Cleveland Clinic posts $1.2B loss in 2022 as expenses rose

The system joined other hospital operators who faced a challenging 2022, the worst financial year since the pandemic began, hospital consultancy Kaufman Hall has said.

By Samantha Liss • March 2, 2023

Over 1K residents unionize at Montefiore Medical Center

Residents at New York-based Montefiore are the latest to join CIR-SEIU, a labor union that’s gaining more members as healthcare workers across all roles mobilize in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Hailey Mensik • March 2, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Provider burnout

Hospitals are still struggling with provider burnout, after the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated underlying staffing issues and prompted workers to quit their jobs.

By Healthcare Dive staff

Hospitals start year on better financial footing after challenging 2022, Kaufman Hall says

Volumes, emergency department visits, discharges and total revenues fell for hospitals in January while labor expenses rose, according to the report.

By Hailey Mensik • March 1, 2023

Hacking healthcare: With 385M patient records exposed, cybersecurity experts sound alarm on breach surge

Healthcare companies must harden their defenses, but it may require regulators and lawmakers to raise the bar on security standards, experts say.

By Jasmine Ye Han • Feb. 28, 2023

UHS net income fell in Q4, full year 2022 as labor remained pricey

COVID-19 activity declined significantly through the year, allowing the hospital operator to reduce labor vacancies and stop capping bed capacities at behavioral health hospitals, executives said.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 28, 2023

Mayo Clinic’s income cut in half as labor costs climbed in 2022

The health system said contract labor increased 37% compared to the prior year as admissions declined year over year, due to capacity constraints and longer patient stays.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 28, 2023

UPMC, top surgeon pay $8.5M to settle whistleblower lawsuit over simultaneous surgeries

The lawsuit alleges that UPMC’s longtime head of cardiothoracic surgery, James Luketich, regularly performed as many as three complex surgeries at the same time.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 28, 2023

HHS issues advisory on Clop data breach threat

Tennessee-based Community Health Systems was breached as part of the attacks, which may have compromised the health information of 1 million patients within CHS alone.

By Brian T. Horowitz • Feb. 27, 2023

Illinois nurses file class action lawsuit against Ascension over wage issues

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of four current and former Illinois nurses, alleges that Ascension failed to properly pay employees and that the health system engaged in “improper” cost-cutting practices.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 27, 2023

CMS says surprise billing arbitration can resume for some disputes — others remain on pause

Regulators are continuing to work on new guidance in light of a court decision that ruled against the government and threw a wrench in the third-party process to resolve payment disputes between payers and providers.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 27, 2023

Hospital lobby opposes noncompete ban, says ‘now is not the time to upend’ labor markets

The American Hospital Association is pushing the FTC to abandon its proposal to eliminate restrictive covenants. At the very least, the lobby wants physicians and senior executives exempt.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 24, 2023

Sutter Health taps first chief consumer, brand officer

Jennifer Bollinger will be the first to serve in the newly created position within nonprofit Sutter Health.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 22, 2023

SUNY Upstate, Crouse Health System call off merger

The Federal Trade Commission, which opposed the tie-up, cheered the news on Thursday. Previously, the agency had warned state lawmakers about the dangers of shielding hospital mergers from antitrust enforcement. 

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 17, 2023

Lawmakers stress urgency of healthcare worker shortage

Addressing the education pipeline is one issue legislators can focus on to improve nurse and physician shortages, medical school and health system leaders said during a Senate committee hearing.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 16, 2023

CHS posts 2022 profit dip on heels of cyber breach

The earnings come two days after CHS announced that it experienced a security breach that potentially exposed the health information of 1 million patients.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 16, 2023

Louisiana systems hit with lawsuits for allegedly sharing patient data with Facebook

At issue is the hospitals’ use of the “Meta Pixel” website code, which potentially analyzed, gathered and shared the protected medical data of hundreds of thousands of patients, in violation of HIPAA, according to the suit.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 16, 2023

CommonSpirit to acquire 5 Steward hospitals, expanding reach into Utah

The acquisition comes on the heels of a thwarted attempt by HCA to purchase the Utah sites last year. The FTC was successful in its attempt to block the deal after it alleged that it would harm patients.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 16, 2023

CommonSpirit, AdventHealth dissolve joint hospital venture in Colorado, Kansas

The systems said Tuesday that the partnership had reached its “natural maturity.” CommonSpirit and AdventHealth didn’t lay out a timeline for the transition.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 15, 2023

Senator blasts Ascension, alleging it runs like private equity fund rather than nonprofit health system

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said the system “appears to be evaluating each staffing decision, service line, and hospital location as solely a business decision while seeking to bolster cash to put towards its investment funds.”

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 15, 2023

Sanford-Fairview delay merger after push from Minnesota AG

Even with the delay, the attorney general's office alleged that the two systems had not yet fully complied with the office’s repeated requests for information.

By Samantha Liss • Feb. 14, 2023

Surgical procedures cost significantly more at hospitals in networks versus independent facilities, study finds

The median price for a shoulder arthroscopy was $4,432 at hospitals within a network, compared to $2,643 at independent hospitals, new research in JAMA Network Open found.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 14, 2023

HHS pauses surprise billing arbitration after Texas court decision

The process by which health insurers and medical providers hash out payments for surprise bills is still in flux due to a series of lawsuits threatening the dispute resolution process.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Feb. 13, 2023

Kaiser’s $4.5B loss in 2022 driven by labor expenses, investment losses

Kaiser is the latest non-profit to report annual losses as hospital operators face soaring labor costs, investment losses and rising medical expenses driven by inflation.

By Sydney Halleman • Feb. 13, 2023

Workforce challenges top concern for hospital CEOs for second year in a row, survey finds

Before staffing woes took the top spot last year, financial challenges had previously ranked as the top concern for 16 consecutive years in a survey from the American College of Healthcare Executives.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 13, 2023

HHS readies for PHE wind down, end of pandemic flexibilities

A variety of pandemic-era policies will expire May 11, including those allowing providers to prescribe controlled substances via telehealth without an in-person visit and rules requiring payers to cover COVID-19 testing.

By Hailey Mensik • Feb. 10, 2023