HA Desktop Overview


HA Desktop Overview

The Healthcare Almanac Desktop is part of the Healthcare Almanac product developed by Intech Computer Systems, Inc. The HA Desktop provides accurate, reliable and comparative CMS Medicare Cost Report information for your Healthcare clients. The HA Desktop is a source of Business Intelligence and Healthcare Analytics for healthcare consultants, hospital associations, internal auditors, cost report preparers, strategic planning, financial analysts and marketing organizations. The HA Desktop is focused on providing Business Intelligence and Healthcare Analytics for all CMS Medicare/Medicaid providers. The Business Intelligence is based on the wealth of provider information available for Healthcare Providers in market areas. The Healthcare Analytics includes KPIs, percents and ranking are included where appropriate. More Healthcare Analytics features are currently in development. The HA Desktop information covers 12 years of history.

  • The HA Desktop has provider data for Hospitals, SNFs, HHAs, ESRDs, Hospice, CMHCs, FQHCs and Clinics. The HA Desktop has three sections of information; Summary Section, Cost Report Section and POS - Provider of Service Section.
  • The HA Desktop provides detailed Medicare Cost Reports for CMS Medicare/Medicaid Providers for each section of information. The CMS Cost Report information is organized into Reference Reports by Worksheets, Custom and Analysis Reports to compare line items by provider and Compare Reports to compare five years of Cost Report line items.
  • The HA Desktop provides summary Medicare Cost Report information of selected line items in a Provider Profile reports, KPI reports and KPI Compare Reports. The HA Desktop also provides summary Medicare Cost Report information of Worksheet A, B and C and G/F. This Summary Information is similar to the HA Website Worksheets.
  • The HA Desktop information is available in reports for up to 12 years. The information is available in an easy to read reports that can be printed, saved at PDFs and saved to Word or Excel.
  • The HA Website relies on the HA Database for information stored as Microsoft SQL Data at a Microsoft Azure DataCenter. All of the data is taken from Medicare Cost Reports submitted to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. All the data is publicly available and HIPPA regulations do NOT apply.

Cost Report Section

CMS Medicare Cost Reports are based on CMS Form numbers. There are CMS Cost Report Procedures and Forms for Hospitals, SNFs, HHAs, ESRDs, Hospice, Clinics and CMHC. There are also old Cost Report forms for Hospital, SNF, ESRD and Hospice. These form numbers are listed on the HA Desktop menu. For example, the current CMS Hospital Form is 2552-2010 which is superseded by CMS Hospital form 2552-1996. There are Report Setup screens for each of the Cost Report forms. Each Cost Report form number has a Cost Report Setup screen. The Cost Report Section has a menu list of 7 Providers for current cost reports. The Cost Report section has 4 old form numbers that have been upgraded since 2010. In each setup screen, there is a Provider Selection screen of providers to select the providers for the report. In addition, there is also a Line Item Selection screen to select Line Items for the report. After selecting the report parameters, you can "Run" the report. After running the report, you can preview, print to printer, print to PDF, Export to Excel and Export to Word. The reports are saved and can be previewed or printed at a later date. There are additional tag selection list to help with tagging for States, Counties and Carriers.

The Cost Report Section also has four Cost Report Setup screens for 7 current CMS Cost Report Forms and 4 superseded CMS Cost Report forms.

  • Reference Report Setup is for the actual Cost Report by Worksheets. The report is printed in an easy to read format with all lines and columns for a CMS Cost Report. The user can select a calendar year for the CMS Cost Report by checking the selection box.. The user can select 1 to 8 Worksheets by checking the selection box. The user can enter a report description for the CMS Cost Report. The user can use the Provider Selection List to select Providers. The results of the query are saved in a table for the user.
  • Custom Report Setup is for the actual Cost Report by line items for any Worksheet. The report is printed in an easy to read format with all lines and columns for a CMS Cost Report. The user can select a calendar year for the CMS Cost Report by checking the selection box.. The user can enter a report description for the CMS Cost Report. The user can use the Provider Selection List to select Providers. The user can use the Line Selection List to select Line Items for the parts of the Cost Report. The results of the query are saved in a table for the user.
  • Analysis Report Setup is for the actual Cost Report by Provider. You can select a Cost Report line and many providers to analyze the differences in line items. The user can select a calendar year for the CMS Cost Report by checking the selection box.. The user can enter a report description for the CMS Cost Report. The user can use the Provider Selection List to select Providers. The user can use the Line Selection List to select Line Items for the parts of the Cost Report. The results of the query are saved in a table for the user.
  • Comparison Report Setup is the actual Cost Report with a 6 year comparison. In this report, the user selects the providers, data elements and two masters or time periods for comparison. You can select a Cost Report line and many providers to analyze the differences in line items. The user can enter a report description for the CMS Cost Report. The user can use the Compare Selection List to select Providers with activity in the last 6 years. The user can use the Line Selection List to select Line Items for the parts of the Cost Report. The results of the query are saved in a table for the user.

In summary, this is the general design of the HA Desktop Cost Report Section. The development of this Cost Report Section has required great effort. We believe that purchasing HA Desktop and HA Website should be based on the value you will receive from using the product. The time you would spend to get and process this information would be substantial. We hope this product will save you time and effort and will improve the quality and quantity of your work.

Summary Section

The Summary Section is created from the CMS Medicare Cost Reports. The Summary Section is the Business Intelligence/Healthcare Analytics part of Healthcare Almanac. The HA Website is similar to the Summary Section but the HA Website is mush faster for locating information about a hospital. The Summary Section is much better for comparing hospital financial information and KPIs. The Summary Section has based on the 5 major providers required to file CMS Medicare Cost Report. The Summary old and new CMS forms have been combined based on translating the old Worksheet Line numbers into new Worksheet Line Numbers. In the new CMS Forms, some Worksheet Line numbers were combined and some were split into two or more Worksheet Line Numbers. Every effort was make to make the best selection when a Worksheet line number was split. The Worksheet Line number conversion codes are in the old Worksheet Line table in each old year. CMS provided a Line Crosswalk for the old Hospital and SNF providers. There are Report Setup Screens for each type of provider with a tab for each type of report.

In general, the process for running a Summary Section report is very simple. The HA Database information for the Summary Section is the exact same information for the HA Website. In each report setup screen, you select the year for the Summary Section Report. The Compare Reports will have 6 years of history starting with the current year. There is a Provider Selection screen of providers to select/tag the providers for the report. In each report setup screen except the Profile Setup Screen, there is a KPI or Worksheet Line Selection screen to select the detail for the report. In each report, you can change the report title and add a report description for the top of the report. After selecting the report parameters, you "Run" the report. After running the report, you can preview, print to printer, print to PDF, Export to Excel and Export to Word. The reports are saved and can be previewed or printed at a later date. There are additional tag selection lists to help with tagging for States, Counties and Carriers.

  • Profile Report Setup is used to get a one page Summary Report for a provider. The HA Database information for the Profile Report is the exact same information for the HA Website Profile Screens. This report is created for the HA Website for the Largest 250 Providers and the 7 Largest States; California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. The report is printed in an easy to read format. You can select a calendar year for the Profile Report. You can use the Provider Selection List to find Providers to select. You can enter a report title for the report. You can enter a report description for the purpose of the report. When you run the report, you can Preview or Print the results. You can view the work table of the report to see the processing results. This worktable can be exported to Excel.
  • KPI Report Setup is used to get the Key Performance Indicators - KPIs for a providers. The HA Database information for the KPI Report is the exact same information for the HA Website KPI Calculations and Values. These KPIs can be compared to other providers. The KPIs are the Healthcare Analytics for the HA Desktop. A KPI Selection Table is used to select the KPIs for a report. The first group of KPIs are the classical KPI calculations for any business. The remaining KPI are specifically tailored to the Healthcare Industry. The amounts used to calculate the KPIs can also be selected. Many times, just the amount by itself is a KPI. After you select the Selected Year, the Providers and the KPIs, you are ready to run the report. You can enter a report title and report description for the KPI Report. When you run the report, you can Preview or Print the results. You can view the work table of the report to see the processing results. This worktable can be exported to Excel.
  • Compare Report Setup is used to get a 6 year compare of the Key Performance Indicators - KPIs for a providers. The HA Database information for the Compare Report is the exact same information for the HA Website KPI Calculations and Values Screens. These KPIs can be compared to other providers. The KPIs are the Healthcare Analytics for the HA product. A KPI Selection Tables is used to select the KPIs for a provider. The first group of KPIs are the classical KPI calculations for any business. The remaining KPI are specifically tailored to the Healthcare Industry. The amounts used to calculate the KPIs can also be selected. Many times, just the amount by itself is a KPI. After you select the Selected Year, the Providers and the KPIs, you are ready to run the report. You can enter a report title and report description for the KPI Report. When you run the report, you can Preview or Print the results. You can view the work table of the report to see the processing results. This worktable can be exported to Excel.
  • Financial Report Setup is used to get the Financial Worksheets (G or F) Lines in a summarized Worksheet Line. The HA Database information for the Financial Report is the exact same information for the HA Website Profile Financial Screens. These Financial Worksheet Lines can be compared to other providers. A Financial Selection Tables is used to select the Financial Worksheet Lines for a provider. The Financial Selection Table is designed to match the CMS Cost Report Forms. After you select the Selected Year, the Providers and the Financial Worksheet Lines, you are ready to run the report. You can enter a report title and report description for the Financial Report. When you run the report, you can Preview or Print the results. You can view the work table of the report to see the processing results. This worktable can be exported to Excel.
  • Department Report Setup is used to get the Provider Overhead and Revenue producing Departments in a Facility. The Departments have consistent Worksheet Line numbers on Worksheet A, B and C. The HA Database information for the Department Report is the exact same information for the HA Website Profile Worksheet Screens. These Department Worksheet Lines can be compared to other providers. A Department Selection Tables is used to select the Department Worksheet Lines for a provider. The Department Selection Table is designed to match the CMS Cost Report Forms for Worksheet A, B and C. After you select the Selected Year, the Providers and the Department Worksheet Lines, you are ready to run the report. You can enter a report title and report description for the Department Report. When you run the report, you can Preview or Print the results. You can view the work table of the report to see the processing results. This worktable can be exported to Excel.
  • Charges Report Setup is a future report that will be added for Worksheet C to Compare Charges and Department Cost for the revenue producing departments.

In summary, this is the general design of the HA Desktop Summary Section. The development of this Summary Section has required great effort. We believe that purchasing HA Desktop and HA Website should be based on the value you will receive from using the product. The time you would spend to create and process this information would be substantial. We hope this product will save you time and effort and will improve the quality and quantity of your work.

POS Section - Provider of Service

Healthcare Almanac has a directory of healthcare providers based on publicly available information. The almanac uses information from the Provider of Service file obtained directly from the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Service. The POS file contains information on the following types of providers

  • Hospitals
  • Skilled Nursing Facilities and Nursing Facilities
  • Home Health Agency
  • End Stage Renal Disease
  • Hospice
  • Ambulatory Surgery Centers
  • Rehabilitation Centers
  • Rural Clinics
  • Therapy Facilities
  • Mental Health Facilities
  • Labs


For more information, please contact:

Robert Neal, CPA
Healthcare Almanac
Lake Worth, FL 33463
Office 561-594-7551
Email robeneal@halmanac.com