The Latest
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'We feel bullish': Payers look ahead to 2021
Top execs at the biggest commercial insurers outlined shifting strategic priorities and growth opportunities in light of the COVID-19 recession at Morgan Stanley's annual healthcare conference this week.
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Fewer than half of healthcare institutions met national cybersecurity standards last year
NIST standards for managing and protecting businesses against cyber attacks include five key tenets: identify, protect, detect, respond and recover. CynergisTek found declines among its clients in all but one of those in 2019.
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[Photograph]. Retrieved from Regional Health Command Atlantic.
In COVID-19's wake, hospitals look to hybrid model with in-person, virtual care on equal footing
Comments throughout the AHA conference reflected a clear agreement that not only is telehealth here to stay, but it's also going to be at the heart of care delivery going forward.
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Medical services costs for telehealth could swell to $106B by 2023, vendor predicts
Doximity's report estimates about 20% of all medical visits will be conducted virtually this year, and found particular interest in virtual care from the chronically ill population.
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Permission granted by Cigna
Cigna rebrands health services division, including Express Scripts, as Evernorth
The move is an evolution for the Cigna-Express Scripts tie-up completed in late 2018, as the combined entity looks to spur more interest in its products from third parties.
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Uninsured rate rose to 9.2% in US last year, pre-COVID-19 recession
The high cost of U.S. healthcare continues to stress the country's economic outlook overall. About 7.7 million more Americans would be considered low-income if their medical bills were factored in, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
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OCR settles with 5 more providers on HIPAA right of access violations
Three of the providers failed to give the patient medical records access until after a second complaint to the HHS Office of Civil Rights was submitted and validated.
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CMS innovation agency to launch risk-based model for dual eligibles
Along with the dual-eligible demonstration, CMMI head Brad Smith said Tuesday industry could expect some additional models to come out of the pipeline in the next few months.
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In deal with Apple, CVS clients get temporary access to new fitness feature
CVS CEO Larry Merlo also gave an update at Morgan Stanley's annual healthcare conference on its conversion of retail locations to HealthHUBs.
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CMS kills controversial Medicaid fiscal accountability rule
The rule proposed last year would have increased federal oversight of how states fund their Medicaid programs and potentially resulted in funding cuts for the cash-strapped program. Providers strongly opposed it.
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Hospital visits rebound, but some patients still need convincing
"Hospitals have managed infectious diseases since our inceptions — so we're experts at it," UW Health CEO Alan Kaplan said at an AHA conference this week, where sustaining telehealth momentum was also a hot topic.
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CMS to ax inpatient data in MA risk scoring by 2022
The proposed changes should be a net positive for Medicare Advantage players, resulting in a 0.25% rise in risk scores.
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FTC urges Texas regulators to block merger under COPA
The agency was blistering in its comments, warning regulators the deal would result in serious competitive and consumer harm in the form of higher prices, lower quality and diminished access to care and innovation.
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Brian Tucker / Healthcare Dive
ACOs in Medicare Shared Savings Program post third year of savings
But the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations said only 5% of eligible ACOs took CMS’ offer on the Pathways to Success program structure early and instead chose to remain under the previous rules.
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Samantha Liss for Healthcare Dive
Centene added 1.1M members since March amid COVID-19 job losses
The payer also announced a partnership with Samsung to give 13,000 smartphones to patients in rural and underserved areas to help increase access to virtual care.
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Naomi Eide/Healthcare Dive
OSHA fines 3 hospital systems for PPE violations
Bergen New Bridge Medical Center said Monday afternoon it had not received the OSHA report but will "respond accordingly" when it does. The other two hospitals have not responded to requests for comment.
UPDATED: Sept. 15, 2020 at 10:12 a.m. -
White House
Trump releases long-awaited drug pricing order, but its effects are likely far off
The White House disclosed details of an order to cut Medicare prices to international rates, but the proposed plan will be difficult to carry out and could take months to enact.
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3 key takeaways from HCA, Tenet's latest public comments
Executives at some of the nation's largest health systems offered insights into volumes, demand trends and possible portfolio plays this week as providers continue grappling with COVID-19.
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Courtesy of Fitbit
Fitbit receives FDA clearance for ECG app
The wearables giant has trailed rivals in product development and approval in the heart rhythm tracking arena. The nod brings it up to speed with Apple and Samsung.
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Samantha Liss for Healthcare Dive
Centene adds ACA offerings in 400 new counties, 2 new states for 2021
Despite the challenges and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, the payer with the largest presence in the exchanges will now be in New Mexico and Michigan as well.
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Employers struggling to calculate 2021 medical cost trends due to COVID-19: Credit Suisse
A survey run by the financial services firm found 60% of employers are trying to adjust 2020 claims data to normalize for the pandemic's effects while calculating expected medical cost trend next year.
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Physician stress, burnout, loneliness worsening amid pandemic, Medscape finds
While more than half of U.S. physicians said they aren't considering switching careers, some 25% said they now plan to retire earlier than expected due to the COVID-19 crisis.
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OIG says $2.6B paid out under MA risk adjustment with scant encounter data
The watchdog's analysis also found health risk assessments were taking place at a patient's home, and were often conducted by providers contracted by the health plan instead of their actual physician.
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West Virginia hospital to pay $50M to settle False Claims Act violations
DOJ alleges Wheeling Hospital paid physicians well above market value for referring patients to the facility — in some cases over $1 million a year — from 2007 to 2020, defrauding Medicare of tens of millions of dollars.
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Targeted cyberattacks on telehealth vendors skyrocketed along with adoption, report finds
A new analysis from SecurityScorecard and DarkOwl found security alerts at telehealth vendors during COVID-19 jumped 30% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
