May 28-June 1: Senate to Focus on Opioid Impacts in Medicare, Medicaid
May 24—The primary Senate committee overseeing Medicare and Medicaid will begin its look at the opioid crisis next week amid a quickly advancing body of bills targeting the issue.
May 21-25: Healthcare Employment Challenges Get Congressional Focus
May 17—Congress is set to examine hiring challenges in the healthcare industry next week, as the sector hits an all-time high share of total U.S. employment.
The Study of Factors Influencing the Total Cost of Health Care
A study conducted by HFMA, Leavitt Partners, and McManis Consulting investigated factors driving the total cost of health care in the United States.
What Is Driving Total Cost of Care?
A recent study identifies key factors that may be influencing total cost of care in the United States and provides recommendations for addressing those factors.
April 23-27 Policy Watch: Drug Prices Draw Trump Focus
April 19—President Donald Trump plans his first major speech on drug prices next week, but employer-sponsored plans are not waiting for the federal government to act.
Caregiver Support May Help Reduce Costs
Family caregivers’ fatigue was associated with $1,937 higher costs while caregiver sadness was associated with $1,323 higher costs during a six-month period. Patients with severely fatigued caregivers also were more likely to visit the ED.
How Is Your Hospital Managing Costs Across Its Physician Enterprise?
Several factors have challenged achieving a more comprehensive view of costs at the physician enterprise level, including governance, data sharing, and financial performance expectations.
Flu Vaccine Helps Avoid More than 70,000 Hospitalizations
CDC estimates that if vaccination rates increased by just 5 percentage points across the entire population, another 6,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations could have been avoided.
Working Smarter: Using Control Charts to Tackle the High Cost of Clinical Variation
Consistent, accurate, and timely clinical reporting has the power to prompt care teams to adhere to clinical protocols and be mindful of how they stack up against peers and national benchmarks.
Helping Emergency Department Clinicians Understand the Costs of Care
Finance leaders should collaborate with clinical leaders on clinician cost education so they have a greater awareness of room fees, nursing fees, and radiology fees needed to treat ED patients.