Becker's Hospital Review

14 CFO / FINANCE Federal government relentlessly collects debt for military hospitals, report finds By Morgan Haefner C ivilians treated at military hospitals are subject to aggressive collection tactics, even if they are uninsured or low-income, according to a report from the Center for Public Integrity and e Atlantic. Four things to know from the report: 1. While nonprofit and private hospitals are sub- ject to federal and state charity-care laws when it comes to collecting medical debt from uninsured or poor patients, military hospitals don't have to follow charity-care laws. Although the govern- ment can write off some debts, military hospi- tals are required to take "prompt and aggressive action" to settle any debts, according to Depart- ment of Defense regulations cited in the report. 2. Aggressive debt collection became a priori- ty at military hospitals aer the Department of Defense's inspector general found the hospitals weren't sufficiently collecting outstanding debt. A series of audits, the first published in 2014, found five military health facilities mishandled millions in delinquent accounts. In total, civil- ians today owe about $198 million to military hospitals for treatment. 3. e federal government can begin using ag- gressive collection tactics once military hospital debt is transferred to the U.S. Treasury. ese in- clude withholding wages, tax refunds or 15 per- cent of a person's Social Security income without a court order, according to the report. e out- standing balances can also incur interest pay- ments, administrative fees and other penalties. 4. In a statement to the Center for Public Integ- rity and e Atlantic, the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service said while it is "re- quired by law to collect debts, [it] works to ensure that debtors are treated fairly and receive proper notices and opportunities to dispute the debts, as well as the chance to repay debts over time." n CHS divests 3 Virginia hospitals, appoints new CFO By Ayla Ellison F ranklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems no longer operates hospitals in Virginia after selling three hospitals to Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health. CHS completed the sale of its three Virginia hospitals on Jan. 1, roughly two months after entering into a definitive agreement with Bon Secours. The following hospitals were included in the transaction: 300-bed Southside Re- gional Medical Center in Petersburg, 105-bed Southampton Memorial Hos- pital in Franklin and 80-bed Southern Virginia Medical Center in Emporia. CHS also has a new finance chief. Kevin Hammons was appointed exec- utive vice president and CFO Jan. 1. He succeeds Thomas Aaron, who served as CFO from May 2017 until he retired Dec. 31. Mr. Hammons joined CHS more than 20 years ago and has held several financial leadership roles. Most recently, Mr. Hammons served as assis- tant CFO and treasurer. During his time at CHS, Mr. Hammons has helped oversee accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, capital market trans- actions, treasury management functions, Securities and Exchange Com- mission reporting and CHS' divestiture program. CHS Chairman and CEO Wayne T. Smith said he's confident the leadership transition will be "smooth and seamless." "I am confident Kevin will continue to lead and execute strategies that im- prove the company's financial performance and help position Community Health Systems for future success. Kevin is supported by a very tenured and committed finance team," Mr. Smith said in a Dec. 12 news release. n 297%: The average difference between highest, lowest outpatient charges, study says By Morgan Haefner N ationally, the difference between the lowest and highest gross charges for individual outpatient procedures in the U.S. averaged 297 percent, according to a study from consulting firm Crowe. In its report, Crowe analyzed financial transactions at more than 1,200 hospitals in the U.S. captured through its revenue cycle analytics solution. Crowe focused on individual pricing levels of 100 common outpatient procedures that had gross charges above $500. These are the list prices hospitals post in their system. In one example, the report found the specific billing code for a high-sever- ity, potentially life-threatening emergency room visit resulted in an average gross charge of $3,499 for the most expensive hospitals. For the least ex- pensive, the average gross charge was $692, or a 406 percent difference. Big pricing disparities were identified on a local basis, too. For a standard MRI procedure in a metropolitan area of more than 3 million, Crowe found a 115 percent difference between the highest gross charge ($4,548) and the lowest ($2,115). n

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