Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1147537
12 CFO / FINANCE Trump demands transparency on healthcare costs: 7 things to know By Kelly Gooch P resident Donald Trump signed an exec- utive order that aims to lower healthcare costs by improving price transparency. Seven things to know: 1. e order, signed June 24 at the White House, directs HHS to develop rules requiring hospitals to publish prices "that reflect what people actually pay for services in a way that's clear, straightfor- ward and accessible to all," said President Trump. 2. It should also "require healthcare providers and insurers to provide patients with information about the out-of-pocket costs they'll face before they receive healthcare services," HHS Secre- tary Alex Azar said before the order was signed, according to NPR. 3. e overall thought behind the order is that price variation exists among healthcare facilities for the same service, and patients need information to find the cheapest and highest quality care. e admin- istration expects the order to promote competition for health services and lower healthcare costs. 4. President Trump said: "For too long it's been virtually impossible for Americans to know the real quality and price of healthcare services and the services they receive. As a result, patients face significant obstacles shopping for the best care at the best price, driving up healthcare costs for ev- eryone. With today's historic action, we are fun- damentally changing the nature of the healthcare marketplace. is is bigger than anything we've done in this particular realm." 5. Details about how the rules called for in the or- der would work remain unclear, but they could prompt healthcare to operate more in a way where patient behavior is driven by quality and price, NPR reported. 6. CMS Administrator Seema Verma welcomed the order. Her statement said she is excited to im- plement reforms "that transform our healthcare system into one that delivers affordable and acces- sible healthcare and puts American patients first." 7. However, hospital and health plan lobbyists said that public disclosure of competitively ne- gotiated, proprietary rates would lead to higher healthcare prices, according to NPR. America's Health Insurance Plans is arguing the disclosure will reduce competition. n ProMedica's operating loss more than triples in Q1 By Ayla Ellison T oledo, Ohio-based ProMedica's operating performance for the first quarter of 2019 fell short of the performance for the same three-month period of 2018, according to financial documents released June 12. The 13-hospital system's operating revenue grew to $1.66 billion in the three months ended March 31, up from $852 million in the first quarter of 2018. A large chunk of the increase in revenue — $759 million — was attrib- utable to ProMedica's acquisition of HCR ManorCare, the second largest provider of post-acute services and long-term care in the U.S. ProMedica's operating expenses climbed to $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up from $820 million reported in the same period of last year. The HCR ManorCare acquisition added $733 million in expenses in the first quarter of 2019, and medical expenses increased year over year by $66.9 million related to a higher medical loss ratio for ProMedica's insur- ance company, Paramount Health Care. ProMedica ended the first quarter of 2019 with an operating loss of $9.8 million, compared to an operating loss of $2.7 million in the same period a year earlier. The health system said the wider operating loss was large- ly due to the negative operating performance of Paramount, which has more than 334,000 members across Ohio and Michigan. After factoring in nonoperating gains, ProMedica ended the first quarter of 2019 with net income of $30.8 million, compared to net income $7.9 million in the same period of the year prior. n 70% of Cerner clients say they wouldn't use the vendor's RCO services again By Jackie Drees S eventy percent of Cerner customers said they would not use the in- formation technology vendor's revenue cycle outsourcing services again, according to a KLAS Research report. KLAS surveyed 140 healthcare providers about their experiences with their respective revenue cycle firms as well as how satisfied they feel with their vendor's RCO services. Across RCO firms, one-third of clients said they would not purchase their firm's RCO services again, according to the report. Here are seven RCO vendors, ranked by overall customer satisfaction. The firms were scored on a scale of zero to 100. 1. Navigant: 89.0. 2. Ensemble Health Partners: 86.4. 3. R1 RCM: 82.4. 4. nThrive: 68.0. 5. Conifer Health Solutions: 66.1. 6. Parallon: 65.9. 7. Cerner: 52.7. n