5 Most-Read Finance Stories

Source: Becker’s Hospital CFO

Hospital credit rating and outlook changes, healthcare spending growth and Medicare payment policy have captured the attention of many hospital finance readers recently. The following five stories were among the most-viewed during the past week.

1. 7 Recent Hospital Rating and Outlook Changes, Affirmations

The following hospital and health system rating and outlook changes and affirmations took place recently.

2. Study: Healthcare Spending Slowdown to Reverse in 2014

Although healthcare spending growth has slowed in recent years, data from 2013 and the first quarter of this year indicate the trend is reversing, according to an analysis by the National Center for Policy Analysis, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization.

3. Excess Cost Growth in Healthcare Spending: 4 Things to Know From the CBO

When analyzing healthcare spending, the CBO calculates spending growth per person relative to the growth of potential gross domestic product per person, discounting the effects of demographic changes (such as age distribution) on healthcare spending. The resulting ratio is called excess cost growth.

4. 11 Trends Facing Surgery Centers

The surgery center business has become a much more difficult business over the last several years. This is due to several factors.

5. Medicare Experiments With Dropping the Three-Day Hospital Stay Rule: 5 Things to Know

CMS is exploring whether or not dropping Medicare’s nursing home coverage requirement of a preceding inpatient hospital stay of at least three days.