Course catalogue

The HFMA Business of Health Care® is a comprehensive online program that presents an overview of today’s healthcare environment and highlights the shift in healthcare service delivery and evolving payment models. Understand how your decisions impact the delivery of quality care with HFMA's Business of Health Care® online program. No matter your role in healthcare, this course is designed to provide essential context around the business fundamentals of pricing, cost, revenue, payment and delivery models. Once you complete this online program, you will have the knowledge to work more effectively toward the shared goals of improving patient health and organizational sustainability. 

Learning Objectives

After this program, you'll be able to: 

• Identify the current trends of healthcare delivery models in the US and determine the impact of healthcare reform on healthcare delivery and payment
• Determine an organization's financial health using financial performance ratios, key financial statements, and financial analysis tools
• Describe how financial strategic planning influences budgeting, costs, and pricing for healthcare services Identify the components of the revenue cycle, including patient engagement, billing, and collections
• Understand new metrics for future payment models, including quality indicators and patient satisfaction scores
• Describe new models for collaboration among healthcare providers, physicians, and health plans Define the trend toward population health in future healthcare delivery models 

CPE Award Amount: 14.0

Program Level: Intermediate

Program Prerequisite: General knowledge of accounting and finance concepts, including the ability to recognize elements of financial statements, accrual and cash accounting, basic budgeting, and the management of financial resources.

Recommended Experience: At least one year of experience in healthcare industry, as well as familiarity with general accounting and financial concepts.

Advanced Preparation: None

Instructional Method: Self-Study

Delivery Method: QAS Self-Study

Field of Study & Topic in hours: 14.0 Specialized Knowledge

Content last revised: February 2026

CPE Sponsor- Healthcare Financial Management Association is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.

For more information regarding refund policies, as well as any program concerns, please contact our offices at 800.252.4362 or, inquiry@hfma.org.

This course explains the basics of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and what you need to consider when handling patients' Protected Health Information (PHI). It also outlines the rights that patients have under HIPAA.

Learning Objectives

• Identify the origins of the Privacy Rule.
• Define the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its impact on HIPAA.
• Define protected and non-protected health information.
• Identify general protections afforded to patients under the Privacy Rule.
• Identify individuals affected by the Privacy Rule.
• Recognize the balance that the Privacy Rule attempts to achieve.

Reactive documentation costs health systems millions and leaves the clinical and revenue cycle teams on the defensive, chasing errors and missing information instead of focusing on patient care and financial stability! Imagine a different reality. What if your hospital system could get ahead of the curve, capturing accurate and complete documentation at the point of care? This is proactive documentation – and it's the key to unlocking significant revenue and empowering your teams. This webinar will equip you with actionable strategies to drive and protect your health system’s revenue through the power of proactive documentation. Learn how to shift from a reactive, error-prone approach to a proactive, accurate, and financially sound strategy.

Original Live Webinar Date: June 3, 2025

• Describe the financial benefits of proactive documentation
• Describe actionable strategies to implement a solid proactive methodology in your organization
• Share insights into the technologies that enable proactive documentation success
• Summarize key metrics to track the impact of your proactive initiatives

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For today's healthcare providers, financial clarity is no longer a luxury — it's a necessity. This session explores how different roles in finance, operations and revenue cycle can use claims data and analytics to prevent denials upstream, accelerate cash flow and strengthen overall financial performance. We'll walk through real examples of how billers, analysts, revenue cycle leaders and executives interpret and act on claims data differently. Attendees will learn how to identify denial patterns, monitor payer performance and use financial insights to guide both day-to-day operations and long-term planning. Whether you're reconciling payments or forecasting revenue, this webinar will help you use claims intelligence in your role.

Original Live Webinar Date: October 23, 2025

• Use claims data to reduce denials and improve reimbursement in your role
• Identify payer trends and denial patterns before they impact your bottom line
• Apply claims intelligence to boost revenue

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Missed the HFMA Annual Conference 2025? This webinar will feature content from a top rated session at the conference. With payers' digital transformation adding significant pressure to an already demanding payment landscape, today’s hospital revenue cycle leaders are racing to strengthen competencies in several core areas. Learn how peers are bridging these gaps and successfully leading cross-functional teams, championing innovation while navigating both rapid change management and complex payer relations.

Original Live Webinar Date: September 30, 2025

• Recognize key revenue cycle trends and the associated impact on leadership skills and competency needs.
• Identify actionable leadership strategies for breaking down communication silos that impede clinical denials improvement.
• Gain insight and practical ideas on how to lead teams through the rapid changes brought about by emerging tech and complex payer relations.

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This webinar will explore the current hospital laboratory market, including the number of and multiples for laboratory sales, laboratory management outsourcing and joint ventures. The various factors driving the market will be addressed. The program will provide recommendations on how to best assess the going forward strategies for your lab, including continuing to run your own lab or undertaking a third-party transaction. The transaction process and timeframe will be discussed as well as key transaction business, operational and legal issues.

Original Live Webinar Date: December 10, 2024

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Health systems and hospitals are under growing pressure to optimize one of their largest expenses, provider compensation, while still meeting patient demand, regulatory requirements and workforce expectations. In this session, we’ll examine how leading healthcare organizations are rethinking compensation data as a strategic tool for improving performance across their provider teams and increasing ROI.

Original Live Webinar Date: October 21, 2025

• Understand how to turn your compensation data into a workforce planning asset that supports systemwide financial goals
• Explore how AI and automation are transforming compensation management, from productivity to compliance
• Gain practical insights from hospitals that have modernized their approach to provider payments, driving stronger alignment, satisfaction and ROI

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Missed the HFMA Annual Conference 2025? This webinar will feature content from a top rated session at the conference. In today’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape, providers often find themselves fighting an uphill battle in payer negotiations. Although it may appear payers have the upper hand, providers have an arsenal of overlooked strategies and tools at their disposal due to the CMS Transparency in Coverage Rule. Newly released price transparency data is reshaping the landscape of healthcare negotiations and materially impacting the financial dynamics between insurers and healthcare institutions. In this webinar, attendees will review a robust 12-month planning process designed to arm providers with all key milestones and necessary steps needed to negotiate with payers from a position of strength. Attendees will also learn how to derive powerful insights with the Trek Price Transparency Platform and understand the many additional applications the data can be used for, including competitor benchmarking, market positioning, and intelligence for growth and expansion.

Original Live Webinar Date: September 25, 2025

• Describe common pitfalls providers should avoid that diminish their negotiating leverage, and the required strategic shifts required to negotiate from a position of power
• Share the 12-month payer negotiation process broken down by six crucial milestones
• Understand how new price transparency data is reshaping financial dynamics between payers and healthcare institutions and how providers can use it to improve reimbursement rates and strengthen service line performance.

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Healthcare executives are facing unprecedented challenges with Medicare Advantage (MA) Payors. MA realization rates are pennies on the dollar, while administrative burdens continue to balloon. This webinar brings together healthcare leaders to discuss best practices to navigating Medicare’s "new normal." We will share insights on how leading systems are approaching MA negotiations, contract terminations, and care disruptions. Original Live Webinar Date: May 29, 2025

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