This series on "Healthcare Finance: Drivers and Strategies to Improve Performance" is edited by Dr. Robert Weech-Maldonado and Dr. Nancy Borkowski from University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, AL, USA.

Robert Weech-Maldonado, PhD, MBA
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, AL, USA

Dr. Weech-Maldonado is Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at UAB. He is also Senior Scientist of the UAB’s Senior Scientist of the UAB’s Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education, the Integrative Center for Aging Research, and the Minority Health & Health Equity Research Center. He is an organizational theorist with expertise in long-term care, patient experiences with care, health disparities, and cultural competency.

Dr. Weech-Maldonado has served as principal investigator and co-investigator in projects funded by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Science Foundation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund. He is also Fellow of the Gerontological Society of American (GSA), and serves as Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Hospital Administration and Health Policy.

After receiving his Ph.D. from Temple University in 1998, Dr. Weech-Maldonado assumed faculty appointments at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Florida, prior to joining the UAB faculty in 2008.

Nancy Borkowski, DBA, CPA, FACHE, FHFMA
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, AL, USA

Dr. Borkowski is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at UAB. She received her DBA with specializations in health services administration and accounting from Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Borkowski has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She is a certified public accountant, board certified in health management, and a Fellow of both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Healthcare Financial Management Association. Dr. Borkowski is a nationally recognized author with the first edition of her book Organizational Behavior in Health Care being referred to as “one of the most significant advances in the field of health services administration.”

Dr. Borkowski’s teaching and research interests are leadership, organizational behavior, and strategic management. She holds a secondary appointment in UAB’s School of Nursing and is a Senior Scientist in UAB’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science. In addition, Dr. Borkowski held a Visiting Professor appointment in the School of Health Services and Management at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China from 2012 to 2020.

After receiving her DBA from Nova Southeastern University in 2000, Dr. Borkowski assumed faculty appointments at St. Thomas University (Miami, FL) and Florida International University, prior to joining the UAB faculty in 2014.

Series outline:

1. Editorial on Healthcare Finance: Drivers and Strategies to Improve Performance
2. Factors Associated with Federally Qualified Health Center Financial Performance
3. Trends in Health Care Bankruptcy: A 10 Year Retrospective
4. The Association Between the Use of Intensivists and the Efficiency of Care Provided by the Hospital’s ICU
5. Financial Implications of Building a Culturally Competent Organization: Cost of Engaging Vulnerable Populations
6. Exploration of Contract Nurses and Nursing Home Financial Performance
7. Crunching the Numbers: EHR Implementation Enhances Financial Performance in Under Resourced (High Medicaid) Nursing Homes
8. The Application of the Altman Z-score to Federally Qualified Health Centers
9. The Association Between Alzheimer’s Disease Special Care Units’ Designation and Nursing Homes Financial Performance
10. Hospice Quality of Care and Financial Performance
11. The Relationship Between Nurse and Therapy Staffing Levels and the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) among Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) during the COVID-19 Pandemic
12. Rural vs. Urban - Differences in Financial Performance of Nursing Homes
13. Does Investment in Administrators Yield Better Hospital Profitability?
14. The Relationship Between State Level Funding, Designated Trauma Centers, and Trauma Related Mortality
15. The Effect of Medicaid Expansion on Hospitals Allowance for Bad Debt

Disclosure:
The series " Healthcare Finance: Drivers and Strategies to Improve Performance " is commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Hospital Management and Health Policy without any sponsorship or funding. Dr. Robert Weech-Maldonado and Dr. Nancy Borkowski are serving as the unpaid Guest Editors for the series. Dr. Robert Weech-Maldonado serves as an unpaid editorial board member of Journal of Hospital Management and Health Policy from March 2023 to February 2025.