Hospital executives in Georgia taking financial classes
Hoping that education will help them keep their hospitals open, rural hospital executives and board members in Georgia are going back to school.
In 2018, the Georgia General Assembly implemented a training requirement for rural hospital executives, board members, and hospital authority members. The group, from 59 rural hospitals across the state, must complete 8 hours of education by the end of 2020.
Curriculum topics include:
- Governance, liability, and accountability
- Responsibility to regulatory agencies and legal considerations
- Finances and fiduciary responsibility
- Compliance
- Ethics
- Continuum of care
- Strategic planning and accountability
- Grants
Hospitals that do not comply with the training requirements will be subject to a fine and ineligible for a tax credit. Lawmakers hope the training will prevent rural hospitals from stop providing types of care or closing. As of Aug. 23, at least seven rural hospitals had stopped providing inpatient care since 2010, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
Source: Becker's Hospital Review