Hospital price transparency update: Regulatory enforcement soon could become stricter, CMS leaders say
Although nothing is official, CMS leaders indicate enforcement of hospital price transparency regulations is set to become more stringent. For an article published in Health Affairs, the Center for Medicare’s Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, director, and Douglas Jacobs, MD, chief transformation officer, touted progress that has been made since the rules took effect Jan. 1,…
Care coordination networks offer path to addressing problems of health inequity
Initiatives to improve access to care and address social determinants of health (SDoH) have been shown to work. To be successful, they need sustained support from all stakeholders within our nation’s healthcare system.
In federal ACO programs, advocates see signs of slow but steady progress
Growth in accountable care organization (ACO) programs has been inconsistent since the Affordable Care Act made accountable care part of the healthcare lexicon in 2010. Nonetheless, proponents are optimistic about the state of ACOs and their potential in upcoming years, even if there’s uncertainty about CMS’s ability to achieve its stated goal of ensuring every…
DOJ withdraws guidance that bolstered antitrust safe harbors for GPOs, cost benchmarking and more
Potentially leading to stricter enforcement of antitrust policy in healthcare, the U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn guidance that essentially promoted certain arrangements in the industry. The Feb. 3 announcement from DOJ’s Antitrust Division amounts to a cancellation of so-called “safety zones” that were established in three sets of nonbinding guidance issued between 1993 and…
Expanding its capacity to disrupt healthcare, CVS Health shells out billions to buy Oak Street Health
A month after stating it hoped to gain a presence in primary care, CVS Health accomplished that goal with a massive deal that could fortify its efforts to advance value-based payment in healthcare. The proposed $10.6 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health, a provider of senior-focused primary care, adds to a portfolio of assets that…
Healthcare News of Note: Most healthcare CEOs are optimistic about the future of their business despite a potential recession
Most of the CEOs in the Healthcare, Media & Entertainment, Telecom & Cable, and Aerospace & Defense sectors indicated being somewhat or extremely optimistic about the future of their business even in the face of a potential recession. While roughly one-third of 2021 hip and knee replacement episodes were performed by providers with 100 or…
Vaccination: Good for the community, the industry and your bottom line
Jacob Braude, a principal at ZS, returns to the podcast to discuss his firm's latest research on vaccine hesitancy.
Various data highlight the ongoing labor challenges facing hospitals and other healthcare providers
The healthcare labor picture may be stabilizing in some respects, but hospitals and other providers continue to feel the squeeze. The industry added 58,200 jobs in January, including 10,900 at hospitals and health systems, according to preliminary seasonally adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That jump follows an average monthly increase of…
Healthcare News of Note: Is a public health crisis looming for the generation born during the pandemic?
Infants born during the pandemic, regardless of maternal SARS-CoV-2 status, scored significantly lower on the gross motor, fine motor and personal-social subdomains of the Ages & Stages Questionnaire, 3rd Edition when compared with a cohort born pre-pandemic at one hospital. Opioids were prescribed at discharge during fewer emergency department (ED) visits in 2019-20, compared with…
TruBridge Complete Business Office (CBO) solution brings financial stability to the revenue cycle
Is your healthcare organization looking for a way to reduce pressure, stress and time on administrative and financial management? Check out this company’s portfolio of solutions to stabilize revenue cycle operations and bring back time for your staff to care for patients.