Hospitals
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‘We Can Be More Selective About Who We Treat’: UHS CFO’s Comments Spark Concerns About Cherry-Picking
Last week, the CFO of Universal Health Services stated that the company chooses which patients to treat based on whose insurance plans offer the highest payments. The comments have sparked some media attention, but healthcare finance experts say the practice of cherry-picking patients is nothing new to the industry.
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Hospital Downtime Planning: The Right Strategy & Technology to Ensure Uninterrupted Patient Care
It’s never a question of whether a hospital will experience downtime — it’s a matter of when. Adopting the right downtime technology means hospitals can cut costs, reduce stress on staff and mitigate risk of cyberattack by automatically encrypting data to HIPAA standards.
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Improving health in one of the most complex and costly chronic conditions
Kidney care in the U.S. needs an overhaul. Changing today’s expensive, disconnected care model requires moving from volume to value.
Misha Palecek, Chief Transformation Officer, DaVita Kidney Care
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How Geisinger, UNC Health Are Deploying Predictive Algorithms
Executives from Geisinger and UNC Health discussed the most impactful ways they have deployed predictive AI across their health systems during a recent virtual panel. At Geisinger, these predictive algorithms are reducing avoidable emergency department admissions, and at UNC, they are helping to identify sepsis before it becomes severe.
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NorthShore Study Proves Hospitals Can Save Millions by Providing Post-Discharge Psychosocial Support
NorthShore University HealthSystem teamed up with Laguna Health in 2021 to study whether greater post-acute care support can improve patient recovery and reduce readmissions. The research partners recently released results of the study, which found that giving patients emotional and psychological support after their discharge hastens recovery, decreases costs and alleviates physician burnout.
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6 Ways Providers Can Better Manage 3rd-Party Cybersecurity Risks
The Health3PT Initiative recently released recommendations on how providers can better address the cybersecurity risks linked to their third party reliance. Some of the group’s recommendations included ensuring that contract language ties financial terms to a vendor’s data management transparency and establishing metrics and reporting requirements for organization-wide vendor risks.
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More Than 30% of Rural Hospitals Are at Risk of Closure, Report Warns
More than 600 rural U.S. hospitals — which is more than 30% of the country’s rural hospitals — are at risk of closing due to their financial instability, according to a new report. The report argued that the dire financial situation among the nation’s rural hospitals stems from two main issues: low financial reserves and inadequate payments from private health plans.
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Hospitals’ Price Transparency Compliance Is Improving Despite Remaining Low at 36%
About 36% of U.S. hospitals are in compliance with CMS’ price transparency rule, up from 24.5% in February, according to a new report. This progress will remain slow unless CMS can do a better job of effectively enforcing its rule, the report declared.
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Consumer Choice Is the Key to Solving Our Massive Prescription Drugs Non-Adherence Problem
What we need to overcome adherence challenges is a digitally enabled marketplace of options that can be personalized to the patient and the context of their specific condition, pharmacy preference and ability to pay.
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Why the Pandemic Was a Turning Point for Nurses Flexing Union Power
Nurse unions and labor experts agree that the pandemic was a turning point that catalyzed nurses to fight for improved working conditions and overall better treatment from their employers. By negotiating new contracts with their employers, unions are working hard to both uphold patient safety and mitigate the nursing field’s debilitating workforce shortage.
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Clinical Care Capacity Planning
Learn how to manage clinical care capacity more efficiently during uncertain times.
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HCA, Tenet Saw Increased EBITDA in Q1 While Nonprofit Hospitals Continued to Struggle
The nation’s two largest for-profit hospital chains — HCA and Tenet — increased their EBITDA as salary and benefit obligations became less burdensome in Q1. Unsurprisingly, the story for nonprofit hospitals is a bit different. For this class of health systems, the stress associated with labor costs is subsiding, but operating margins are having a difficult time bouncing back, according to a new Moody’s report.
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MedCity Influencers, Devices & Diagnostics
Right Now: ‘Insourcing’ Dialysis Can Deliver Big Cost Savings, Better Outcomes
When facilities operate their own acute dialysis operations and no longer enlist third parties to provide treatment, they save hundreds of dollars per session. Insourcing also enables hospitals to keep trained dialysis staff on hand full-time to actively ensure quality kidney care to their patients.
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64% of Clinicians Feel Physically Unsafe at Work, Report Says
A new survey revealed that 64% of clinicians feel physically unsafe at work. The perceived risk of violence was especially high among women, clinicians under age 40, emergency department physicians and employees who work with patients struggling with addiction or other mental health conditions.
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Hospital M&A Activity Caught Up to Pre-Pandemic Levels in Q2
M&A activity among hospitals and health systems increased in Q2 of 2023 — there were 20 deals in Q2 compared to 15 deals in Q1, according to a new report. This surge brought Q2’s M&A activity levels in line with those observed before the pandemic. Q2’s 20 deal marks the highest number of announced transactions for hospitals and health systems since Q1 of 2020.
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‘This Is Almost Biblical in Its Impact’: Providers Push Back Against CMS’ New Proposed Rules
CMS recently revealed its proposals to raise reimbursement rates for hospital outpatient departments and cut payments for physicians. Next year, the agency is planning to decrease physicians’ pay by 1.25% and increase outpatient payment rates by 2.8%. Provider groups are unhappy with the news — AMA President Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld said the new physician fee schedule will be “almost biblical in its impact.”
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How Northwell Chose a Tech Platform to Better Manage Its Contingent Labor Costs
Northwell Health recently adopted a new system to help it better manage its contingent labor expenses — the New York-based health system is implementing Prolucent Health’s workforce platform across its 21 hospitals.
