News Articles and Studies

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Studies, Reports & Tools

• Tool Helps Hospitals Plan for Critical Care Surges During COVID-19 (RevCycle)

• RAND Critical Care Surge Response Tool
• Related: Stanford Potential Long-Term Intervention Strategies for COVID

• Consistent hospitalist care linked to better patient outcomes, study finds (Beckers)
• JAMA Study: Association of the Work Schedules of Hospitalists With Patient Outcomes of Hospitalization
• Study:Trends in Use of Medical Imaging in US Health Care Systems and in Ontario, Canada, 2000-2016 (JAMA)
• Related: Clinician-Level Predictors for Ordering Low-Value Imaging
• Study: Cooling The Hot Spots Where Child Hospitalization Rates Are High: A Neighborhood Approach To Population Health (Health Affairs)
• Resource Utilization Low Among Patients With First-Episode Schizophrenia (Psychiatry Advisor)

• Study Abstract: Service Use Following First-Episode Schizophrenia Among Commercially Insured Youth

• The American Journal of Managed Care® Examines How Chronic Hepatitis C and Its Treatment Affect Medicaid Costs (Business Wire)

• The Study: Assessing the Burden of Illness of Chronic Hepatitis C and the Impact of Direct-Acting Antiviral Use on Healthcare Costs in Medicaid

• Suicide's Link to Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care (USNews)

• Study:Suicide Among Older Adults Living in or Transitioning to Residential Long-term Care, 2003 to 2015 (JAMA)

• Hospital Discharge Algorithm Saves $860 Per Patient Episode and Reduces Readmissions, According to New Data from Remedy Labs (Businesswire)

• Study:Association of Decision Support for Hospital Discharge Disposition With Outcomes (AJMC)Jama Report: Health Care Spending in the United States and Other High-Income Countries (JAMA)

• Dartmouth study reveals how ACOs use home visits to improve care and reduce hospital use (MedExpress)

• CMS unveils new rural health strategy:CMS Rural Strategy 2018

• Mortality Lower When Inpatients See Their Own PCP in Hospital (Beckers)
• Study: For Inpatients, Primary Care Docs Outperform Hospitalists – A closer look at data showing lower mortality when patients cared for by their own PCPs (MedPage Today)

• FRG report highlights hospital’s failures, Some board members say budget cuts not enough (OAOA)  

• Yale: Collaboration of Health Care and Social Services May Decrease Medical Costs and Visits (ASPPH)

• Study links Blue Cross' big size to Michigan's low hospital prices (Detroit Free Press)

• Study reveals high healthcare costs linked with acute kidney injury (EurekAlert)

• Heroin hospital discharges surpass those due to prescription opioids, Stanford study says (Stanford Med Scope)

• 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey (KFF)

• Major teaching hospitals produce lower mortality rates than non-teaching hospitals (Fierce Health)

• Summary Article on Study Results (JAMA)

• New AHA Report Finds Hospital Outpatient Revenue Nearing Inpatient Revenue, While CMS Proposes Paying Less for In-hospital Healthcare Services (DarkDaily)

• Teaching Hospitals Aren’t More Expensive Than Non-Teaching Peers  (RevCycle)

Study:Comparison of Costs of Care for Medicare Patients Hospitalized in Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals (JAMA)

• Managed Care Programs Improve Care, Reduce Costs (Home Healthcare News)

• Survey Details

• FDA Approves Three Immunotherapy Drugs for Patients with Bladder Cancer (NIH)

• Skin cancer on the rise (Mayo Clinic)

• Full Text of Study Article (Mayo Proceedings)

• Surgery won’t help degenerative knee problems, experts say (Reuters)

• Full Text of Study Article (BMJ)

• GAO: Private Health Insurance Enrollment Remains Concentrated Among Few Issuers, including in Exchanges (GAO Report)

• Care shifts from physician offices to outpatient settings and costs go up, HCCI study finds (Fierce Health)

• Heart failure patients readmitted to same hospital may fare better (Heart Association)/
  Full Text of Study Article(JAHA)

• American Hospital Association Rejects Findings of New Health Affairs Hospital Pricing Study (Lexology)

• GAO Releases Report Addressing Post-Acute Care EHR Adoption (HIMSS)
• Retrospective study suggests ED physicians improving both outcomes and efficiency of care (MedExpress)
• JAMA Study Abstract: Trends in Mortality for Medicare Beneficiaries Treated in the Emergency Department From 2009 to 2016

• Annual Update of the National Health Security Preparedness Index: Preparedness Index assesses all 50 states & District of Columbia for health security and preparedness
• 
  
• Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Results:
• A View from the States: Key Medicaid Policy Changes: Results from a 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey for State Fiscal Years 2019 and 2020

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• Editorial: A Brief Window to Rethink Emergency Care (JAMANetwork)

• Related:Characteristics of Frequent Users of Three Hospital Emergency Departments (AHRQ)

• Pew Calls for Additional Health IT Safety Measures in Hospital Accreditations (PEW)
• Patient-initiated messages made up the majority of physician EHR inbox messages (EHR Intelligence)
• Investing in health literacy could save billions (Fierce Health)
• Redistribution of Federal Funding Across States Due to the Financing of Medicaid and CHIP [PDF] (Urban Institute)
• Key Considerations for Permanently Integrating Telehealth Coverage (HealthPayer)

• Joint Commission Issues Telehealth Safety Advisory (Medscape); Advisory [PDF] (Joint Commission)
• Open Enrollment Marks Shift Toward Virtual member Engagement (Health Payer)

• Medicare has new tool to compare nursing homes, costs, hospitals. How good is it? (Miami Herald)

• CMS Care-Compare (Medicare)

• Telemedicine use in the ER can yield positive results for patients and providers (Medical Net)
• Proactivity and partnership pay off for nursing homes in a pandemic, study suggests (EurekaAlert!)
• Predictive Analytics Models Forecast Prevalence of Flu Strains (IT Analytics)

• Study: Integrating genotypes and phenotypes improves long-term forecasts of seasonal influenza A/H3N2 evolution

• Rescue service piloting program to help with substance use, mental health crises (Herald Mail)
• Hospital Readmission Rates Following Outpatient Versus Inpatient Shoulder Arthroplasty (Healio)
• Program to improve outcomes for geriatric surgery patients shows promise (Medical Express)

• Related: New program results in shorter hospital stays, reduces post-surgery delirium in older adults (MedicalNet)

• 100 things to know about ASCs | 2020 (Beckers)
• Penn Med, PHMC lead coalition to save Mercy Philadelphia Hospital (WHYY.org)
• GAO report finds brokers offered false info on coverage for pre-existing conditions (The Hill)
• ED, Inpatient Volumes Stuck Despite Some Hospital Visit Recovery (RevCycle)
• Transportation barriers to care may increase likelihood of emergency surgical intervention (Eureka!)
• MedPAC supports changes to the development of Medicare Advantage plan payment benchmarks (Fierce Health)
• Program to improve outcomes for geriatric surgery patients shows promise in a hospital setting (FACS)
• Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine (National Academies Press 2020)
• CMS'S Proposed Phase-Out of the Inpatient Only List is not Entirely Welcome News (National Law Review)
• Ransomware hack cripples Universal Health Services hospitals, facilities across the US (MSN)Related: Someone died because of ransomware: Time to give hospitals emergency security care (The Hill, Opinion)
• Private Payers Outpace Public Insurance in Value-Based Care Push (RevCycle)
• 2020 Scorecard on State Health System Performance (Commonwealth Fund)
• Cost, Health Literacy Cause for Concern Ahead of Medicare Open Enrollment (Health Payer)
• Census Bureau: Income, Poverty & Health Insurance Coverage in U.S.(Insurance Net)
• Op-Ed: Big data analytics in healthcare is all about ethics (Digital Journal)
• How Has Data Misuse Hurt COVID-19 Efforts? (Medscape)
• Partnering organizations are seeking to improve a provider’s ability to predict tumor response, leading to precision medicine in head and neck cancer care (IT Analytics)
• 66% of healthcare data breaches caused by hackers, HHS data shows (Beckers)

• 6 more health systems identified in Blackbaud security breach, bringing total to 27 (Beckers)

• Minnesota's second-largest health care data breach hits Children's, Allina (Star Tribune)The healthcare challenge: Protecting patient data privacy during a global pandemic (ITPro)
• Study finds disparities in receipt of home health care after hospital discharge (News-Medical Net)

• JAMA Network: Assessment of Receipt of the First Home Health Care Visit After Hospital Discharge Among Older Adults

• VA data breach exposes information of 46,000 veterans (UPI)

• Senators say 17,000 community care providers also impacted in VA breach (FedScoop)
• Following Breach, VA Officials Assert Data Privacy and Security are Priority (MeriTalk)

• CMS issues hospital IPPS final rule for FY 2021(AHA)

• Closer Look at the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule
• Medicare to Increase Payments in FY 2021

• Independent, smaller hospitals will need to make tough choices to survive COVID-19 financial crisis: analysis (Fierce Health)
• Private Equity-Acquired Hospitals Charge More for Common Services (RevCycle)
• Study: Changes in Hospital Income, Use, and Quality Associated With Private Equity Acquisition.2021 CPT code set released (AMA)

• Related: The changes to the 2021 CPT code set represent the first major overhaul of office visit and outpatient E/M coding in more than 25 years

• New Aetna Health Plan Leverages CVS HealthHUBs, the narrow network health plan will incorporate lower cost sites of care (HealthPayer)HHS Plan to Improve Rural Health Focuses on Better Broadband, Telehealth Services (KHN)
• Five Ways COVID-19 is Impacting Revenue Cycle Operations at Health Systems and Hospitals, According to Survey (PR Newswire)Association of COVID-19-Related Hospital Use and Overall COVID-19 Mortality in the USA (Journal of General Internal Medicine)
• AHA urges HHS to make telehealth rollbacks permanent (HealthCareDive)

• Related: How Private Insurers Are Using Telehealth to Respond to the Pandemic

• Cleveland Clinic, Aetna launch co-branded insurance plan, expand members’ access to second opinions and cardiac care (Cleveland.com)
• Even with Relief Packages,Hospital Operating Margins Still Down Since Start of 2020 (HealthLeaders)
• Many COVID-19 cost-sharing waivers set to expire by October (HealthCare)

• Brief:Cost-Sharing Waivers and Premium Relief by Private Plans in Response to COVID-19 (Peterson-KFF)

• HCA the largest U.S. hospital owner accused in lawsuit of endangering staff during coronavirus pandemic (CNBC)
• Data Reveals Disparities in COVID-19 Hospitalization Rates (HealthIT)Primary care physicians paid global capitation payments hit key quality metrics at higher rates that those paid via fee-for-service, according to UnitedHealth Group (RevCycle)
• Sentara Healthcare, Cone Health Announce Value-Based Care Merger (HealthPayer)
• Consolidation Of Providers Into Health Systems Increased Substantially, 2016–18 (HealthAffairs)
• As the Pandemic Struck, a Private-Equity Firm Went on a Nursing-Home Buying Spree (Barron’s)
• 340B Hospitals Lose Court Challenge to OPPS Rate Cut (AAMC)
• A routine ECG enhanced by artificial intelligence is better at identifying heart failure than a standard blood test (Health Analytics)

• Study: Evaluating dyspnea in the ED

• Government [Feds] moves to block Geisinger’s partial acquisition of Lewisburg-area hospital (PennLive)
• OIG: Mediare Overpaid Hospitals $267M for Post-Acute care Transfers to Home Health (Health Leaders)
• Emergency Department visits plunged as COVID-19 cases climbed, Yale study finds (Eureka!)
• CMS finalized 2021 Medicare payment rates for inpatient psychiatric facilities and hospices in addition to the $750M boost in skilled nursing facility reimbursement (RevCycle)
• Psychiatric visits to the emergency room rise despite the ACA (MedExpress)Study Using TriNetX Real-World Data Finds Cancer Screenings Fell 89% During COVID-19 (Newswire)
• HHS Extends Public Health Emergency (Revcycle)
• Early Impact Of CMS Expansion Of Medicare Telehealth During COVID-19 (Health Affairs)
• An Early Look at 2021 Premium Changes on ACA Exchanges and the Impact of COVID-19 on Rates (KFF)
• UVA pioneers study of genetic diseases with quantum computers (Newswise)
• Half of Hospitals to Operate in the Red By Year’s End (FierceHealth)
• Study identifies patient- and hospital-level risk factors for death in critically ill COVID-19 patients (MedicalExpress)
• Data Reveals Chronic Disease Burden Among Individuals with HIV (HealthAnalytics)
• Association Between Federal Value-Based Incentive Programs and Health Care–Associated Infection Rates in Safety-Net and Non–Safety-Net Hospitals (JAMA Network)
• Hospitalization for acute heart failure: the in-hospital care pathway predicts one-year readmission (Nature/Scientific Reports)
• Cost of preventable adult hospital stays topped $33 billion in 2017 (The Hospitalist)

• HCUP Statistical Brief #59, June 2020: Characteristics and Costs of Potentially Preventable Inpatient Stays, 2017 (HCUP)

• Preterm Birth Ups Mom's Long-Term Heart Disease Risk: Study (US News/Health Day)
• AHA urges CMS to keep relaxed regulations beyond crisis (HealthDive)
• Prior Authorization Burden Continues to Rise, Physicians Report (RevCycle)

• AMA Survey Summary (AMA)

• Court Upholds CMS’ Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule (HealthLeaders)

• Memorandum Opinion (US Courts.Gov)

• An Early Look at the Potential Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Health Insurance Coverage (Commonwealth Fund)Telehealth May Help Payers Control Uncertain Healthcare Spending (HealthPayer)
• Priority Health and Cigna (NYSE: CI) today announced they have formed a Strategic Alliance (Cigna)

• Related: Highmark Inc. and HealthNow New York Inc. Announce Affiliation Agreement (Highmark)

• Mercy Hospital Owners Exploring Options To ‘Transition Campus’ In Order To Keep Hospital Viable (MSN/CBS Philly)
• Related: City notified about potential closing of West Philly Mercy Hospital’s inpatient facility (WHYY)Psychiatric hospital rejected 3 years ago still wants to add Portland-area inpatient beds. Deep in ‘crisis,’ Unity says there’s no need. (OregonLive)
• NJ Legislators Call on [Govenor] Murphy to Intervene in Effort to Save Local Hospitals (Tapinot Bayonne)
• New model may help predict stroke risk in adults with migraine and aura (Newsroom)
• One in five operations may lead to surprise bills, even when surgeon and hospital are in-network (MedExpress)
• Kentucky Hospital Association asks to join lawsuit defending certificate of need law (Beckers)
• Study:Hospital Use Declines After Implementation Of Virginia Medicaid’s Addiction And Recovery Treatment Services (Health Affairs)
• National identifier not a 'panacea' for patient-matching, experts say (ModernHealthcare)
• Rural Health Disparities Linked to Socioeconomic Status, Care Access (Health Analytics)
• When Site-Of-Service Policy And Payment Reforms Converge: The Case Of Joint Replacement Surgery (Health Affairs)
• Why the New U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Is Important (USNews)
• NEJM: transcatheter aortic valve replacement shows similar safety outcomes as open-heart surgery (EurekaAlert)

• Related: Study clarifies pros and cons of open-heart surgery versus TAVR for treating aortic stenosis

• Preeminent Hospitals Penalized Over Rates Of Patients’ Injuries (KaiserHealthNews)
• Study finds association between therapy time, length of stay after hip fracture surgery (MedExpress)
• Colorado Healthcare Costs Keep Climbing Due to Hospital Cost-Shifting (RevCycle)

• Maryland Hospital Association Issues Comment on Medicare Program: Modernizing, Clarifying Physician Self-Referral Regulations (Insurance Net)
• Forced rate disclosure goes too far, insurers and hospitals argue (Modern Healthcare)
• Commentary: Nursing homes grapple with sick residents, insufficient budgets (TimesUnion)
• Preventable hospital death estimates are too high, study finds (Beckers)
• Florida Hospital Association launches price transparency initiative (FloridaPolitics)
• Details Sparse on [Governor] Murphy’s Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency (NJ Spotlight)
• Rising inpatient acuity may not mean patients are sicker, Mass. commission finds (ModernHealthcare)
• Patients Want A 'Good Death' At Home, But Hospice Care Can Badly Strain Families (KHN)
• Epic Systems, a major medical records vendor, is warning customers it will stop working with Google Cloud (CNBC)
• [West Virginia]House debates Certificate of Need bill (Weirton Daily)
• The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) is recommending that NIH dramatically revise its data sharing and management proposal to maximize the value of scientific data (HealthIT)
• EHR Data, Claims Data Can Successfully Predict Hospitalizations (RevCycle)
• Florida Legislature eyes more certificate of need' changes for care facilities (Tampa Business Journal)
• Proposed certificate of need' changes questioned at Michigan Senate panel hearing (Crains)Payer mix, patient volumes contributed to Astria Regional's financial issues (Yakima Herald)
• Opt-In Consent Policies: Potential Barriers to Hospital Health Information Exchange (AJMC)
• Minnesota law gives green light to safety surveillance cameras in senior homes (Star Tribune)To Stop Now Would Be Foolish': Doubling Down On Services For High-Cost Patients (NPR)

• NEJM Study Abstract: Health Care Hotspotting — A Randomized, Controlled Trial

• AHA, AAMC Sue HHS Again Over Outpatient Site-Neutral Payments (RevCycle)

• Filing (PDF)

• The 2010s have proved to be an important decade for healthcare innovation and reforms. Here are the top trends that defined the time readmissions, mortality (Healio)

• Here’s how ‘Medicare for All’ would affect every part of the $3.5 trillion US healthcare system (Business Insider)

Related:

• Opinion: What will happen to doctors and hospitals under Medicare-for-all? It's complicated (The Week).
• Rural Hospitals Say ‘Medicare For All’ Would End Up “Closing Our Doors” (WBUR)
• Hospitals Stand to Lose Billions Under ‘Medicare for All’ (NYT)
• Opinion: The risks of ‘Medicare for all’ (Boston Globe)
• Opinion:It’s time for Democrats to get their facts right on Medicare-for-all (Washington Post)

Health Reform/Medicare for All