Jeanne Pinder
“The Biden administration has fined two hospitals for noncompliance with federal price transparency rules that took effect last January, in regulators’ first enforcement salvo meant to encourage a more competitive and efficient market for medical services,” Rebecca Pifer writes over at Healthcare Dive. “Two Georgia facilities -— both in the same system -— have been fined […]
Jeanne Pinder
“A woman who expected to pay $1,337 for surgery at a Westminster hospital but was billed $303,709 may be off the hook for the massive bill after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in her favor Monday,” The Denver Post writes. “The justices unanimously found that the contracts patient Lisa French signed before a pair of […]
Jeanne Pinder
“As I noted in my last post, UnitedHealth Group made more profits last year than any health insurer has ever made for its shareholders — and considerably more than Wall Street financial analysts had expected,” Wendell Potter writes over at his Substack, Wendell Potter NOW. “Investors were so impressed they rushed to buy shares of […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Surgical specialists make more after becoming vertically integrated with hospitals or health systems, according to a Dec. 6 study published in Health Affairs,” Laura Dyrda writes over at Beckers ASC Review. “Physicians overall saw a slight pay decrease after vertical integration, but surgical specialists reported income $10,741 higher per year after joining the larger organization. […]
Jeanne Pinder
“When fans of the band Phish started falling ill with Covid-19 all over the country after a Halloween concert weekend in Las Vegas, public health officials were largely in the dark about what appears to have been a superspreader event,” Kathleen McLaughlin writes over at Stat. “In a Facebook post from mid-November with hundreds of […]
Virginia Jeffries
The Covid pandemic may appear to be on the decline in the United States, but some experts are saying we have yet to witness another, still unfolding wave of illness and death — the mental health crisis that has been called the fourth wave of the pandemic. ClearHealthCosts spoke to patients and experts around the […]
Virginia Jeffries
A federal rule allowing patients to more easily access clinical notes written in their medical records took effect in early April. Supporters of the move from both the patient side and the provider side say the new policy will improve patient outcomes and has very few drawbacks. The “open notes” or “information blocking” rule is […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Under programs set up by the Affordable Care Act, the federal government cuts payments to hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and those with the highest numbers of infections and patient injuries,” Jordan Rau writes for Kaiser Health News. “For the readmission penalties, Medicare cuts as much as 3 percent for each patient, although […]
Jeanne Pinder
The new federal price transparency law is rolling out Jan. 1, 2021, mandating that hospitals have to list prices on their web sites. Describing the new rules, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say on their website: “Hospital price transparency helps Americans know the cost of a hospital item or service before receiving it. […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Tenet Health got its start as a major hospital operator in the U.S. and can trace its hospital business roots as far back as 1969,” Samantha Liss writes over at Healthcare Dive. “But it may be time to think of the Dallas-based company as an ambulatory surgery center operator, first, and a hospital chain, second. […]
