Providers now required to share greater scope of patient data

The Latest

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  Deep Dive

  How tight nursing home capacity is bottlenecking hospital operations

  Large hospital operators reported increasing lengths of stay and difficulties discharging patients in the first half of 2022. The answer to why lies in a perennially stressed post-acute care chassis driven to the brink by COVID-19.

  Hospitals

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  Sponsored by Zelis

  Optimizing your provider network

  Organizations that strategically manage and engage their networks will see substantial results in the form of both revenue and growth. 

  Health IT

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  Deep Dive

  Medtech companies shift strategy as more orthopedic procedures move to ambulatory surgical centers

  Stryker, J&J and other device companies are building out teams focused on ASCs. 

  Hospitals

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  SCOTUS won’t hear challenge to health worker vaccine mandate

  In January, the high court upheld the CMS rule mandating that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 at medical facilities that receive federal funding.

  Hospitals

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  CommonSpirit Health says it experienced ‘IT security incident’ in multiple regions

  Details are still emerging on the incident, which is impacting multiple divisions of the 140-hospital system and causing patient procedures to be rescheduled in some areas.

  Hospitals

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  Trinity Health posts $1.4 billion net loss in 2022 as contract labor costs hit ‘unprecedented highs’

  The Michigan-based system's contract labor costs ballooned 123% compared to the prior year as it struggled with labor shortages.

  Hospitals

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  Safety net hospital operator files for bankruptcy protection

  Expenses for contract labor and medical supplies have skyrocketed at Pipeline, according to its bankruptcy filing.

  Hospitals

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  Telehealth use rose overall in July, report finds

  Telehealth use increased in the West, Midwest and South in July while it fell in the Northeast, according to Fair Health’s monthly telehealth data out Monday.

  Health IT

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  Q&A

  How a former Walgreens exec is tackling health equity at Michigan’s largest health system

  Carlos Cubia has been charged with tackling inequity both within Beaumont-Spectrum Health and the community it serves. Here’s what he’s doing first. 

  Hospitals

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  Done deal: UnitedHealth completes $13B Change Healthcare buy

  It doesn’t appear the DOJ will challenge the deal in appellate court, though not appealing is viewed as a major setback for the agency, antitrust legal experts told Healthcare Dive.

  Hospitals

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  Hospitals struggle with evacuations, lack of water in Hurricane Ian’s wake

  Thousands of nursing home and hospital patients have been moved to other facilities as recovery efforts continued Sunday.

  Hospitals

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  Medicare Advantage premiums set to drop again next year

  Enrollment in the popular plans is expected to continue to grow in 2023, CMS predicts.

  Payer

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  DOJ silent on appeal as UnitedHealth-Change deal close looms

  A closed deal would be a major setback for the DOJ, which lost another merger case this year, antitrust legal experts told Healthcare Dive.

  Updated Oct. 3, 2022

  Hospitals

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  Centene’s string of settlements: $14M deal reached in Massachusetts

  The multimillion-dollar deal is the latest settlement the payer has reached over allegations it overcharged for prescription drugs and services.

  Payer

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  Mass General Brigham’s plan to slash millions in costs gets green light

  The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission required the state’s largest health system to submit to a cost-cutting plan, a first for the state board.

  Hospitals

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  Almost half of Americans have inadequate healthcare coverage, survey finds

  Even as the uninsured rate has dipped to a record low, having coverage is not enough to protect consumers from the high-cost of care, Commonwealth Fund researchers found.

  Hospitals

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  Medicare Part B premium to drop for first time in a decade, Biden says

  The reduction is tied to lower-than-expected spending for the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.

  Payer

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  Digital pathology picking up among US providers, vendors, report finds

  Digital pathology technologies, already popular in Europe, are primed for growth in the U.S., according to a report from KLAS research.

  Hospitals

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  Positive Alzheimer’s trial results raise hopes for other experimental drugs

  Expectations are now higher for amyloid-clearing drugs after lecanemab showed it can slow the disease’s progression in a large late-stage clinical trial.

  Hospitals

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  Stopgap Senate bill advances, but leaves COVID-19 funding behind

  The bill cuts funding for COVID-19 and monkeypox aid but extends two rural hospital programs.

  Government

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  Hospitals altered charity care policies during pandemic, study shows

  Many made positive changes, but vague and unpublicized eligibility criteria were also common, research published in JAMA Network Open found.

  Hospitals

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  In surprise result, Alzheimer’s drug shows benefit in large trial

  Eisai and Biogen said the drug, called lecanemab, met all of its goals in the Phase 3 study. The data are a significant finding and provide stronger support for a much-debated hypothesis for treating Alzheimer’s.

  Updated Sept. 27, 2022

  Medical Groups

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  AHA asks HHS to delay Oct. 6 deadline for information blocking compliance

  Health groups must start sharing health information electronically as regulators seek to make it easier for consumers to access their health data. But groups warn they’re not prepared to meet the deadline.

  Hospitals

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  Nebraska awards Medicaid managed care contracts to 3 insurers

  The health plans, selected from a field of five, will receive five-year contracts.

  Payer

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  NYT investigation finds Providence pressured poor patients to pay

  The report raises questions about how much charity care Providence provides. Last year, the health system spent less than 1% of its expenses on free or reduced care for patients.

  Hospitals

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  Moody’s downgrades Envision, citing high bankruptcy risk

  The private equity-owned physician staffing firm faces a deteriorating operating performance that could deplete its cash by the end of 2023, the rating agency warned.

  Payer

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