Healthcare Blame Game: How Kaiser Health News mistook policy for practice in hospital collections report
Brad Dennison is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He served 15 years as the top news executive for multiple national organizations and led thousands of journalists across the U.S., including investigative teams. He’s also a past board member of the Associated Press Media Editors, where he was elected national chair. Dennison joined HFMA…
Data capture and coding for social determinants of health are works in progress, per reports
In the effort to bring social determinants of health (SDoH) more under the purview of healthcare providers, one tricky aspect is establishing a data and coding infrastructure. Recent reports highlight this challenge. For example, a survey conducted for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) found that although 78% of 2,637 respondents said their organizations…
Financial and operational pressures continue for hospitals amid some positive signs
New financial data for the hospital industry illustrate continuing challenges even as some trends improve. Fitch Ratings released an analysis in early March that offers scant reason for optimism. Titled “Early NFP Hospital Medians Show Expected Deterioration; Will Worsen,” it draws on data from hospitals with earlier 2022 financial year-ends. Those numbers show “materially weaker…
Affordability of healthcare is not enhanced when providers form health systems, studies find
The efficiencies gained when providers operate as a health system don’t always translate to care that is more cost-effective, according to two recently published JAMA studies on pricing. In one study, researchers with Harvard Medical School and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) examined 2018 data from various sources, including CMS administrative data, IRS…
News Briefs: Healthcare industry disrupter CVS Health to shell 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…
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,…
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…
(Updated 2) Texas court again backs providers in No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution litigation
A physician association continues to roil the No Surprises Act’s arbitration process through successful litigation. For the second time in a year, the Texas Medical Association (TMA) prevailed in court after arguing that regulations governing the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process do not comply with legislative intent. Barring a successful appeal, the Feb. 6 ruling…