ACA is focus of HFMA gathering

While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act made insurance coverage more attainable for individuals, it also ushered in an era of greater cost-sharing for patients—and a subsequent demand for more price transparency.

The challenges and opportunities of operating in this new environment will be central themes at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's 2014 Annual National Institute.

About 5,000 attendees are expected to gather in Las Vegas next month, according to a spokesman for the group, which represents more than 40,000 healthcare financial professionals.

Over the past year, the HFMA has introduced a number of initiatives aimed at improving financial interactions with patients. A task force on price transparency last month issued a report on the best practices for informing patients about how much procedures cost. And in October, the HFMA also released its patient-friendly billing guidelines—a roadmap for when and how to communicate with patients about their medical bills across various healthcare settings.

The group unveiled both projects at last year's annual meeting, and the discussion will continue at this year's National Institute.

Revenue-cycle management and preparing for value-based payment models will be other key issues this year, the spokesman said. That includes the HFMA's MAP Initiative, which creates tools for how to measure and improve revenue-cycle performance.

Other sessions will focus on how to navigate through the new health insurance exchanges, how to find partners in an era of consolidation and how to create value through bundled payments and accountable care organizations. Beyond healthcare reform, there will be sessions on how to increase returns in an investment portfolio and how to integrate employed physicians into a system.

Among the featured speakers, Martin Arrick, managing director at Standard & Poor's, will detail how the capital markets are responding to the changes in the healthcare industry. He also will focus on the growing interest in nontraditional financing products in the not-for-profit sector and what the risks and benefits are.

Also, Andrew Croshaw, a partner at consulting firm Leavitt Partners, will provide a regulatory update on healthcare reform.

Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon, journalist and author, will be one of three keynote speakers at the event. Through his books and columns in the New Yorker and Slate, Gawande has written extensively about how to improve value and outcomes in medicine.

The Annual National Institute is set for June 22-25 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher