Vizient: Healthcare utilization shifts will reshape care delivery over the next decade
A slowdown in inpatient admissions was among the 10-year health system volume projections in the annual look ahead from Vizient. The 2026 Impact of Change forecast, released June 30, highlights how shifts in care delivery, patient complexity and site-of-care access challenges are reshaping healthcare utilization and will change the structure of the healthcare continuum. Here…
How Congress sees direct contracting impacting hospitals
Members of Congress said they expect hospitals and health systems to see both financial benefits and losses under a broader rollout of direct contracting. An expansion of direct contracting and direct primary care (DPC) between employers and providers drew bipartisan support at a July 1 congressional hearing that highlighted legislation to boost such arrangements. These…
FastFinance: AI nurse opposition; OPPS changes detailed
HFMA’s FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format. AI resistance by nurses is spreading nationwide but there are ways hospitals can use it to boost their productivity while minimizing opposition. Also, this week’s Weird Number: 66%. That’s the share…
Hospitals confront nursing opposition to AI
Health systems’ adoption of artificial intelligence to improve productivity increasingly is meeting opposition from their nursing staff. Nurse opposition to AI has become most visible in nurse strikes, where limits and guardrails on AI deployment for clinical and administrative uses have emerged. Sixty-five percent of hospitals reported using AI or predictive models integrated with their…
States push new hospital funding arrangements
States are implementing a growing number of initiatives to provide funding for rural or otherwise financially struggling hospitals. This push comes amid data showing that a record number of hospitals are financially distressed, and advocates warn that coming federal Medicaid cuts will worsen the situation. Indiana targeted funds Indiana hospitals celebrated a new arrangement within…
Hospitals get wins on price cap bills
Hospitals scored victories recently in the ongoing push across multiple states for price caps for their organizations. The 2026 legislation followed three states that enacted hospital price caps in 2025. A total of 13 states considered reference-based hospital pricing legislation last year, according to tracking by the National Academy for State Health Policy. Delaware delay…
White House zooms in on hospital contracts
The Trump administration is tightening scrutiny of provisions of contracts of hospitals with payers, which could spur additional lawsuits or legislation, say attorneys. The White House Council of Economic Advisers issued a June 18 memo laying out its case against health systems’ use of several contract provisions focused on: The memo couched a nationwide ban…
FastFinance: AI in the ED; ACA plan pressure could hit providers
HFMA’s FastFinance newsletter is now a podcast. Host Rich Daly discusses the most current and relevant healthcare news, delivered in an easily digestible format. An AI tool helped cut emergency department lengths of stay, a recent study found. That improvement demonstrates the technology’s potential to drive operational efficiency, says one of its authors. Also, this…
AI moves beyond revenue cycle
An AI tool helped to cut emergency department (ED) lengths of stay (LOS), a recent study found. That improvement demonstrates the technology’s potential to drive operational efficiency, says one of its authors. The prospective study, which was published last month in the journal Nature, used an AI model to predict hospital admission risk for ED…
ACA plan financial struggles could hit providers
ACA marketplace plans lost $5.5 billion in 2025 — despite record enrollment and before extra subsidies expired, according to new data. Their course-correction strategies could hit hospitals and health systems. The individual segment plans suffered a $5.5 billion underwriting loss in 2025, according to an analysis of insurance filings by Mark Farrah Associates. That compared…