Website of the Month: Healthcare Financial Management Association [CPA Journal, The]

The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is a membership organization of healthcare financial management professionals - from accountants to chief financial officers - that covers medical practices, hospitals, managed care organizations, insurance companies, and accounting firms. The organization's purpose is to improve the business performance of healthcare providers and those who serve them. Its website, www.hfma.org, provides a wide range of exclusive resources for both members and the general public. Materials are available in a variety of formats, including webpages, downloadable PDFs, slideshows, spreadsheets, articles, white papers, surveys, research reports, and videos.

The website is organized around the main menu, located at the top of the home and main pages, which contains the site's major categories: knowledge center, education and events, publications, HFMA initiatives, career center, news and opinions, marketplace, forums, and about HFMA. The main pages of each category generally spotiight three or four resources and include detailed sidebar indexes for navigation ease. The homepage highlights die knowledge center topics, upcoming seminars and events, and selected articles, among other resources.

HFMA Initiatives

The HFMA presents information on several of its projects and programs in the initiatives section of its website. Examples include "The Value Project" for improving quality and patient satisfaction, the "Financing the Future" series of reports on strategic planning and related issues, and research on emerging trends in healthcare financial management. These materials are too numerous to address in this review, but users are encouraged to take a look at them.

The healthcare reform section offers an extensive collection of resources, many of which branch out into additional subsidiary webpages. The HFMA provides material about accountable care organizations (ACO), created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). For example, a downloadable slideshow defines ACOs and provides initial guidance. A Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services shared savings and losses calculator computes die potential savings or losses of forming a Medicare ACO. In addition, a PowerPoint presentation summarizes key ACA provisions, and a handy downloadable chart presents a timeline of major reforms and dates. Users can also browse several white papers on healthcare payment system reform and its keys to success.

The patient-friendly billing resources section includes a 16-page report of case studies on customer service, which found that employee engagement, online price information for patients, and a user-friendly website helped improve revenue-cycle customer service. The HFMA has authored several reports on this subject conveniendy supplied in several formats: full report, executive summary, slideshow, and appendices. Ready-to-use presentations are available regarding standards of excellence in patient billing, improving the revenue cycle, improving pricing strategies, and addressing policies for uninsured patients. Billing pricing tools include a price quote checklist and a decision tree for the steps in the price quote process.

Another HFMA initiative is the MAP revenue cycle program, which stands for 'Measure performance, Apply evidence-based practices, and Perform to the highest standards." The full program is only available commercially, but users can view many of the features online without charge. The MAP strategy provides revenue cycle performance indicators or ratios called MAP Keys, as well as an interactive performance tracking tool called the MAP App. About 25 MAP Keys are grouped into four categories: patient access, revenue integrity, claims adjudication, and management, plus a selection of new keys. Example indicators include point-of-service cash collections, net days' revenue in credit balance, aged accounts receivable as a percentage of billed accounts receivable, and bad debts as a percentage of gross patient service revenue. The MAP App is a secure web-based program that provides tracking of revenue cycle performance, customized performance targets, comparisons with peer organizations, and identification of areas in need of improvement

The information section for MAP contains a two-page PDF brochure detailing the features, benefits, and technical requirements for the MAP App, as well as downloadable reports on key practices for improving quality and benchmarking.

Articles and News

Under the site's publications category, users can access the full content of the current issues of the monthly HFM Magazine and the biannual Leadership report. Electronic bulletins on healthcare finance strategies and patient-friendly billing are also publicly available. Only subscribers can access HFMA's newsletters on healthcare cost containment, revenue cycle, strategic financial planning, and career opportunities; however, nonsubscribers can view sample newsletter issues for free.

The news and opinion section of the webäte offers current and archived weekly healthcare financial news summarized by HFMA staff. Examples include the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling to uphold the ACA requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance, with a link to the court document, and 'Healthcare Hiring Holds Steady in October," which includes a link to a Bureau of Labor Statistics ble displaying the change in employment by industry sector over time. Another article covered the HFMA's recommendations regarding the IRS's call for comments on proposed changes to Form 990 Schedule H for hospital facilities, financial assistance provided, and other information.

Other Resources

The HFMA's knowledge center groups a variety of publicly available and subscription-only materials under the topics of accounting and financial reporting; finance and business strategy; legal and regulatory compliance; operations management; payment, reimbursement, and managed care; revenue cycle; and technology. The main page of the knowledge center provides access to the HFMA glossary of healthcare finance terms, as well as certain spotlight features, such as a summary article, "Legal Challenges to the Affordable Care Act," which includes finks to the underlying court opinions.

Accounting and financial reporting topics include audit and internal controls, FASB and GASB rules and guidelines, and transparency. Sample resources include an article on auditing pharmacy department risks and an executive compensation tally sheet covering seven categories of remuneration. The payment, reimbursement, and managed care webpage offers the HFMA's 24-page white paper, "Integration in a Reform Environment: Strategies for Success," which addresses collaboration between physicians and hospitals.

An enlightening resource in the website's career center section is the results of its annual salary survey of its members who work in hospitals and healthcare systems, covering 13 job titles from accountant to controller to chief financial officer. The detailed survey results include average cash compensation, average bonus, experience, and the effect on compensation of certifications and graduate degrees. As reported in other compensation studies, certifications (such as CPA) and graduate degrees have a measurable impact on average salary.

The HFMA offers four forums: CFO, legal and regulatory, payment and reimbursement, and revenue cycle. These forums include discussion boards as well as articles, tools, advice, directories, and links. Forum membership is by subscription only, but the main page of each category includes a free sample article and tool.

The CFO forum's first free resource is a downloadable detailed spreadsheet, or electronic health record, to determine the total cost of ownership assessment for a starter capital and operating budget. It also features an article about Montefiore Medical Center's capital investment strategy, which has helped it to thrive in the poorest urban county in the United States. The legal and regulatory forum's free resources are a recovery audit contractor's timeline and deadline checklist, as well as an article about preventing data breaches, with a link to an external study on the increasing costs of compromised security. "How Much Could Medicare Be Cut Under the Debt Deal?" is the sample article under the payments and reimbursement forum addressing the effect on acute care hospitals. The free tool is a slideshow about presenting a hospital's value story to payers during contract negotiations. Lastly, the revenue cycle forum's tool is a lengthy list of questions to ask revenue cycle management job candidates, and its article addresses identifying the causes of payment denial as well as tactics to reduce the denial rate.

As reported in other compensation studies, certifications (such as CPA) and graduate degrees have a measurable impact on average salary.

Susan B. Anders, PhD, CPA, is a professor of accounting at St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY.