Kaiser interim chief Greg Adams named full-time CEO

Adams has been at the nonprofit for over two decades and previously served as a group president overseeing hospital and health plan operations, including Kaiser's Medicare care delivery strategy.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 11, 2019

Nonprofit hospitals get bump in Moody's ratings for 2020

The investor service predicts a healthier sector in the new year, though health systems will still contend with headwinds like rising labor costs, an aging population and political uncertainty.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Updated Dec. 11, 2019

Explore the Trendline➔

Surprise Billing

Federal legislation banning surprise bills has hit a barrage of roadblocks, complicating efforts to protect consumers from unexpected out-of-network charges.

By Healthcare Dive staff

Surprise billing ban draft: Middle ground leaves few pleased

The bill backed by a bipartisan group of Senate and House leadership would require insurers pay at least the median in-network negotiated rate for the area market for out-of-network services and has an arbitration backstop.

By Shannon Muchmore • Dec. 10, 2019

Competing House surprise billing plan muddies path of White House-backed legislation

The House Ways and Means Committee unveiled its own surprise billing legislation Wednesday that relies on arbitration.

By Shannon Muchmore • Updated Dec. 12, 2019

Provider of the Year: Providence St. Joseph Health

The 51-hospital system, which traces its roots back to the 1850s,​ has maintained a stable ratings outlook amid industry headwinds, and pursued a number of tech partnerships this year to bolster its portfolio.

By Shannon Muchmore • Dec. 9, 2019

The Healthcare Dive Awards for 2019

From the Affordable Care Act lawsuit to CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo, these are the companies, executives and movements that shaped U.S. healthcare this year.

Dec. 9, 2019

Kaiser mental health worker strike back on, with potential hit to 100 clinics

The five-day strike now planned to begin Dec. 16 had been postponed following the death of CEO Bernard Tyson.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 5, 2019

Disparities between care in rural, urban areas getting worse

"The game is rigged," Janice Probst, a professor at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, said. "If we don't change the game, we never win."

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 4, 2019

Hospitals sue HHS, warning price transparency rule would chill competition, crash computers

An agency spokeswoman shot back that hospitals "should be ashamed that they aren't willing to provide American patients the cost of a service before they purchase it."

By Samantha Liss • Dec. 4, 2019

Depression in doctors linked to increase in medical errors, study finds

The authors of the study in JAMA Network Open urged healthcare institutions to remove barriers that may keep doctors suffering with depression from obtaining help.

By Ron Shinkman • Dec. 2, 2019

Amazon's new medical transcription service bolsters voice-to-text bid

Transcribe Medical was developed in partnership with AWS clients, including EHR giant Cerner. However, unlike other end-to-end offerings in development, it doesn't automatically input personal health data into a patient's record.

By Rebecca Pifer Parduhn • Dec. 2, 2019

Hospital margins climb in October, boosted by volume growth

Hospitals also saw modest gains in revenue last month while bad debt and charity care were lower, according to a new report from Kaufman Hall.

By Linda Wilson • Nov. 27, 2019

Mayo joint venture to operate complex care hospital in Abu Dhabi

The facility, which includes 24 specialized medical clinics, began accepting patients earlier this month and is expected to be fully operational early next year. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

By Linda Wilson • Nov. 26, 2019

AdvaMed lobbied EPA chief Wheeler on cancer report amid delay in ethylene oxide regs

Group purchasing organizations working with hospitals are already seeing the impacts of the closure of ethylene oxide sterilization facilities, said David Gillan, senior vice president of sourcing operations at Vizient.

By David Lim • Nov. 25, 2019

Medical devices bigger culprit in antibiotic-resistant infections than surgical procedures, CDC analysis shows

Antibiotic resistance was higher in hospital-associated infections linked to use of devices like central lines, ventilators and urinary catheters, according to data collected from more than 5,600 sites between 2015 and 2017.​

By Susan Kelly • Nov. 25, 2019

Nonprofit bad debt climbs again amid steeper deductibles, Moody's says

At the same time, deductibles and premiums are increasing faster than wage growth, another ominous signal for hospitals.

By Samantha Liss • Nov. 25, 2019

Kroger partners with local providers in care access initiative

The grocer currently operates 215 Little Clinic locations across nine states and has more than 2,000 pharmacies.

By Lauren Manning • Nov. 25, 2019

Advocate Aurora triples surplus, eyes Wisconsin expansion

Returns on investment income were also relatively strong for the merged operator of hospitals and medical networks in Illinois and Wisconsin.

By Ron Shinkman • Nov. 24, 2019

Hundreds of hospitals sue HHS over payment cuts

Hospitals have filed three separate lawsuits this week. One alleges the government is unlawfully continuing a reduction in inpatient reimbursement. The other two claim DSH calculations are wrong.

By Samantha Liss • Nov. 22, 2019

Myth Diagnosis: Is healthcare recession-proof?

"That's a little bit of a misnomer," Ben Isgur, health researcher at PwC, told Healthcare Dive. "It is a little recession-resistant, but eventually that wears off."

By Shannon Muchmore • Nov. 22, 2019

Uncompensated care up significantly at US hospitals, led by Southeast

Smaller hospitals and those in states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act were most hit, according to a new survey.

By Ron Shinkman • Nov. 22, 2019

Some of the nation's largest health systems want to care for patients in their homes. Here's why.

Ascension, CommonSpirit and Highmark Health are some of those signing joint venture deals with Nashville-based Contessa over the past few months, in a move away from the "heads in beds" model.

By Samantha Liss • Nov. 21, 2019

University of Chicago Medical Center averts Thanksgiving strike

More than 2,000 nurses had been expected to walk off the job this week. Hospital officials had said they were worried about finding replacement workers over the holiday.

By Samantha Liss • Updated Nov. 25, 2019

Hospital market power shares blame for mushrooming middle-class health costs, Commonwealth Fund says

"There is very little restraint on pricing," the research group's president David Blumenthal said. Hospitals are motivated to boost prices to offset declining rates of inpatient utilization, particularly if they have excess capacity, he added.

By Linda Wilson • Nov. 21, 2019

Providers take next step in social determinants: hyperlocalism

Industry can "help others have an uncomfortable dialogue about what is truly driving health outcomes in this country," Atrium Health's Alisahah Cole said at the Healthcare of Tomorrow conference.

By Shannon Muchmore • Nov. 19, 2019