News Articles and Studies

Older News Articles

Studies & Reports

• 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)

• Annual Update of the National Health Security Preparedness Index: Preparedness Index assesses all 50 states & District of Columbia for health security and preparedness

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• 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)
• Implementing a consistent hospital compliance program is key to cultivating a culture of compliance that minimizes revenue risks, so providers can focus on high-value care (RevCycle)
• 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 (EHRIntelligence)
• Izard County's sole hospital and its parent company have filed for bankruptcy, according to court documents submitted on Tuesday (Arkansas Gazette)Washington [state] health department seeks greater power to regulate private psychiatric hospitals (Seattle Times)Medicine (Beckers)
• Related: Hospital acquisitions had little impact on quality of care although performance on patient experience measures declined modestly, Harvard researchers found (RevCycle)
• Study Abstract: Changes in Quality of Care after Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions (NEJM [subscription for full ])
• Opinion: Connecticut’s Hospital agreement is a road map for funding community nonprofits (CT Mirror)
• A population health management program developed for children enrolled in Medicaid helped reduce hospital admissions and bed-days (Health Analytics)

• Study: Association of a Targeted Population Health Management Intervention with Hospital Admissions and Bed-Days for Medicaid-Enrolled Children (JAMA Network)

• The House of Representatives is working to outline future legislation to build on the 21st Century Cures Act, dubbing the effort Cures 2.0 (EHRIntelligence)
• Ohio Department of Health issues draft amendments to Certificate of Need rules (JDSupra)
• AHIP Rejects Single-Payer Proposals, Upholds Current System (Health Payer)
• First randomized controlled trial of home hospital model in the US reports improvements in outcomes meaningful to health systems and patients -- sets stage for transformation of acute care delivery (EurekaAlert)
• Bad debt could rise at Oregon hospitals in line with national prediction (Portland Business Journal)
• Louisiana Medicaid patients use emergency rooms more, but not Medicaid expansion patients (Lafayette Daily Advertiser)
• Some nursing homes are illegally evicting elderly and disabled residents who can't afford to pay (MSN)
• Freestanding Emergency Departments Can Increase Patient Spending (Health Leaders)

• Study Abstract: Freestanding Emergency Department Entry and Market-level Spending on Emergency Care

• Nursing homes challenged by margins, occupancy rates (The Lowell Sun)
• Multipayer Primary Care Transformation: Impact for Medicaid Managed Care Beneficiaries (AJMC)
• Share of spending on primary care declines among employer-insured patients (Helio)
• Why United Healthcare's ASC-friendly policy could benefit anesthesia practices (Beckers)
• Researchers estimate that privately insured patients would see their annual physician payments fall by 13.4% if specialists were not allowed to bill out-of-network (HealthLeaders)

• Study: Out-Of-Network Billing And Negotiated Payments For Hospital-Based Physicians (Health Affairs)

• Five-year mortality up in older adults with unplanned [hospital] admission (MedExpress)
• Audit finds problems in [Georgia] program that sent $60M to rural hospitals (Atlanta Journal)
• Mayo Clinic Health System closes two more facilities, blames rural health care crisis (Northfield News)
• Preventing inpatient falls with injuries using integrative machine learning prediction: a cohort study (Nature:NPJ Digital Medicine)
• Vt. Gov. Scott: State of Vermont Amends Medicaid Waiver (InsuranceNews)
• Efforts To Move The Needle On Flu Shot Rates Get Stuck (KHN
• HCCI Adds Blue Cross Blue Shield Claims Data to National Database for Analyzing Healthcare Costs (HealthPayer)
• Beaumont Health sues Michigan regulators after hospital plan is rejected (Beckers)
• Proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule would tighten Medicaid supplement payments (RevCycle)
• Announcement: Scheduled publication in Nov 18th, 2019 Federal Register
• Rash of nursing home closures in Washington prompts proposals to raise Medicaid rates (KUOW)
• Fact Sheet: Federal Health Insurance Exchange 2020 (CMS)CMS Grants Ambulatory Surgery Centers' Wish —Expands roster of services reimbursable in Medicare (MedPageToday)

• Related:CMS Finalizes Rule Allowing Reimbursement of PCI in Ambulatory Centers (TCTMD)

• Healthcare Costs Vary Among Specialists Across, Within Hospitals (RevCycle)
• Comprehensive Health Management Pharmacist-Delivered Model: Impact on Healthcare Utilization and Costs (AJMC)
• Frequent ED Users Have Higher Utilization Rates Than Nonfrequent Users (HealthLeeaders)
• 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

• News Release: FTC to Study the Impact of COPAs (FTC)

• Related: What the FTC’s Study of COPAs Means for Hospital Mergers (RevCycle)

• Adjusting Hospital Reimbursement to Account for Social Influences on Health (JAMA Network)
• Spread of ACOs And Value-Based Payment Models In 2019: Gauging the Impact of [CMS] Pathways to Success (HealthAffairs)
• Too many older adults readmitted to hospitals with same infections they took home (MedicalExpress)
• 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

• Related Article: State Medicaid Programs Enhance SUD Benefits, Lower Cost-Sharing

• Medicaid Enrollment & Spending Growth: FY 2019 & 2020

• Related Article: Medicaid Spend Grows 2.9% in FY 2019, Medicaid Enrollment Flat

• Home Health Providers Skimping on Therapy Will Likely Pay Steep Price (HomeHealthNews)
• Humana files suit against generic drug makers, alleges price fixing (FierceHealth)
• Routine flu vaccination for adults hospitalized with pneumonia can reduce readmissions, mortality (Healio)
• Report on the Independent Dispute Resolution Process: New York’s Surprise Out-Of-Network Bill Protection Law (PDF Report from NY Department of Financial Services)

• 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