Health System & Hospital
Assurance and Advisory Services
The challenges facing hospitals and health systems are continuously changing. Today's healthcare providers are faced with a delicate balancing act. They must respond to the increased demand for service and mandates to cut costs, but still demonstrate an increased quality of care. In addition, momentum continues to build for increased transparency and communication to improve efficiencies and track quality. Each organization faces a unique set of challenges. Our long-standing commitment to the healthcare industry allows us to offer an outside perspective to help meet these challenges.
We fit your organization’s needs.
Freed Maxick & Battaglia is the right fit to serve your needs today and will continually strive to meet your future needs as they evolve. Our combination of local and national resources, extensive New York State healthcare experience and deep understanding of your needs will enable us to provide service at the high level you deserve and at a cost that is reasonable and fair.
Expanded services provide value as part of the audit.
Our healthcare audits are comprehensive in the nature of our scope and services. The differentiating factor here is that our value-added service offerings are included in our proposed fees and provide substantial, tangible value to our clients. Some of these deliverables will be built around the audit and include:
Issuance of our observations and recommendations on the financial, operational and internal controls of your organization, including commentary from each of the consultative specialists on the team.
- Involvement of subject matter experts on key risk and functional areas of the audit (i.e. reimbursement, technology, compliance, tax) and candid feedback from them on observations related to the engagement.
- Review of your current closing process and identification of potential to improve and/or accelerate this process in the future.
- Annual continuing education presentations on industry “hot topics” and matters of relevance to the healthcare industry.
Overview of our audit approach
All audits are not alike. There are definite differences in the degree of focus placed on controls and level of risk assessment, the utilization of industry and functional specialists in the audit process, the extent and nature of internal audit involvement, as well as the level of effort and degree of transaction testing, to name a few. At a time when audits are under even greater scrutiny by the public, you can be assured that our work is well planned, comprehensive and risk sensitive.
Our audit approach includes five key elements:
Tax Compliance Services
We have experience providing tax services in addressing such issues as tax exemption, corporate reorganizations, unrelated trade or business income tax, intermediate sanctions, partnerships, joint ventures, lobbying, tax-exempt bonds and employment tax. We have also successfully represented clients before the IRS on substantive issues on audits, and have successfully resolved client matters through IRS private ruling requests.
Other Select Health System & Hospital Advisory Services:
Our Upstate New York advisory practice is augmented by our national resource capabilities within RSM McGladrey, the 5th largest professional services firm in the US. With US revenues of over $1.2B, RSM McGladrey has 135 offices and over 8,000 employees in the US. Together with RSM, we have over 175 professionals dedicated nationally to providing healthcare related assurance, advisory and tax services to over 150 hospitals and hundreds of other healthcare organizations. Learn more about RSM McGladrey's healthcare services.
Regulatory Reporting & Recovery Services: Our healthcare consultants have extensive experience covering the regulatory, operational and financial aspects of the changing healthcare environment. Because we understand the federal, state and local financial requirements governing healthcare organizations, we not only help you comply with these requirements, but also provide recommendations to improve your operations. We provide a comprehensive range of regulatory services, including:
- Regulatory reporting
- Regulatory recovery
- Reopenings and appeals
- Prospective payment system (PPS) and critical access hospital (CAH) consulting
- DSH reimbursement and SSI eligibility
- Medicare bad debts
- Wage index reviews
Because our healthcare practice is highly focused on Medicare and Medicaid regulatory services, we have significant experience interpreting and applying related statutes, regulations, instructions and other regulatory guidance.
Sarbanes-Oxley Consulting: Healthcare organizations are under intense scrutiny from regulators and stakeholders alike. Financial reporting, cost reporting, investor relations, tax-exempt status and philanthropic activities all depend on the integrity of the organizations internal controls. The consequences of not maintaining a well designed and well functioning internal control structure can be devastating. We have an highly seasoned team of Sarbanes Oxley experts who have deep and practical experience in assisting integrated healthcare delivery systems, hospitals and other organizations with various aspects of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Click on the link to learn more.
Internal Audit Consulting: A well functioning internal audit organization is a key component of an organizations internal control structure. The internal audit team should lead the way in developing a comprehensive risk assessment and a cognitive, prioritized audit plan designed to effectively mitigate risk and preserve enterprise value and reputation. We work with many organizations to outsource or co-source their specialized internal audit needs. Click on the link to learn more.
Strategic Planning: When strategizing about the future, our healthcare clients want industry-specific knowledge and a facilitative approach to help them analyze and reach decisions. We assist our clients in setting achievable objectives and work with them to develop action-oriented plans to reach them. Our consulting team provides insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your organization, the barriers to productive practices and the changing market conditions and trends.
Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Status: PPS Hospital DRG and APC reimbursement from Medicare may not be the only option for a facility. Experienced Medicare reimbursement consultants perform feasibility studies on rural hospitals to determine if CAH status is a better option for your hospital. We assist management and the board of directors with understanding the requirements and implications of cost reimbursement methodology. We also help with the CAH application and survey preparation. Once CAH status is achieved, we often provide staff education, preparation of interim and year-end cost reports, and design assistance on procedures and processes to appropriate track and record your costs.
Physician Compensation Planning: We assist healthcare organizations to design and implement plans that meet their compensation goals and objectives. Our approach to compensation planning includes an assessment of the current system through satisfaction surveys and interviews with physicians and management. We review data on physician production, compensation and overall financial performance. Working with your internal resources, we help you develop a new physicians’ compensation model or make revisions to your existing compensation methodology. This service is designed to provide a solution that is fair and appropriate for both the physicians and your organization.
Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs is truly a unique firm. We have the distinction of operating an Alternative Practice Structure with RSM McGladrey, the 5th largest accounting firm in the US. Through our formal arrangement, we operate as RSM's offices in Western New York (Buffalo, Batavia and Rochester). So while some locally owned firms participate in "network alliances" with larger national firms, the clients of Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs have the advantage of something far different....and far superior. With Freed Maxick, you'll benefit from the bench strength and resources of a national firm, and receive the service delivery you expect from a local firm. And the best part? We're able to keep our independence and make decisions locally. These factors translate into world-class service at rates that are commensurate with the market we do business in.
Health System & Hospital Contact:
Freed Maxick & Battaglia, CPAs is Western and Upstate New York’s (NY) largest public accounting firm and a Top 100 firm in the U.S. Freed Maxick provides audit and consulting services to healthcare organizations in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany New York (NY) and serves Erie, PA.
Contact us Via the Web or Toll Free: 1-800-777-4885
