Tips for hospitals to prepare for upcoming worksheet S-10 audits

Get prepared for FFY 2018 Worksheet S-10 audits as CMS appears ready for MACs to begin the next round of audits.

By Michael Newell, Partner, Health Care Consulting Practice • May 22, 2020

COVID-19 has upended how Americans obtain healthcare

A new survey by the Alliance of Community Health Plans and the pharmacist lobby AMCP found nearly 40% of respondents plan to delay future care.

By Ron Shinkman • May 21, 2020

COVID-19 sinks Advocate Aurora's operating income in Q1

The major nonprofit system was pushed into the red for the quarter due to the pandemic. It has a large presence in the Chicagoland area, a hot spot for the virus, and has discharged more than 3,200 patients who were infected.

By Samantha Liss • May 21, 2020

April was dismal for US hospitals, with long road ahead, surveys find

Operating margins plummeted 174% last month compared to April 2019 and were down 118% from March of this year as surgeries, ER visits and outpatient appointments declined drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Shannon Muchmore • May 21, 2020

Despite $33M in approvals, FCC has sent just 1 provider CARES telehealth funds

"We expect the number of invoices to increase steadily as more funding continues to be approved," an FCC spokesperson told Healthcare Dive.

By Rebecca Pifer • May 20, 2020

Nonprofit health systems see investments slide as COVID-19 ravages economy

Major systems like CommonSpirit Health and Kaiser Permanente posted losses of more than $1 billion in first quarter reports.

By Shannon Muchmore • May 20, 2020

COVID-19 pushes Mayo Clinic's operating income into free fall

Operating income plunged 88% while margin flatlined to 0.9% by the end of the first quarter due to the onset of the pandemic and the near closure of the health system's outpatient business.

By Samantha Liss • May 19, 2020

Cigna jumps 52 spots on Fortune 500 off Express Scripts buy

Fortune released its annual rankings based on the 2019 revenue of top-earning U.S. companies on Monday. Forty healthcare companies are in the top 500, about the same as the past few years.

By Rebecca Pifer • May 19, 2020

Knee replacements nearly halted as hospitals braced for COVID-19, data show

Even service lines involving what are often life-threatening illnesses saw large drops, with cardiac care falling 57% and cancer care decreasing 37%, according to an analysis from software company Strata Decision Technology.

By Shannon Muchmore • May 19, 2020

CommonSpirit posts $1.4B loss, says full COVID-19 impact unknown

The biggest proportion of losses were tied to investments, as the nonprofit health system's portfolio dropped in value by nearly $1.1 billion.

By Ron Shinkman • May 18, 2020

COVID-19 shreds Sutter Health's finances in matter of weeks

The Northern California nonprofit health system lost more than $1 billion in the first quarter due to the pandemic. Future finances could become even grimmer.

By Ron Shinkman • May 15, 2020

Fitch Q2 outlook for nonprofit hospitals: 'worst on record'

Moody's Investors Service also warned this week the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic will linger into next year and noted government assistance won't make up for all the financial losses.

By Hailey Mensik • Updated May 15, 2020

Front-line COVID-19 responders in middle of pack on pay

Medscape's annual survey also found men continue to earn more than women, a trend that's held now for a decade. Among primary care physicians, men earn roughly 25% more than women.

By Rebecca Pifer • May 14, 2020

Orthopaedic surgeons predict return to somewhat normal volumes in 6 months

While procedures are expected to steadily ramp up over the next six months, Jefferies analysts found that more will be performed outside of hospitals — a trend accelerated by the pandemic.

By Hailey Mensik • May 12, 2020

Hospitals balk as CMS doubles down on price transparency

In the draft of the Medicare payment rule posted Monday, the agency also proposed raising the rate for inpatient hospital services by about 1.6% in 2021, which would amount to nearly $2.1 billion.

By Shannon Muchmore • May 12, 2020

Kaiser reports $1.1B net loss in Q1 due to stock market slide

The quarter did include some COVID-19-related costs, including establishing mobile hospitals and triage units and increasing inpatient capacity, but they were "not significant," the integrated system said.

By Rebecca Pifer • May 11, 2020

Hospitals tell court price transparency laws violate 1st Amendment

Thursday's hearing was the first step in what's likely to be a drawn out legal fight. Negotiated rates between hospitals and insurers have long been private, and hospitals want to keep it that way. 

By Hailey Mensik • May 7, 2020

AHA says hospital COVID-19 losses top $50B per month

The American Hospital Association estimate counts the first four months of the pandemic, including a forecast through June. It comes as the lobby pushes for additional aid on top of the $175 billion Congress has allocated so far.

By Ron Shinkman • May 6, 2020

For-profit hospital chains only saw beginning of COVID-19 impact in Q1

Companies started to see volumes plummet in the end of March as a result of the pandemic, but the effect on overall financial results was relatively limited. That could be a different story for the second quarter.

By Shannon Muchmore • May 6, 2020

CVS profit rockets up 41%, but warns April COVID-19 hit could persist

The company reported a significant jump in use of digital and at-home offerings in the quarter, including MinuteClinic virtual visits up 600% and retail prescription home delivery up more than 1,000%.

By Rebecca Pifer • May 6, 2020

Hospital, nursing groups join forces to lobby Congress for more COVID-19 funding

The groups requested funding to cover the cost of child care for nurses, physicians and other hospital staff as well as housing and transportation support, enhanced pay and free, regular COVID-19 testing.

By Ron Shinkman • May 4, 2020

CMS rolls back more Medicare, telehealth regs for providers working through pandemic

Accountable care organizations also scored a major win in the Thursday rule drop, with the agency pledging they wouldn't be dinged financially for lower-than-expected health outcomes in their patient populations from COVID-19.​ 

By Hailey Mensik • May 1, 2020

Teamsters union urges Tenet shareholders to reject CEO pay raise at upcoming meeting

One of the country's biggest labor unions, which helps fund its pension program through Tenet stock ownership, raised the alarm in a Wednesday letter to other shareholders and urged them to reject the measure at the annual meeting.

By Hailey Mensik • April 30, 2020

Teladoc hikes 2020 guidance after seeing visits double in Q1

Results were historically strong but fell short of Wall Street expectations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spur virtual care adoption.

By Rebecca Pifer • April 30, 2020

Telehealth startup 98point6 grows membership 16% with 4 major employer deals

The mobile app-based vendor can now count Boeing and Chipotle among its clients as its clinic volume has more than tripled since the start of this year.

By Rebecca Pifer • April 30, 2020