Ninety percent of health system finance leaders surveyed by the Healthcare Financial Management Association agreed on the top challenge facing revenue cycle teams: denials.
The "HFMA Health System CFO Pain Points 2024: Margin Challenges and Opportunities for Vendors" report is based on survey responses from 135 health system CFOs and CFO qualitative interviews that were held in the first quarter of 2024, according to a March 6 HFMA news release.
According to the report, 82% of health systems said their denial rate is up relative to 2019.
Sixty-two percent of health system leaders surveyed said Medicare Advantage is "significantly more difficult to work with" than commercial or traditional Medicare plans, according to the release.
"Medicare Advantage plans often have different clinical policies than Medicare and other commercial plans which leads to more denials. Health systems are frustrated; 19% have already dropped one or more Medicare Advantage plan," the release said.