Finance

ACO trade groups says Medicare program saved $859M in 2016

The program, which includes 561 accountable care organizations and 10.5 million patients, saved more than $660 million between 2013 and 2016 after bonuses paid to providers for meeting spending and quality targets.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 13, 2018
Investors still fired up about HIT despite valuation worries

Care management, home health and retail clinics are also on healthcare investors' minds, according to a KPMG-Leavitt Partners survey.

By Meg Bryant • Dec. 12, 2018
Partners HealthCare reports 489% jump in FY18 operating income

A drop in insurance revenue contributed to a 0.5% dip in operating revenue for the Boston-based nonprofit health system.

By Meg Bryant • Dec. 11, 2018
Trinity Health's Illinois hospital purchase helps drive revenues

The health system also announced CEO Richard Gilfillan will step down in June. He'll be replaced by current COO Michael Slubowski.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 11, 2018
Middle-income Americans paying more for health insurance

Americans in the South are hardest hit — spending a bigger share of their income on healthcare than other parts of the country.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 10, 2018
Virtual visits led to uptick in overall visits at Massachusetts ACO, study shows

Participants tended to be younger, white and commercially insured, raising concerns that virtual visit programs could increase disparities in access to care.

By Meg Bryant • Dec. 07, 2018
National health spending slowed for 2nd straight year, at $3.5T

The spending growth rate, which fell to 3.9% in 2017 from 4.6% in 2016, was primarily held back by slowdowns in use of goods and services, with fewer people insured and getting care.

By Tony Abraham • Dec. 07, 2018
Lack of provider competition raising healthcare prices, Center for American Progress argues

The left-leaning think tank offered suggestions for creating a system that produces more competition with fairer prices, including more regulatory enforcement and site neutral payments.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 06, 2018
Montefiore Health System revenue, operating income rise

The New York-based health system ended the first nine months of 2018 with a 66% jump in net income to $118.8 million.

By Meg Bryant • Dec. 03, 2018
Advocate Aurora raising minimum wage to $15/hour

A growing number of health systems have announced minimum wage increases as they face employee shortages and higher labor costs.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 03, 2018
Higher admissions, better case mix drive Cleveland Clinic Q3 revenues

The health system enjoyed a hefty operating income hike of 76% in the quarter compared to a year ago.

By Les Masterson • Dec. 03, 2018
Fitch sees stable 2019 for US healthcare despite financial pressures

Expect 2018's two-to-one ratio of downgrades to upgrades to continue next year, the ratings agency said.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 30, 2018
M&A trends in 2019: Will the biotech bubble burst?

New technologies have driven higher valuations in pharma, biotech and health IT, yet some big bankers are uncertain how long that trend will hold.

By Jacob Bell • Nov. 30, 2018
CVS-Aetna megamerger finalized

The total value of the acquisition, including assumption of Aetna's debt, clocks in at $78 billion. The union creates the second biggest private company by revenue after Walmart.

By Rebecca Pifer • Nov. 28, 2018
OIG: Medicare reimbursements skewed by 'significant vulnerabilities' in hospital wage data

Five of the watchdog's most recent reviews of hospital wage data between 2004 and 2017 revealed an estimated $140.5 million in improper payments to hospitals.

By Tony Abraham • Nov. 28, 2018
Cybersecurity, telehealth, tech disruptors top health system concerns for 2019

Nearly 90% of health systems expect to increase spending on cybersecurity in the coming year, many by more than 5%, according to the Center for Connected Medicine.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 26, 2018
UPMC sees growth in health plan enrollment, inpatient visits

The Pittsburgh-based integrated health system also reported outpatient revenue jumped 33% for the first nine months of the year.

By Les Masterson • Nov. 26, 2018
Mayo Clinic reports $9.5B revenue in first 9 months of 2018

The system's capital investment efforts come as many nonprofit health systems are downgrading facilities and divesting assets to offset higher operating costs and a slowdown in revenue growth.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 20, 2018
Amazon private label healthcare offerings grow

The company is poised to expand its prescription drug footprint via expansion of PillPack, according to investment banking firm Jefferies.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 20, 2018
Primary care physician visits drop among patients with employer plans

Office visits for all providers went up between 2012 and 2016 despite the drop for primary care physicians, pointing to a bigger role for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.

By Les Masterson • Nov. 19, 2018
Acute care profitability at nonprofits in decline, Fitch says

The credit rating agency has adopted new metrics that may paint a better picture of a hospital's long-term credit strength.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 16, 2018
Fitch sees nonprofit hospitals as mixed bag in Q3 report

While not-for-profits hospitals led Q3 public finance rating activity, the pace of upgrades and downgrades appears to be leveling off.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 15, 2018
Healthcare will outspend all other industries on R&D by 2020, PwC says

Medtronic is among 23 healthcare companies rated "high-leverage innovators" for performance on seven key financial indicators. Top 20 companies include Alphabet, Samsung, Microsoft, Apple, Roche, Novartis and Pfizer.

By Meg Bryant • Nov. 13, 2018
CMS finds Strong Start birth centers save money, improve outcomes

Rates of preteen birth, unhealthy birthweight and cesarean section were all lower among birth center participants — as were costs.

By Les Masterson • Nov. 12, 2018
Athenahealth scooped for $5.7B by Elliot, Veritas after turbulent year

Activist investor Elliott has been pushing for a buyout since it sent athenahealth an unsolicited offer in May.

By Tony Abraham • Nov. 12, 2018