Billing software speeds accounts receivable

Software products designed to speed the billing process range from systems that prompt admissions personnel to comply with the terms of up to 3,600 separate managed care contracts to programs that support electronic billing via telephone.

Leadership gap wreaks havoc with health policy

The Bush Administration's failure to fill key health care positions has hurt formation of Medicare policy, and Congress made a mistake by backpedaling on catastrophic health insurance, according to an exclusive survey of hospital CEOs.

Alliances: changing focus for changing times

Alliance networks were supposed to offer members the same buying clout enjoyed by national health care systems and the opportunity to contract with employers as part of a national health care delivery network. But overly optimistic projections about how quickly alliances could reach those goals--and what it would cost to teach them--led to unmanaged growth and disgruntled members. According to our cover story, alliances now are adjusting to changing conditions by adopting strategies to serve the needs of hospitals and systems competing in regional markets.

One contract alters small-town market balance

What happens when the largest employer in a small community of 30,000 contracts with one provider's HMO network? Ask hospital executives in Sherman, TX. The exclusive contract, which marks the debut of managed care in the community, has shifted the balance of the local health care market.