Orthopaedic surgeons see slow volume recovery from COVID-19

A poll of 200 doctors by UBS suggests volumes will improve throughout the year but are still expected to slightly lag 2019 levels. Volumes will only start exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

By Nick Paul Taylor • April 9, 2021

CommonSpirit inks deal with women's health startup Tia on primary care network

The initial pilot will launch virtual-first in the spring, followed by the first brick-and-mortar clinic in Phoenix this October.

By Rebecca Pifer • April 8, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Payer/provider relationships

As M&A intensifies and companies embrace more holistic and value-based care models, partnerships have become more closely intertwined.

By Healthcare Dive staff

Urgent care centers draw some ER visits but associated with higher spending overall

The findings published in Health Affairs may suggest patients are going to the centers instead of more appropriate and lower cost settings like a primary care office or virtual visit.

By Shannon Muchmore • April 7, 2021

Healthcare workers say they need mental health services, but many aren't getting them

While more than half of healthcare employees said the crisis harmed their mental health, younger workers have been the hardest hit, according to the survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Washington Post.

By Hailey Mensik • April 7, 2021

Nonprofit hospitals spent less on charity care than for-profit, government facilities: Health Affairs

The research is likely to garner attention as skeptics have questioned whether nonprofit organizations dole out enough charity care to justify the tax breaks they receive.

By Samantha Liss • April 6, 2021

Black patients far more likely to experience discrimination when seeking care: study

Reports of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation or health condition were even higher for low-income Black adults and Black women, according to a new study by the Urban Institute.

By Ron Shinkman • April 5, 2021

Investment group urges HCA shareholders to vote against board member over ER admissions

The hospital operator denied the allegations its Medicare ER admissions are excessive, saying in an SEC filing it has taken the claims seriously and investigated them but found no irregularities.

By Samantha Liss • Updated April 6, 2021

FDA warns of patient deaths tied to reusable urological endoscopes

The agency is sounding the alarm after receiving more than 450 adverse event reports in four years tying patient infections to the devices, as it continues to track contamination issues in duodenoscopes.

By Susan Kelly • Updated April 5, 2021

How hospital operators fared financially in 2020

"For the most part providers were dependent on that CARES funding. I think they would have been in the red or break even without it," Suzie Desai, a senior director at S&P Global Ratings, said.

March 31, 2021

Analysts tip surgeries to rebound. Rising COVID-19 cases threaten those forecasts.

Two Wall Street reviews suggest people are increasingly comfortable with undergoing elective care, but they come amid warnings that rising hospitalizations from the virus could jeopardize progress.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 30, 2021

Hospital margins hit hard by pandemic, but CARES Act provided huge relief, Moody's finds

Although the fiscal situation for the sector has improved, Moody's did not provide a long-term outlook for hospitals in 2021 and beyond.

By Ron Shinkman • March 26, 2021

Senate passes bill extending Medicare sequester cut pause

CMS instructed Medicare administrative contractors to hold all claims on or after April 1, when the pause on cuts is scheduled to end. The House is expected to take up the Senate-passed bill when it returns the week of April 13.

By Hailey Mensik • Updated March 31, 2021

After 7 weeks on strike, Tenet nurses, hospital schedule first bargaining session

A federal mediator has been involved in the talks since Dec. 15, according to the hospital, and scheduled them Friday after discussions with both parties, the union said in a statement.

By Hailey Mensik • Updated April 26, 2021

Hospitals flailed amid COVID-19 crisis, are unsure of future, OIG says

Executives said they were worried about their workers experiencing trauma and concerned a shrinking recruitment pool for nurses could exacerbate staffing shortages.

By Ron Shinkman • March 25, 2021

Advocate Aurora bounced back to black in 2020 after rough first 6 months

The large Midwest health system was able to post both positive operating and net income even though patient visits dropped significantly year over year.

By Samantha Liss • March 24, 2021

FDA grants EUA to COVID-19 screening device using machine learning

While the product gives institutions another screening tool for those without symptoms, with antigen testing scaling up Tiger Tech faces competition in that market.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 23, 2021

ASCs gave medtechs alternate care sites amid pandemic hospital elective shutdown

After surgeries moved to ambulatory surgery centers during the pandemic's upending of non-emergency care, experts and industry believe some procedures may never go back.

By Ricky Zipp • March 23, 2021

Medical care plunged in pandemic's early days, studies show

A case report of one of the busiest public hospital's emergency department and another from the Commonwealth Fund detail the impact on care not linked to the coronavirus in the first days of the crisis.

By Ron Shinkman • March 19, 2021

Hospital mergers can slow wage growth for nurses, others: study

The Federal Trade Commission said it wants more analysis on the effects mergers have on labor markets and worker wages, though it typically challenges mergers that could up prices and distort care access.

By Samantha Liss • March 19, 2021

AHA urges strict antitrust review of UnitedHealth's $13B Change buy

The diversified health giant declined to comment directly on anticompetitive concerns, though an Optum spokesperson argued the two companies have "distinct and complementary capabilities."

By Rebecca Pifer • March 19, 2021

Becerra confirmed as HHS secretary

The 50-49 vote in the Senate was almost entirely along party lines. The only Republican to cross the aisle was Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 18, 2021

All eyes on elective care after a rollercoaster year for medtech

After shutdowns slammed procedure-dependent firms in 2020, industry and Wall Street are waiting to see when non-emergency surgeries fully return and what a comeback might look like.

By Ricky Zipp • March 18, 2021

Health Affairs' Alan Weil reflects on 1 year of COVID-19

The editor in chief of the respected industry journal spoke with Healthcare Dive about the role of equity in health research, the staying power of telemedicine and how to effectively communicate important public health messages.

By Shannon Muchmore • March 18, 2021

1 year of COVID-19 has changed what it's like to work in healthcare

A year of working on the front lines brought more focus on the challenges facing nurses and physicians, who are reporting higher rates of burnout as well as a lack of trust and engagement with the organizations employing them.

By Hailey Mensik • March 17, 2021

Majority of largest hospitals 'unambiguously noncompliant' with revealing prices online: report

Of the 100 largest facilities in the U.S., 65 were noncompliant with the requirement to post negotiated rates with insurers online, a rule that went into effect Jan. 1 despite fierce opposition from the hospital lobby.

By Samantha Liss • March 17, 2021