FarahMD Consulting blog

Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

What hospitalists need to know about healthcare reimbursement and denial prevention

Payment denials and delays are a common occurrence with an estimated 9% of charges ($262 billion) are initially denied. This article, published in The Hospitalist, provides an overview of the U.S. healthcare payment system, revenue cycle management and types of denials, and outlines the role of physician advisors and hospitalists in preventing and combating denials.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

COVID-19: Telehealth at the forefront of the pandemic

Telehealth has emerged as a powerful resource for healthcare providers and hospitals during the pandemic. This article, published in The Hospitalist, offers a summary of government regulations that enabled telehealth expansion and provides an overview of how two health care organizations, Providence St. Joseph Health and Sound Physicians, are employing telehealth services to combat the COVID-19 health care crisis.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

Applying Lean Six Sigma principles to reduce denials

Under current fee-for-service payment model, healthcare providers face financial pressures, which are further exacerbated by payment denials and delays. Read this article understand the denial types and causes, and to learn about a disciplined, data-driven and team-based approach to reduce denials.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

Introduction to population management

Healthcare delivery focus and financial incentives are shifting from managing discrete patient encounters for acute illness to managing population health and total cost of care. These changes will eventually impact all healthcare providers. This article examines the impetus for the shift toward population management and introduces common terminology.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

HM19 conference highlights

Dr. Marina Farah and Dr. Kranthi Sitammagari offer expert analysis of the plenary and updates on sepsis sessions at the Hospitalist Medicine 2019 Conference.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

In search of high-value care

We are responsible for delivering high-value care to our patients that impacts their outcomes and cost of care. To learn more, read this article: “In search of high-value care. Six steps that can help your team.”

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

Don’t let me be misunderstood: Discharge before noon measure

If you are a hospital administrator or a hospitalist leader, you most likely have an early discharge measure included in your hospitalist team performance scorecard. Despite its prevalence in judging hospitalist team performance, I find this measure to be the most misunderstood and misused. So, before you include an early discharge measure in your scorecard, take time to understand it.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

6 tips for implementing successful innovative healthcare solutions

Over the past 10 years, I led and advised more than 100 small and large-scale innovative healthcare projects that focused on improving quality, decreasing cost and enhancing provider experience and efficiency. I want to share practical tips for implementing successful healthcare solutions.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

How to expertly solve your hospital’s length of stay problem

Do you want to solve your hospital’s length of stay (LOS) problems? The key to successful and sustainable improvement is using a disciplined step-by-step approach. Read this article to learn the approach that has been used across more than 100 projects focused on improving clinical quality, cost and operational efficiency.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

The secret sauce to the best patient experience

While many hospitals and healthcare systems struggle to improve their HCAHPS scores, there is one healthcare system that seems to figured it out – Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, CA. Read for their secret sauce.

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Marina Farah, MD, MHA Marina Farah, MD, MHA

5 rules for planning a winning healthcare improvement project

Before you jump into the implementation phase, take time to plan your project.  While even well-planned projects may not succeed, poorly planned and executed projects are destined to fail. Here are 5 ground rules for planning a winning healthcare improvement project.

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