and send a picture through that. If patients have further questions aer the app determines a diagnosis, they can initiate a virtual care visit with a provider. Q: What is the future role of the payer? FB: I think insurance as a standalone busi- ness will change dramatically. e key for them is being there to assist a member when they're having a healthcare issue. It's about moving healthcare to the kitchen table. In that vein, Aetna is transitioning to a health and wellness partner for our members. e only way we're going to bend cost curves is by partnering with consumers. at means not just being there when they break their leg. What we do for members on a day-to-day ba- sis can keep them out of high-cost categories, like ER visits. n

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