Healthcare News of Note: Staffing shortages in hospitals and healthcare settings are ‘actively jeopardizing’ patient safety, says ECRI
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Staffing shortages top the list of patient safety concerns, nearly a third of surveyed nurses said they may leave their direct patient care jobs, and MA plans collected $12 billion more in 2020 than traditional Medicare.
Bringing the healthcare back to healthcare
Affording greater freedom to physicians to practice medicine by easing administrative strictures on them may be the best strategy for ultimately promoting cost effectiveness of health, says Martin Bluth. But physicians also should be well educated in the economics and business of healthcare.
Operationalizing value-based primary care: lessons from the field
The primary care physician’s office has a pivotal role to play in efforts of hospitals, payers and other healthcare stakeholders to transition healthcare payment to arrangements that reward providers for the value of the care they provide. However, to successfully execute a value-based primary care model, organizations should be mindful of the all-too-common pitfalls that they may encounter along the way.
Optimizing the revenue cycle by streamlining and automating payment collections
This roundtable features leaders’ insight to help entities evolve in today’s workforce to meet challenges such as regulations and digital adoption.
MedPAC says 2023 hospital payments shouldn’t increase in response to COVID-19
CMS shouldn’t increase Medicare payments to hospitals for the upcoming year beyond the annual update that is based on current law, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Federal funding bill addresses 340B eligibility concerns but not some other points of interest for hospitals
An FY22 appropriations bill allows hospitals to remain in the 340B Drug Pricing Program if their eligibility had been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Healthcare pricing update: 2 experts call for greater regulation
Recent price increases have been slower in healthcare than in the economy at large, but two healthcare economists say the long-term price trends should be addressed through regulation.
Medicare coverage updates include revised criteria for lung cancer screening and a code for a newly approved COVID-19 treatment
CMS in February amended its coverage requirements for lung cancer screening and issued a code for a new COVID-19 treatment.
Healthcare News of Note: Americans living in rural areas face an increased risk of death, in part due to issues with healthcare access, says a new infographic
Healthcare News of Note for healthcare finance professionals is a roundup of recent news articles: Issues with healthcare access contribute to an increased risk of death for rural residents, many workers struggle to pay for healthcare deductibles, and hospital and physician office markups on certain drugs escalate consumer costs.
CMS’s overhaul of the Direct Contracting program draws praise from supporters of value-based payment
Value-based payment advocates see reason for optimism in CMS’s recent decision on the future of its Direct Contracting model.