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As the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) rages on and lives are forever changed, our hearts go out to all of those on the front lines showing the entire world what modern-day heroes look like.  As technology partners to healthcare organizations and caregivers, we are focused not only on keeping our employees and community as safe as possible, but are dedicated to actively examining current health and safety processes for healthcare organizations. Since social distancing is often not an option for caregivers, we must provide every opportunity and resource available to those working in healthcare organizations, and standardize these best practices.   

As the world continues to struggle and change, the way we think of natural disasters evolves and changes along with it.  When you hear the term natural disaster, images from the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, and earthquakes come to mind.  Over the last couple of months, we were introduced to a new kind of natural disaster, COVID-19.

Clarifire recently released its white paper on the current approach to customer-centric servicing and the corresponding key drivers as we head into a new decade. With ongoing fluctuation in business requirements and constrained resources expected to continue, informed and consistent communication with servicing customers is at the core of any successful servicing model.  Albeit difficult to deliver on, as technology budgets and profitability margins remain constricted, mortgage servicers need to make a sizable effort to embrace their customer base.  Whether looking to leverage cross-product penetration, increase retention, or simply endure the latest disaster obstacles, customer-centric servicing should be the focus.

So what does reducing waste in healthcare mean?  Healthcare waste is defined as time, dollars, and services that do not add value - and can sometimes harm the patient.  What it means is achieving the nirvana of triple aim – better care, better health, and lower cost.

Despite efforts to control healthcare spending in the United States, costs continue to soar.  To combat healthcare costs on the rise, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) developed a Leadership Alliance Waste workgroup.  This group is made up of 54 healthcare organizations working together to develop a strategy to reduce waste in healthcare by 50% over the next five years.¹  In this blog, we are taking a look at some of their most successful concepts and aligning them with innovative, executable strategies.

What do you do when the standard approach to readmission reductions isn’t moving the dial on penalties? Your organization has implemented post-discharge calls and a data warehouse, yet you’re still looking at a 20% readmission rate. Perhaps it is time to consider a fresh and innovative look at how to positively impact readmission scores. A proven best practice for doing this is by examining complex clinical pathways, such as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).

Today’s customers demand far more than an automated process from their mortgage bank or servicer.  As servicers strive to improve overall efficiency through technology, many servicers may find themselves further behind the competition then they anticipated.  With targets set on process automation, data accessibility, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity, efforts to innovate often fail to address the entire scope of digital, real time borrower engagement.  One of the most important areas of engagement, mobile access, is evolving at an exponential rate, especially with the developing deployment of 5G.  So, if mobile access has fallen to the bottom of your technology strategy, you may need to rethink your approach.

Patients staying in long-term care facilities are of the most vulnerable population.  Many residents are suffering from chronic illnesses, or have become patients following acute hospitalizations.  In addition, long-term care (LTC) facilities often include a large geriatric population.  Whatever category they fall under, many of these patients require skilled nursing. It is no wonder then that CMS has taken a hard stance to improve safety, quality care, and experience for these patients.  Effective November 28, 2019, a 2016 Final Rule from CMS mandates all LTC facilities operate a compliance and ethics program, including eight major components that cover new regulatory requirements. 

Those involved in healthcare today are well aware the industry has shifted from volume-based to consumer-driven, value-based care, with a significant focus on patient experience and quality outcomes that tie back to insurance reimbursements.  Because of the shift, the majority of hospitals have implemented quality-focused programs, and use mobile technology that provides real-time visibility for crucial patient data for making evidence-based decisions.  The reality is that mobile technology is no longer a ‘nice to have’; it is the new normal for patient care. 

In today’s digital environment, the number of vendors delivering large platform-based systems remains high.  However, this approach is fast becoming dated as it slows down the ability of the servicer to evolve interoperability, impairs the capacity to integrate various systems, including access to data, and is typically costly and cumbersome to implement.

It is hard to believe 2019 is over.  The year rocketed by as we watched healthcare disruption manifest in numerous ways.  We saw large-scale changes, such as CVS and Aetna team up, Uber expand their ridesharing in the healthcare industry, and Amazon join forces with J.P. Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway to slash healthcare prices for their 1.1 million employees.  We also saw changes on a smaller scale that packed a punch.  Take patient experience HCAHPS surveys for an example.  Most know the impact of these surveys can be the difference between a financial loss or gain.  Therefore, when Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) removed pain management questions from the HCHAPS survey in 2019, the industry took notice.

Providing a good patient experience as part of quality care is not new, and has always been important. The implementation of the HCAHPS survey only increased the importance and made it top-of-mind for healthcare leaders. CMS and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) collaborated to develop the HCAHPS survey, implementing it in 2006.  It was the first national survey to provide public data related to the patient’s perspective of care while in the hospital. Sharing the data publically incentivizes hospitals to improve quality to compete with other hospitals, and provides consumers with side-by-side quality ratings to consider when choosing their provider.  The standardized questions on the survey became an integral piece of the quality puzzle, with measures directly tied to Medicare reimbursements and heavy financial penalties for sub-par quality.

For anyone who attended the FONE 2019 Educational Conference on November 7 and 8, it was evident the focus was promoting healthy work environments using evidence-based practices.  Even though the conference was just a month ago, it seems like light years during this busy holiday season.  Today we will recap what the leaders spoke about, and leave you with a few things to consider that will elevate your staff engagement in 2020! 

Disaster risk exposure relative to homeowner’s insurance has become a mounting concern for mortgage servicers as the number of natural disaster events remains high.  Servicers need workable strategies to protect mortgage collateral as they face an increasing number of disaster events toppling the $1 billion mark.  In this escalating disaster environment, mortgage servicers find themselves chasing insurance coverage options to help minimize their risk exposure.

Bank of America recently released the 2019 Fall Homebuyer Insights Report, which finds that homeowners value not only the financial equity that comes with homeownership but also the social and emotional benefits. Conveying several aspects of well-being that have been expanded with homeownership, including hobbies, interests, and family dynamics, information gathered from new homebuyers acknowledged that owning a home is considered an important element of one’s lifestyle. Affirmation of positive homeownership sentiments indicates that borrowers have moved beyond the financial crisis attitude whereby abandoning one’s home was considered an acceptable response to default. 

Recently the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published their long-awaited plans for housing finance reform. While the plans are most recognized for their proposed changes to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), they also introduce suggestions for amending Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs and guidelines, including specific guidance on default servicing. 

Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) and infections are illnesses or complications that were not present when the patient was admitted to the hospital, but developed as a result of errors or accidents in the hospital.⁽¹⁾ In an effort to improve patient safety and quality within hospitals, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed the HAC Reduction Program in 2015.  Since the program was introduced, studies show that hospitals have made considerable progress in reducing HACs.⁽²⁾ However, there is plenty of room for improvements with some common and troublesome HACs.

There is a lot of focus on patient satisfaction and experience in healthcare, and for good reason.  Patient Experience is a key contributor to overall hospital quality measures and insurance reimbursements.  In addition, patient satisfaction and experience have been linked time and again to improved patient outcomes.  Although we sometimes view satisfaction and experience as the same thing, they are different.  Both satisfaction and experience are equally important and require ongoing communication passed between caregivers, as well as from caregivers to patient.  A famous physician from Canada, Sir William Osler, once said: “A good physician treats the disease and a great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”⁽¹⁾  The same applies to patient satisfaction and experience.  Focusing on creating a satisfied patient who has a positive experience is the key for driving hospital quality and patient loyalty. 

Nearly half of mortgage servicers indicated that they felt the western region of the US was most likely to see an increase in distressed inventory for the latter half of the year. This was one of the key findings from Auction.com’s 2019 Disposition Summit Client Survey Report. 

A large number of leaders in healthcare agree that staff engagement within a hospital is an essential component for delivering quality patient care, with an empathetic experience, that will result in the best clinical outcomes.  Since most of the insurance reimbursements are tied to quality measures, staff engagement has become progressively more essential to healthcare organizations’ bottom line.  Amid the competitive landscape and caregiver shortages, organizations are faced with the challenge of vying for the most qualified candidates. 

The 2019 hurricane season is already off to a troubling start with Hurricane Dorian having caused an estimated $1.5 billion to $3 billion in insurance losses across the Caribbean. Even tropical storm Barry is estimated to have caused as much as $600 million in damage in the Southeast, including Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) updated its predictions for the current hurricane season, increasing expectations for an “above-normal” season.

Healthcare organizations have recognized that to keep pace with industry growth, regulatory requirements, and increased responsibilities, caregivers require the aid of innovation.  In the past, physicians and nurses had paper charts and labor-intensive processes.  Manual processes took away precious time needed for patient care.  Fortunately, caregivers today have the opportunity to tap into the entire patient history while in the room with the patient.  This is a huge improvement from even five years ago.  Many industry thought leaders have been paving the way, replacing paper processes and antiquated technologies with robust, mobile solutions that enable caregivers to improve patient care on-the-spot.  Whether it be behind the scenes helping the operations, or front and center in the patient room, technology is changing the game. 

New Jersey recently joined a handful of states seeking to increase regulation and oversight of nonbank mortgage servicers. The Mortgage Servicers Licensing Act went into effect just over a month ago and created new requirements for nonbank servicers doing business in the state.

As digital transformation evolves, agencies continue to migrate to the cloud to modernize operations, keep up with technological advances, and gain efficiencies.  Choosing the wrong vendor solution results in hidden costs and time delays.  Selecting the vendor that provides the most short-term gain balanced with long-term efficiencies is no small task.

At the core of its mission, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) strive to achieve the highest level of quality care for patients, thereby reducing waste and cutting related costs for hospitals.  Regardless of the approach, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) states an essential component for ensuring the best results is to embrace strategies that will support quality across the entire patient journey of care.  More specifically, improving communication and collaboration between points of treatment can remove roadblocks that prevent top-quality care.  The three biggest areas of concern for breakdowns in care happen to patients with chronic conditions, patients admitted to the Emergency Department, and patients transitioned to Long Term Care.  We have some insights on the strategies used by thriving ACOs that help resolve care coordination issues. 

In addition to federal regulations enforced by government agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), mortgage servicers are subject to state regulations within the states they conduct business. And in the case of New York, those regulations can be as demanding, if not more so, than federal requirements. Even servicers that don’t operate in New York must keep a close eye on proposed changes to state requirements that have the potential to impact or increase today’s burden of compliance.

Although foreclosure rates are frequently touted to be at historic lows, servicers must still prepare for quarterly upticks and unexpected market changes that can quickly drive up foreclosures episodically. Increases in delinquency and foreclosure rates are in various quarterly reports, in numerous geographic pockets, and more frequently in areas where natural disasters occur.  Despite improved economic factors, the industry still needs to consider interest rate volatility, stagnating housing starts, latent home appreciation, and rising consumer debt.  Let’s not leave out talk of a forthcoming recession.  Last but not least, our industry has changed since we last saw serious delinquency risk, making awareness and readiness more important than ever.