Healthcare News of Note: Department of Justice files formal challenge to UnitedHealth Group’s proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Hospitals react positively to news that the U.S. DoJ will challenge a proposed merger between UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare, $265 billion of care services could shift from traditional settings to the home by 2025, and a study says the level of community benefit provided by nonprofit hospitals is poorly aligned with the tax subsidy they receive.
Cost-Reduction Strategies Boost, Sustain Recovery
Persistent pandemic conditions are forcing hospitals and health systems to stretch their thinking as they set strategic goals. They are adjusting to managing fluctuating levels of care along with addressing shifts in payer mix, consumers’ demands and increasing cost pressures. These changes, combined with the challenge of inconsistent patient volumes, is putting unprecedented financial pressures…
COVID-19 pandemic continues to have adverse impacts on hospital performance improvement efforts, survey says
Supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and rising expense costs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to efforts of the nation’s hospitals and health systems to improve their performance, a Kaufman Hall survey found.
Healthcare News of Note: Medicare would save $8 billion a year if all hospitals achieved the outcomes of the most cost-efficient performers, says Lown Institute
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: America’s most cost-effective hospitals are identified, employers have boosted telemedicine and mental health benefits during the pandemic, and risk-based Medicare Advantage models gain popularity with health systems.
All the things they don’t teach you in med school (and why they should)
Dr. Glenn Hardesty of Texas Health Resources and Stu Schaff of Intentionate Healthcare Advisors discuss how administrative burden deteriorates physician job satisfaction and well being, and how leaders can help.
Rising to the moment: Addressing COVID-19’s challenges by advancing data interoperability
Improved interoperability in healthcare data exchange has been one byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic that may ultimately help improve the delivery of care — as well as its cost effectiveness — in the United States.
Research highlights ways to save more than $250 billion per year through healthcare administrative simplification
Savings can be generated at the organizational and healthcare industry levels through steps to reduce wasteful administrative processes, study authors wrote.
The CEO of one of the smallest hospitals in the country discusses the opportunities in rural hospitals
Steven Kelley, president and CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital, a 25-bed critical access hospital in the Catskill region of New York, discusses how his organization drastically reduced ED times and improved outcomes for patients suffering from complications of COVID-19.
News of Note: U.S. healthcare ranks last in comparison with 10 other high-income countries in a report by The Commonwealth Fund
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Study says U.S. healthcare ranks last, LGBT+ community faces disparities, and 18 groups demand better healthcare.
Latest hospital readmissions data highlight the challenges posed by septicemia
For all diagnoses across payers, researchers reported a 30-day readmission rate of 14% and an average cost per readmission of $15,200.