Studies find glaring issues with federal price transparency requirements
The first year of federal price transparency regulations for hospitals hasn’t had high rates of compliance, nor has it consistently led to actionable information for consumers, according to two new studies.
2 new studies illustrate the burden of healthcare costs in the pandemic era
An annual report by CMS actuaries quantified the extent to which healthcare costs accelerated during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, while a separate survey looked at affordability.
Healthcare News of Note: A majority of physicians fear they missed signs of drug misuse during the pandemic and predict drug overdose deaths will rise, says a Quest Diagnostics report
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Physicians fear they missed signs of drug misuse during the pandemic, improved technology use is seen in patient engagement, and the majority of Medicaid health plans have a health equity plan.
Hospitals, physicians file lawsuit over the arbitration process in the new surprise billing regulations
Leading provider associations have asked a federal court to halt the incorporation of criteria that appear to favor insurers over providers in an arbitration process to determine out-of-network payment amounts.
A bill to mitigate scheduled Medicare payment cuts of $14 billion is ready to go in Congress
The House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill that would nullify a large share of 2022 Medicare payment cuts.
The economics of a telehealth visit: A time-based study at Penn Medicine
Research into the costs of delivering telehealth versus in-person visits by the Department of Orthopaedics at Penn Medicine sought to answer the health systems’ questions about the long-term economic viability of telemedicine services, and to help inform their conversations with payers about how much they should appropriately be paid for the services.
Hospital-at-home care promises to reshape healthcare delivery in the United States
Two leaders of health system hospital-at-home programs describe how the acute hospital care at home model represents an important change in how our nation approaches healthcare delivery, because it has been shown to yield improved care outcomes and greater patient satisfaction.
Medicaid expansion doesn’t appear to bolster finances or operations at critical access hospitals, study finds
Changes in operating margin, staffing ratios and quality metrics didn’t hinge on whether a critical access hospital was in a state that had expanded Medicaid.
Healthcare industry leaders share ideas with CMMI for improving value-based payment models, with benchmarking a top concern
During a recent call with healthcare stakeholders, leaders with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation heard various ideas for improving value-based payment models.
Healthcare News of Note: Youth mental health-related emergency department visits are on the rise as a result of the pandemic
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Mental health-related ED visits increase for children and teens, hospital volumes are nearly at 2019 levels, and TransUnion Healthcare sees a 55% increase in financial assistance requests in a 12-month period.