Kaufman Hall co-founder and Chair Ken Kaufman and Senior Vice President Lisa Goldstein—formerly a longtime not-for-profit hospital ratings analyst for Moody’s—recently explored the evolving perspectives of healthcare leaders on how to best balance credit ratings with other key strategic imperatives, including the rising importance of health equity

As organizations consider how to respond to rising rates, one option is introducing capital structure risk: using floating rate products, put bonds, or other structures that move debt to a lower cost point on the yield curve in exchange for assuming risk.

The first month of 2022 was devastating for hospitals and health systems nationwide as they were hit full force by the Omicron tidal wave. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations peaked at...

For more than a decade, hospitals, payers, and other healthcare stakeholders have experimented with moving healthcare payment from fee-for-service, volume-based contracts to arrangements that reward providers for the value of the care they provide.

Almost everything that not-for-profit hospital ratings analysts evaluate can be measured, quantified, and databased. Except for one: governance.

Hospitals and health systems are feeling the full effects of the Great Resignation as labor expenses climb despite lower staffing levels. As a result, hospitals are paying higher wages to compete for qualified personnel. Read the Winter 2022 Kaufman Hall Report for strategies for improving recruitment and retention.

One of the COVID pandemic’s most bitter lessons has been the complete inadequacy and dysfunction of the U.S. public health system, if the word “system” can even be applied.

Healthcare issuance has been relatively modest over the past several weeks, with a mix of tax-exempt and taxable transactions across the credit curve. Transactions continue to get done...

In a new Hospital Finance podcast episode, Kaufman Hall SVP, Erik Swanson, discusses the results of the January 2022 National Hospital Flash Report that looks at the financial performance of hospitals.

“Will I be downgraded if my organization’s margins decline because I am investing for its future?” This is one of the most common questions that provider organizations ask ratings...

Artificial intelligence is a new idea that even data experts don’t fully understand. It requires a new view of the role of healthcare in improving health and preventing disease.

As the COVID crisis moderates, the question for most organizations is whether to maintain lines of credit. The answer requires clarity on the purpose of these facilities today.