Deep Dive: Page 2

Industry insights from our journalists


  • Image attribution tooltip
    FDA
    Image attribution tooltip

    5 steps to navigate the FDA’s new lab developed test rule

    Laboratories face a series of upcoming deadlines to comply with stricter FDA oversight of in-house tests. Here are five strategies labs can take to be ready.

    Susan Kelly • Oct. 28, 2024
  • A stage at HLTH 2024.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Emily Olsen/Healthcare Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    Tech companies pitch AI platforms for healthcare, outline plans for responsible rollout

    Google, Microsoft and GE Healthcare say they’ll power the next wave of AI advancement. But executives are split on how to offer the tools to providers responsibly — and whether all clinicians are equally ready for them.

    Susanna Vogel • Oct. 28, 2024
  • Two people dressed in business attire look at a large monitor with four dived screens displayed, and one person points with their hand.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Daniel Karmann/Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP

    Image attribution tooltip

    The number of AI medical devices has spiked in the past decade

    The FDA has authorized nearly 1,000 medical devices with artificial intelligence features as companies including GE Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers build out their AI efforts.

    Elise Reuter and Jasmine Ye Han • Oct. 9, 2024
  • People walk past an entrance to a hospital in Chicago.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Scott Olson/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    4 steps to minimize the threat of legacy medical devices

    Older medical devices with unsupported software pose cybersecurity threats that regulators and industry are struggling to solve. Here are four steps experts say can help mitigate risks.

    Ricky Zipp • Sept. 23, 2024
  • Wall Street sign with U.S. flags in background
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Medicaid overtakes Medicare Advantage as health insurers’ bogeyman in Q2

    Despite challenges in Medicaid and MA, major insurers still posted large earnings in the second quarter — many helped by health services divisions.

    Rebecca Pifer • Aug. 15, 2024
  • Loper decision ending Chevron deference doctrine
    Image attribution tooltip
    Anna Moneymaker / Staff via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    FDA’s lab developed test rule could be first check on agency’s power post-Chevron

    The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron doctrine would make it easier to challenge agency regulations, such as the LDT final rule.

    Susan Kelly and Elise Reuter • July 11, 2024
  • Two people are seen inside a Medicare Services office.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Humana and CVS are downsizing their Medicare Advantage plans for 2025. Which insurers could benefit?

    Hundreds of thousands of seniors could switch plans during next year’s open enrollment, depending on how drastically the MA market giants slash benefits in an attempt to improve profits.

    Rebecca Pifer • Updated June 10, 2024
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Medicare Advantage unrest, Change Healthcare fallout and more big takeaways from insurers’ Q1

    All major payers saw elevated utilization but only an unprepared few struggled with the trend, the Change Healthcare cyberattack caused minimal financial fallout and a new D-SNP rule opens the door to a Medicare growth opportunity.

    Rebecca Pifer • May 13, 2024
  • Ferguson and Holyoak join FTC
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Antitrust agencies are relying on consumers to report anticompetitive behavior. That trust might be misplaced.

    Regulators want consumers to flag business practices harming market health in the healthcare sector, which could result in a tsunami of new tips — for good and ill, according to experts.

    Rebecca Pifer • May 6, 2024
  • protestors hold up signs advocating for universal healthcare
    Image attribution tooltip
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    California, Oregon eye universal health coverage

    The states' proposals, which resemble Medicare for All, need approval from the federal government and face pushback from major health systems and insurers.

    John Canham-Clyne • April 24, 2024
  • Carney Hospital
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Steward bankruptcy likely as massive debt remains, with few options left

    Steward Health Care’s forbearance period ends in less than 15 days. Analysts say this time, creditors are unlikely to extend the embattled company another lifeline.

    Susanna Vogel • April 16, 2024
  • Doctor in the radiology control room and looking at a medical scan
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Change cyberattack serves as wake-up call for healthcare cybersecurity

    The outage shows why health systems need to plan for inevitable cyberattacks, evaluating risks and putting operational backups in place, experts say.

    Emily Olsen • April 4, 2024
  • A crowd of conferencegoers under banners emblazoned with the HIMSS24 logo.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by HIMSS
    Image attribution tooltip

    ‘As fast as possible but no faster than is safe’: Hospitals, tech companies confront AI governance

    Regulators seeking to erect guardrails around AI are facing a Sisyphean task, experts said at HIMSS. How do you oversee something that is constantly changing?

    Rebecca Pifer • March 18, 2024
  • Cigna's logo is seen on a door.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Julia Rendleman via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Why Cigna is capping cost increases for pricey GLP-1 weight loss drugs

    The move — the first of its kind — comes as pharmacy benefit managers continue to try to prove their value to clients, and shows how major players are shoring up to meet sky-high GLP-1 demand.

    Rebecca Pifer • March 8, 2024
  • Stethoscope lying on top of dollar bills
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Insurers brace for continued Medicare Advantage medical costs

    The big question coming out of the health insurance earnings season is how much elevated utilization among seniors is carrying over into 2024.

    Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 20, 2024
  • A stethoscope rests on a medical insurance claim form.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Trends shaping the business of health insurance in 2024

    The uninsured rate will rise. Medicare Advantage enrollment will swell, with less instability. Major pharmacy benefit managers will launch more transparent products. Here’s what industry watchers are expecting in 2024.

    Rebecca Pifer • Jan. 16, 2024
  • A busy corridor at a hospital.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Key hospital and provider trends in 2024

    As slim operating margins continue to challenge hospitals, experts predict providers will trim unnecessary expenses and focus on strategic labor investments.

    Susanna Vogel • Jan. 10, 2024
  • A healthcare worker in blue scrubs holds a tablet in a clinical setting
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Healthcare technology trends to watch in 2024

    Experts discuss their predictions for healthcare industry trends, including investment and consolidation in digital health, adoption of artificial intelligence and improving cybersecurity in healthcare in 2024.

    Emily Olsen • Jan. 8, 2024
  • ftc federal trade commission
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    A Cigna-Humana merger could face a long regulatory delay. But it might get approved.

    As rumors swirl that the two major health insurers are inching toward a merger, experts say antitrust agencies have grounds to block a deal — but may not be successful.

    Rebecca Pifer • Dec. 4, 2023
  • Shot of a female nurse looking stressed while sitting on a staircase stock photo
    Image attribution tooltip

    iStock.com/PeopleImages

    Image attribution tooltip

    Where are all the nurses? Hospitals, advocates disagree on crisis

    Hospitals and nursing unions clash on what’s driving sluggish application rates for open registered nurse positions — a lack of qualified candidates or a lack of interest.

    Susanna Vogel • Nov. 21, 2023
  • Hospital workers evacuate a patient from NYU Langone Medical Center during Hurricane Sandy the evening of October 29, 2012 in New York City.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Michael Heiman / Staff via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Preparing for the future: Hospital climate resilience plans challenged by cost, uncertainty

    As extreme weather events caused by climate change ramp up in frequency, hospitals are struggling with financial and data challenges in disaster planning.

    Emily Olsen • Nov. 7, 2023
  • Blue Shield of California's logo above the entrance to its headquarters.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Eric Risberg/AP

    Image attribution tooltip

    Blue Shield of California is promising a simpler, cheaper pharmacy benefits model. Can it deliver?

    Big questions hang over the California health insurer's bold experiment — having five vendors carry out PBM functions previously performed by one — that could threaten BSCA's expected savings.

    Rebecca Pifer • Updated Oct. 26, 2023
  • The HLTH logo on a massive screen at the entrance hall to the convention.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Rebecca Pifer/Healthcare Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    GLP-1s for weight loss leave employers in a bind over coverage

    Employers face a difficult decision over whether to cover pricey weight loss drugs that pits the health and wellbeing of their employees against the health of their bottom line.

    Rebecca Pifer • Oct. 13, 2023
  • Closeup shot of an unrecognizable doctor using a digital tablet.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Software overload could boost digital health M&A

    Buyers of digital health products are overwhelmed with point solutions, which could accelerate merger and acquisition activity in a slowed funding environment, experts say.

    Emily Olsen • Aug. 29, 2023
  • A stethoscope rests on a medical insurance claim form.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Will the Biden administration’s short-term plan rule increase the uninsured rate?

    Free-market advocates argue proposed restrictions on short-term plans will leave consumers without coverage. Health policy researchers aren’t so sure.

    Rebecca Pifer • Aug. 14, 2023