News Articles and Studies

Older News Articles

Studies & Reports

• 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)

• 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

• A CMS proposal seeks to modernize the Stark Law by adding new, permanent exceptions for providers participating in value-based care models (RevCycle)
• State’s [NJ] Hybrid Health Insurance Exchange Ready to Launch (NJ Spotlight)
• At least three Chicago-area hospitals have told ambulances to go elsewhere so often the state launched an investigation (Chicago Tribune)
• The health insurance tax, mandated in the Affordable Care Act, will be back in effect in 2020 and is set to generate $15.5 billion in taxes due to CMS’s new 2020 payment rule. (HealthPayer)
• Small Wisconsin hospitals cope amid a statewide rural health crisis (Wisconsin State Journal)
• Editorial: Nursing home closures hurt rural Nebraska in several ways (Lincoln Journal Star)
• Spine surgery utilization, cost in the US: 5 key findings (Beckers)
• Rural Hospital Closures Boost Mortality Rates by Nearly 6% (RevCycle)
• Study: Did Medicare Advantage Payment Cuts Affect Beneficiary Access and Affordability? (AJMC)
• Data Analytic Strategies Decreasing Patient Time in Urgent Care (HealthIT)
• GA Task Force to Examine Healthcare Costs, Price Transparency (RevCycle)
• United Health study: Hospital inpatient spending from commercial plans tops $200B in 2018 (Fierce Health)
• Study: Improving Access to High-Value Care Lowers Costs, Improves Health (AHIP)
• CMS releases final rule to reduce administrative burden, including change on transplant centers (FierceHealth)
• Patients pay more to see hospital-owned physician practices (Benefits Pro)
• The Real Surprise Behind Surprise Hospital Billing (Forbes)
• Hospital market concentration on the rise, along with prices (HealthDive)
• UVA Has Ruined Us: Health System Sues Thousands Of Patients, Seizing Paychecks And Claiming Homes (KHN)
• American Hospital Association Comments Submitted on CMS Healthcare Price Transparency Proposal [CMS-1717-P] (AHA)
• Providers should implement comprehensive compliance programs and improve medical billing processes to detect and prevent healthcare fraud and abuse (RevCycle)
• CMS Announces New Enforcement Authorities to Reduce Criminal Behavior in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP (CMS.gov)
• CVS Health-Aetna Merger Sealed, WellCare Takes Aetna’s Part D PDP (HealthPayer)
• Lessons From the Field: How Practices Are Succeeding Under Oncology Care Model (AJMC)
• Doctor-device maker relationships ripe for fraud litigation (Crain’s)
• For many in Western Pa., UPMC-Highmark deal doesn’t end questions, frustration (TribLive)
• Physician Burnout: Isolation, Loneliness And The Loss Of The American Hospital (Forbes)
• GAO tracks pharmacy benefit managers trends in Medicare Part D settings and finds that utilization management may restrict medication access.(Health Payer)
• CRISP, Maryland’s state-designated health information exchange, will increase integration of its advance care planning solution. (ER Intelligence)
• Four Ways to Make Evidence-Based Practice the Norm in Health Care (Harvard Business Review)
• Opinion: Democrats Are Having the Wrong Health Care Debate (NYT)
• Social Determinants Screenings Cut Hospital Admissions by Nearly 30% (HealthAnalytics)
• Rollback of NC regulations on new health care facilities gets Senate OK (WRAL)
• A nursing home chain grows too fast and collapses, and elderly and disabled residents pay the price (NBC)
• South Dakota lawmakers ease regulations on nursing home beds (Rapid City Journal)
• Hospitals could multiply in Florida as state cancels certificate-of-need requirement (Beckers)
• Study: Growth Of Public Coverage Among Working Families In The Private Sector (Health Affairs)
• Medicare For All Finances Healthcare Problems Instead of Fixing Them (Forbes)
• OIG: CMS needs to strengthen hospice oversight, transparency (Fierce Health)

• Related: OIG Report -Hospice Deficiencies Pose Risks to Medicare Beneficiearies
• OIG attacks hospice quality problems (McKnights)/Move over nursing homes, you have company (McKnights:2)

• An expert from Harvard Medical School warns policymakers about the potential behavioral changes resulting from lower reimbursement rates under Medicare for All (RevCycle)
• NABH Examines the High Cost of Compliance on Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (Market Watch)
• Health-care bill clears N.C. Senate after certificate-of-need language cut (Winston Salem Journal)
• Leapfrog Leader Pushes for Adoption of Expanded Medical Error Policy (HealthLeaders)
• State's [Illinois]new capital plan putting $200 million toward hospital, health care “transformations” (News-Gazette)
• Opinion:Hospital bill isn’t protecting patients, group says. It’s protecting profits.(NJ.com)
• 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)

• Why have Insurance Premiums increased so dramatically under AHA? (Health Payer)
• House votes to overturn ban on national patient identifier (ModernHealthcare)
• Recent CVS-Aetna Merger Hearings Signal Challenges Ahead (HealthPayer)Rural hospital closures leave residents with few options: 'It's a fight every day' (ABCNews)

• Related: Opinion: Merger of rural hospitals kept them viable for Northeast Tennessee (Tennesean)
• Country Closures: Rural Communities Adapt As More Hospitals Shut Down (WFPL)
• Community Voices: Rural hospitals at risk (Johnson City Press)

• The Grim State of Urban Hospitals (USNews)

• Related: Pennsylvania issues cease and desist letter for closure of Hahnemann Hospital (PhillyVoice)
• What Happens To Patients If Louisville’s Jewish Hospital Closes? (WFPL)

• Encompass Health agrees to pay $48M in false claims case (FierceHealth)
• HCA Asks Judge to Toss Lawsuit Alleging ER 'Cover Charge' (HealthLeaders)
• Cancer Care Spending and Use by Site of Provider-Administered Chemotherapy in Medicare (AJMC)
• Impact Of Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, And Physician Assistants On Utilization And Costs For Complex Patients (Health Affairs)
• A Large-Scale Advanced Illness Intervention Informs Medicare’s New Serious Illness Payment Model (HealthAffairs)
• CMS plans to release list of 400 troubled nursing homes following Senate report (FierceHealth)

• Related: Feds Respond To Toomey-Casey Nursing Home Report, Say Lack Of Funding Prevents Oversight (WESA)

• Florida may eliminate certificate of need requirement for new hospitals (BDC)
• North Carolina Senate puts hospital certificate of need reforms in budget (WRAL)
• Editorial: The Florida Legislature embraces the wild west of health care as State lawmakers voted to deregulate construction of new hospitals. That’s not healthy for the state or for nonprofit hospitals that care for most of the poor. (Tampa Bay Times)
• On Maryland's Eastern Shore, local hospital is downsized — and residents are outraged at UMMS (Baltimore Sun)
• Coming to Terms With [Inpatient to Outpatient Health] Care Migration (AJMC)
• Online tool can help Pennsylvania cancer patients decide where to have surgery (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• As dispute-resolution bill advances in NY, hospitals ramp up opposition (Crains)
• Hospital rating systems don't align — so which should patients believe? (USA Today)
• Medicare Advantage Dual Eligibles Have Fewer ER Visits Than Those Under FFS (Health Leaders)
• A Bipartisan Plan to Lower Health Costs, End Surprise Bills (Fiscal Times)
• Bill to improve nursing home care passes Oklahoma Senate, House (Tulsa World)
• How To Find And Use New Federal Ratings For Rehab Services At Nursing Homes (KHN)
• Past the Price Index: Exploring Actual Prices Paid for Specific Services by Metro Area (HealthCostInstitute)

• 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