For Critical Access Hospitals, the Medicare cost report is more than a compliance requirement—it’s a powerful lever for financial stability. Stroudwater’s national work shows that performance improvement initiatives yield a median of $1.7 million in opportunities (nearly 8% of net patient revenue), with cost reports representing about 7.1% of those opportunities. Yet too often, missed opportunities prevent hospitals from realizing the full benefit of cost-based reimbursement.
In this 45-minute session (plus 15 minutes of Q&A), Stroudwater will highlight common cost report pitfalls and the best practices that high-performing CAHs use to avoid them. From capturing allowable Medicare bad debt and accurately tracking ED standby time, to refining overhead allocations and leveraging interim cost reports to stabilize cash flow, participants will gain practical insights they can implement immediately.
Key takeaways include:
- Understand how cost reports fit within the broader landscape of performance improvement opportunities.
- Learn the most common reimbursement mistakes that leave dollars unclaimed—and how to correct them.
- Gain strategies to reduce cash flow risk through interim cost reporting and proactive monitoring.
- Walk away with clear, actionable practices to strengthen reimbursement accuracy and financial resilience.
