Surviving Medicaid Cuts & Serving Patients

In the midst of severe Medicaid cuts, one healthcare leader, Anthony Cunningham, is showing the way to success in this new environment. Mr. Cunningham is Chief Revenue Officer of LCMC Health of New Orleans. Once the recent reconciliation bill passed Congress in June, Mr. Cunningham knew that nearly 20% of his non-profit hospital systems' patients faced losing coverage. In a recent article in Healthcare Finance, Mr. Cunningham lays out his strategy for managing the challenges in the new environment. "Hospitals have to get more aggressive to tighten up the ship. Payers should help.," says Mr. Cunningham. Here are a few of his strategic options:

• Go on the offensive with managed care contracts. Discuss denials, prior authorizations, and aged receivables.

• Get more aggressive about being efficient. Use technology and artificial intelligence to reduce rework and lower the number of handoffs.

• Look for community sources to help patients with the social determinants of health. Align patients with social workers. Find other community or government sources (e.g., free drug programs).

For more information on Mr. Cunningham's approach to Medicaid cuts, read the Health Finance article here.