Becker's Hospital Review

10 CFO / FINANCE MultiCare to lay off 200+ workers By Kelly Gooch M ultiCare Health System, a 12-hospital organization based in Tacoma, Wash., will lay off 229 employees, or about 1 percent of its 23,000 staff members, including about two dozen leaders, as part of cost-cutting efforts, the health system said June 29. e layoffs primarily affect support departments, such as marketing, IT and finance, according to a news release shared with Becker's. Reductions will be spread across the Puget Sound, Inland Northwest and Yakima regions. "e decision to eliminate staff is never an easy one and it is not an effort that we undertake lightly," Bill Robertson, CEO of MultiCare, said in the release. "ese reductions are unfortunately necessary as MultiCare works to address our financial challenges. ey were made aer a thoughtful review of our operations and with the charge that any changes made must help ensure we can continue to care for our patients now, as well as be able to serve our communities in the future." MultiCare attributed its financial challenges to factors such as inflation, labor shortages, increased costs of contract labor, as well as stagnation in Medicaid reimbursement rates in Washington state. e health system reported a loss of $121 million through May and a loss of $287 million in 2022. In addition to staff reductions, MultiCare is making various other efforts to improve its financial picture, including work to use resources more efficiently in patient care areas, streamlining some support department structures and reducing some services, the health system said. Most recently, MultiCare announced plans to expand virtual nursing to nine hospitals. MultiCare has more than 22,000 team members. n CMS floats 2.2% cut to home health payments in 2024 By Alan Condon C MS has proposed a 2.2 percent pay cut for home health providers in 2024, or an estimated $375 million less than 2023 levels. Four things to know: 1. The proposed rule would increase payments to 2.7 percent, or $460 million, but home health agencies would see a 5.1 percent decrease that reflects the effects of the permanent behavior assumption adjustment (a $870 million decrease) and an estimated 0.2 percent increase for a proposed update to the fixed-dollar loss ratio used in determining outlier payments (a $35 million increase). 2. For 2024, using updated 2022 claims and the methodology finalized in the 2023 rule, CMS determined that it paid more under the new system than it would have under the old system. So, the agency is proposing an additional permanent adjustment percentage of -5.653 percent in 2024 to address the differences in the aggregate expenditures. 3. CMS is proposing to adopt two new measures for the home health quality reporting program in 2025, including a measure on the percentage of patients who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. The agency also proposed various changes to the measures used in the Home Health Value- based Purchasing program and the weighting methodology used to score performance and payment adjustments in the program. 4. The proposed rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on July 10, with CMS accepting comments on the draft through Aug. 29. n Tenet taps AmerisourceBergen exec to succeed retiring CFO By Andrew Cass S un Park will assume the role of CFO at Dallas- based Tenet Healthcare in 2024 following the retirement of Dan Cancelmi. Mr. Park joins Tenet from AmerisourceBergen, where he served as executive vice president and group CFO for pharmaceutical distribution and strategic global sourcing, according to a June 23 Tenet news release. Tenet announced in January that Mr. Cancelmi will retire at the end of 2023. Mr. Park will serve as an executive vice president for the for-profit health system from July 11 through Dec. 31, according to the release. Mr. Cancelmi will onboard and mentor Mr. Park as part of the transition process. "I am pleased to welcome Sun to Tenet and believe his leadership experiences, coupled with his data-driven and outcomes-oriented approach will serve our company well as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities," Tenet CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, said in the release. "Sun's well rounded leadership experience in corporate and operational finance will enable us to continue to unlock value for our shareholders as we continue to transform our portfolio." n

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