From a strictly financial standpoint, the Covid pandemic steadied the outlook for Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) across the United States, but all five factors responsible for that trend have now reversed sharply, suggesting a looming crisis. Perhaps the easiest way for hospitals to remain financially secure through periods of uncertainty is with a strong days… Read More

COVID-19 continues to have a dramatic impact on the financial performance of healthcare systems across the United States. Ascendient analyzed multiple data sources from the first year of the pandemic and found five key financial takeaways for hospital planning. In 2020, healthcare systems experienced: Decelerated net patient revenue growth Increased salaries and benefits Weakened profitability… Read More

As I write this, the debate over America’s debt ceiling has reached a fever pitch, with dire predictions of mass layoffs, delayed Social Security checks, skyrocketing mortgage rates, and more. All that sound and fury is not a bad thing, since the consequences of a default would be catastrophic – a “meteor” on a collision… Read More

TRANSCRIPTION: This is Brian Ackerman. I want to talk to you today about the devastation of site-neutral payment. Site-neutral payment is nothing new. We’ve worked with hospital clients for a number of years to discuss how from a competitive standpoint, they may look to push certain services into a freestanding setting and the associated implications… Read More

Announcements by CMS and recent changes in the healthcare industry demonstrate that Ascendient’s forward-looking approach, aided by the HealthytownTM model we developed, has accurately predicted the road signs now visible on the path to healthcare transformation. We have known for some time that the U.S. healthcare system as it exists is not sustainable. Costs continue… Read More

Dawn Carter, Ascendient After decades of unabated growth in healthcare costs, payors, consumers and the government alike are finally taking action to eliminate cost-shifting and to force providers to assume more risk. From MACRA and the lower reimbursement rates of Medicare Advantage to the growing use of freestanding sites, hospitals are facing a transformational shift… Read More

Changing market forces across the healthcare industry will have major reverberations across key provider, consumer, and other stakeholder communities that operate both within and outside of traditional healthcare system networks. And as a new and dramatically different type of healthcare delivery model emerges, healthcare executives can no longer afford to embrace a “business as usual”… Read More